Topic: Meri Lasi Finnish Glass (Muurla Lasi)

[Anne]

Yes Ivo you're quite right of course. It's just my insatiable curiosity makes me want to know as much as I can about all my bits of glass.

I was sort of wondering if there may be a connection between Muurla and Meri in the same way as there is between, say Mdina and Mtarfa - two members of the same family running separate firms, or perhaps a designer working for both glassworks.

Insatiable curiosity will probably be my downfall one of these days... comes of being a genealogist you know... I always want to know the answers to everything!   

[Glen]

My friend Kaisa Koivisto (the Curator of the Finnish Glass Museum At Riihimaki) has sent me the following excellent information.

"Merilasi was a glass company that worked in Helsinki 1982-1987. After that the company continued as a trademark for a couple of years, making their products in Muurla. After that I suspect that Muurla continued some of their models. Pertti Kallioinen on the other hand is a designer  specialized on making designs for centrifugal casting moulds, and in this sense has no direct connection to any of the factories."

There's the final answer, Anne  

My sincere thanks to Kaisa for her help.

Finnish Glass Museum http://kunta.riihimaki.fi/lasimus/englan.htm

Glen

[Anne]

Glen, thank you so much for asking your friend about Meri Lasi - this certainly answers the question definitively for me. Muurla has continued with the design I have as you found for me on their website.

My next question has to be, of course, what on earth is a "centrifugal casting mould" and how does it differ from the pressed moulds that Adam D has been telling us about in another thread?

Thanks for your information and help in tracking down Meri Lasi.

[Sklounion]

Hi, As I understand it, centrifugal casting relies on a spinning mould into which molten glass is injected, and the spinning motion, throws the molten glass evenly throughout the mould..I stand corrected by Ivo, see below

[Ivo]

Sven Palmqvist pioneered centrifugal casting technique which he patented in in 1934.

[Adam]

I, too am intrigued by the concept of centrifugal casting.  The mind boggles (or at least my dinosaur mind boggles) at the accuracy of placement necessary of glass in the mould (think of badly loaded spin drier) and the uniformity of temperature necessary.

Please has anyone first or even second hand knowledge (Adam A?) of this being done in practice?

I can't help thinking of the thousands of perfectly legal patents which superficially sound good but are hopelessly impractical.

Anne, whatever this concept, real or imagined looks like it will be nothing like my press moulds!

Adam D.

[Anne]

Thank you Marcus and Ivo for your information.

Adam, my curiosity was well aroused so I went googling and found some more more about centrifugal casting - it seems that "centrifugal casting is capable of forming precise, lightweight shapes such as television-tube funnels" - I always wondered how they were made.   I also found a diagram on the Corning Museum of Glass website showing such a mould to make a TV tube here:
http://www.cmog.org/index.asp?pageId=712 (scroll down just over half way).  I'm still intrigued as to whether flatter shaped items such as my candle volcano could have been made that way, or whether the Pertti Kallioinen connection with the volcano design isn't because of his centrifugal mould design but something else.

[Sklounion]

"Pertti Kallioinen connection with the volcano design isn't because of his centrifugal mould design but something else." Anne.

Many of the Finnish designers, are or have been active in many fields, to take but two, Tapio Wirkkala, whose output included furniture, silver, glass, Timo Sarpaneva, glass, silver, china, cast iron cook-ware. Thus it is highly likely Kallioinen was working in areas other than centrifugal casting moulds.

[Bill Geary]

Lars Hellsten at Orrefors has used the centrifuge to produce some very interesting and successful vases and bowls such as Corona. It is becoming a technique increasing used by designers at Orrefors carrying on the
tradition of Palmqvist.

[Sklounion]

This link might be of interest:
http://www.johnlewisglass.com/castglass.html
Marcus