Elev8 Presents The Ultimate Glass Review System
Why are we doing glass reviews?
This series of blogs is to get some proper information out there where it can easily be found. Also, being in this wild west of an industry we at Elev8 Presents felt there needed to be a solid place to get solid information to educate yourself on glass. One thing we noticed is that a lot of the people doing reviews on glass were not what we consider to be leaders in their industry. Many of the reviewers are normal people like we are, just they do not possess any glass blowing skills. That leads us to the question, how can one review glass if they are not even glass blowers. I have to imagine that if you had the passion for glass, you would naturally get into blowing glass as I have done. I am Steve Kelnhofer and I have been blowing glass for 14 years. I am self-taught from a book called contemporary lampworking and have been able to work with some very skilled blowers at events like Champs. I am a hustler and put my all into what I do in life and the team I work with is much just like me. I have worked in a shop with 12 blowers at one time so I know skill ranges and what it takes to advance your skill set to an Elev8ed level.
Scoring System
We do our scoring system on a scale of 8. Yep, we do it for Elev8. We do understand that from birth we are taught to work on a scale of 10’s so we do the math for you. Below is a small chart to help with any confusion we may have caused, we like fun!
8 = 100% |
4.8 = 60% |
7.2 = 90% |
4 = 50% |
7 = 87.5% |
3.2 = 40% |
6.4 = 80% |
2.4 = 30% |
6 = 75% |
1.6 = 20% |
5.6 = 70% |
.8 = 10% |
5 = 62.5% |
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Functionality
We rate this on the 4 points below. Functionality becomes the average of these four points.
| DOES IT WORK FOR HOW IT IS DESIGNED? When this is asked I can only go by how I feel. I do my best here by taking into consideration that I have used cannabis for 25ish years. If it is a recycler, does it recycle? If it has a splash guard, did it stop splash? | 1-8 |
| EASE OF USE? Was this easy or hard to use is basically what is being asked here. Being glass its pretty easy to get high marks here as glass in function is simple. | 1-8 |
| HOW DID IT FEEL IN YOUR HANDS? (ERGONOMIC VALUE) This says what I am looking for. This is the opinion for sure, but at 40 years of age, I have some wisdom built up. | 1-8 |
| DID I GET WATER IN MY MOUTH WHEN FILLED TO PROPER LEVEL AND A STANDARD HIT? Sometimes when testing this I hit harder than normal. I do take this into consideration, but I need to know at what level did it happen, if at all. | 1-8 |
Overall Quality
This score is taken over the 3 points below and then is averaged. This average becomes the overall quality feel of the piece.
| HOW ARE THE WELDS WELDED? I feel with 14 years on the torch I have a good ability to know what is good and what is bad. What is not really bad, but may not look good, and what just is bad. I do feel there will not be a lot of glass reviewed that fails at this point as to why would we even want to look at it. There is a lot to a weld. It can be smooth on the outside and not on the inside. This is not bad in the quality for durability, but it is bad in the sense that it can affect the flow of air and water inside. On top of that, it comes to skill set. | 1-8 |
| GLASS THICKNESS? The thickness of the glass is in a sense a matter of opinion. Yes I do feel thicker is better, but this is also not bad. Glass is glass. Glass is as strong as steel, but also as weak as a cracker. Its the angles of the forces. Now, if something is too thin it’s not getting a good mark here. | 1-8 |
| IMPERFECTIONS The hardest thing to not do in glass is make that very elusive piece with no imperfections. This is HARD. The more skill yo have the better it comes out. I look at all spots, welds, wrinkles, anything that is not on point is an imperfection. | 1-8 |
Looks
This also is very subjective. I feel I have a good eye that many people will agree with. So there 🙂
| OVERALL APPEARANCE Always subjective. But I do think again I know what looks good. Is it balanced, do the lines flow and does it just look good? | 1-8 |
| ARTISANAL PERSPECTIVE (FUNCTIONAL ART/PRODUCTION) This is even harder as I have to think about what the artist was thinking. Can I see what they were trying to get me to see? Did they put their idea into the glass in a way that it speaks to me? | 1-8 |
| COLOR SCHEME Do the colors work together well? Is it a rainbow turned to poo. I will decide this for you. | 1-8 |
Affordability
This based on FUNCTIONALITY + PRICE IS GOOD + ARTISTIC VALUE that I believe. Because I will know if something was made with cheap labor in another country, or if it was made in my favorite country the USA I can let you know if it is affordable based on those ideas.
Skill Set
The skill set is what I believe it take a blower to have in order to make the piece. The harder the piece is to make, the higher the number.
Overall Score
This is the overall average of the 5 categories together.
THE GRADE
This is the score turned into a percentage just like you got in school!!
