Last Updated: May 08, 2018     Views: 126

Thank you for the question. Here below is the response I received after reiterating your question to the the Director of the Studio here Harry Seaman:

What a good question. The answer is both simple and complex. The simple part ... is that if the blocks are made for glassblowing, then they are carved from cherrywood before it dries (and therefore arrive in plastic normally). And they can be used immediately or soaked overnight if one is concerned that they have dried somewhat.

The larger question of how long to soak any piece of wood to use for any exposure to glass is less easy to quantify but fortunately doesn't come up that often. Any dried piece of wood can be soaked long enough to allow the first 1/4 inch to become waterlogged, and this normally takes a few days to a week of submersion. The process of using the now wet tool, building up a carbon layer and warming, drying and re-submerging helps the process along I feel. We do this often with parchoffi (wood jacks) blades that we make in house from kiln dried dowels.

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