According to people in this career, the main tasks are...
| Task | Importance |
|---|---|
| Place glass into dies or molds of presses and control presses to form products, such as glassware components or optical blanks. | 94% |
| Spray or swab molds with oil solutions to prevent adhesion of glass. | 91% |
| Heat glass to pliable stage, using gas flames or ovens and rotating glass to heat it uniformly. | 90% |
| Inspect, weigh, and measure products to verify conformance to specifications, using instruments such as micrometers, calipers, magnifiers, or rulers. | 90% |
| Blow tubing into specified shapes to prevent glass from collapsing, using compressed air or own breath, or blow and rotate gathers in molds or on boards to obtain final shapes. | 88% |
| Operate electric kilns that heat and mold glass sheets to the shape and curve of metal jigs. | 87% |
| Determine types and quantities of glass required to fabricate products. | 84% |
| Set up and adjust machine press stroke lengths and pressures and regulate oven temperatures, according to glass types to be processed. | 84% |
| Record manufacturing information, such as quantities, sizes, or types of goods produced. | 84% |
| Shape, bend, or join sections of glass, using paddles, pressing and flattening hand tools, or cork. | 83% |
| Design and create glass objects, using blowpipes and artisans' hand tools and equipment. | 81% |
| Place electrodes in tube ends and heat them with glass burners to fuse them into place. | 80% |
| Operate and maintain finishing machines to grind, drill, sand, bevel, decorate, wash, or polish glass or glass products. | 79% |
| Repair broken scrolls by replacing them with new sections of tubing. | 75% |
| Develop sketches of glass products into blueprint specifications, applying knowledge of glass technology and glass blowing. | 75% |
| Superimpose bent tubing on asbestos patterns to ensure accuracy. | 74% |
| Cut lengths of tubing to specified sizes, using files or cutting wheels. | 74% |
| Strike necks of finished articles to separate articles from blowpipes. | 73% |
| Place rubber hoses on ends of tubing and charge tubing with gas. | 73% |
