MODERNIZATION FOR THE STAINED GLASS
industry

Glass artisanship may go extinct. The trade that created centuries-old stained-glass windows, Tiffany Lamps, and sparkling glass ornaments may not survive another generation.  A few decades back, there were 60,000 glass studios, but today there are about 10,000 professional glass artists.

The trade is dying away because it is a tedious process, requiring manual skilled labor, years of training and experience, and tons of broken and wasted glass. Glasswork is still done the same way as church windows were made centuries ago – with hand scoring, hand chipping and grinding, and each shape repeated manually.  

The advances in modern computer-numerical-controlled (CNC) manufacturing and robotics have passed by this industry. Most modern manufacturing technology cannot cut glass or is too powerful and shatters the fragile glass.  Waterjet cutting technology, which uses a computer-driven jet of high-pressure water and sand, is the only technology that can cut glass, however it’s been out of reach for glass artists because the machines were extremely expensive, massive-sized, and had difficulty holding glass in place.

Now there’s a new approach that promises to save and revive this legacy industry: the WAZER affordable waterjet. This new small-format waterjet has just the right water pressure to accurately cut glass, eliminate breakage, is affordable for small artisans, and can fit on a workbench. 

WAZER, a new-generation startup, is driving this revitalization of glass art with the first affordable waterjet machine that is accessible to struggling glass artists.  Glass craftspeople can now automate and modernize their trade, reducing the manual labor and broken glass that has held back their trade for generations.  

Here are four glass studios and artists who modernized their operations with WAZER waterjets, to bring new life and promise to this classic trade.