The Solution:

Within a few months of setting up my studio back in 1968, I saw the compelling need for an improvement in this burner area. I set about developing a better mixer with a retention nozzle. The retention nozzle in itself made a quieter work environment. The retention nozzle creates an organization to the burning gases. By changing the hole patterns I could make a long, skinny, lazy (luminous) flame or a short bushy radiant flame. And by using many holes verses just a few holes I could make additional quietness (or quiet likeness).

With this new concept of the burner nozzle I was still working with metal (making welded mild steel heads). The metal would not survive long in the intense heat of the glass melting atmosphere, so every three weeks I was back at it making a new head for my furnace. Then out of the blue the idea struck me to make a ceramic head. This I did and it worked. I replicated the patterns I had made previously in metal.

Once the burner was invented, I applied for and got my first patent. I dubbed the burner "The Giberson Ceramic Burner Head." It is U. S. Patent #3697000. For years I struggled along. Occasionally a glassblower would wander into my studio and be amazed at the quiet burn and the efficient flame. That's how I sold my burners, usually one at a time to people who saw them in action and wanted one of them for themselves. In all of my years of making these wonderful burner heads I have not spent more than a few hundred dollars on advertisement. It is a word of mouth operation.

Here is a schematic of a homemade air/gas mixer with a "Giberson Tip" (Giberson Ceramic Burner Head). This would be used on low pressure natural gas or low pressure propane gas.

The obvious advantage with this mixer is you can make it yourself. This is an Alfred Mixer (named after the prestigious Ceramics College). It is generally put together using 1-1/2" black iron pipe fittings. This involves a "T" and a couple of nipples. There are other configurations of the same technology such as the air/gas power burner, below:

There is one more burner that you might be interested in. This is a venturi mixer/ Giberson Tip combination that does not rely on electricity to operate. This makes it very appealing for the back to the woods type of crafts person. This is the very first successful burner/mixer combination that I put together. The only part of this that I make is the "Tip" but I sell the whole package. There are hundreds of furnaces out there running quietly on this sweet little combination. (BEFORE ORDERING, PLEASE READ ABOUT THE DIFFICULTIES OF GETTING HIGH PRESSURE PROPANE INSPECTED BY YOUR LOCAL GAS INSPECTOR. )

Venturi Mixer for HIGH PRESSURE PROPANE (0-25 PSI)

Complete Venturi Mixer with Giberson Head The kit includes a venturi, Giberson tip, needle valve, and gauge $295.00 (A $14.00 savings when you purchase the kit!) (The parts indicated as DIAGONAL HATCHING must be purchased from a plumbing supply)