BASIC GLASS-WORKING OPERATIONS

thin rod. This may leave pinholes in the joint and a careful inspec-
tion should be made while it is hot. When larger size tubing is used
it may be found advantageous to blow the holes in the tubes rather
smaller than their bore, since this provides a means of thickening the
wall of the joint as it is blown out to a smooth profile.
When making a T-joint with a hand torch it is often best to clamp
the cross-piece and fix a blowing tube to it, and to manipulate the
side arm with one hand. As with the joining of two tubes (p. 63), the
side arm will be supported by the rigidity of the glass on one side of
the joint most of the time, unless it is of small tubing. This method is
usually preferable to that involving clamping both tubes.
The construction of big T-pieces is described on p. 94.
Y-Joints
Joining two tubes in the form of a Y is most easily effected by bending
one of the tubes to the desired shape and then making a normal T-
joint at the bend. If the T-joint is made first and then one of the
arms is bent, the resulting Y-piece will probably not be symmetrical
and the finish on the surface of the glass may not be good owing to
volatilization of some of its components during the making of the
joint. This causes the surface to wrinkle on bending the tube.
The most convenient order of carrying out the various steps is to
prepare the side arm first, bend the main tube and blow out the hole
for the T-joint, and then make the joint before the glass has time to
cool.
4 and 5 Way Junctions
Once the simple T-joint has been mastered the manufacture of 4 and
5 way junctions presents no difficulty: the operations described for
making T-joints are just repeated the required number of times. The
various side arms are all prepared as the first stage, and sufficient
corks, or other means of blocking the tubes as they are joined on,
must be at hand. The only other step which requires extra care is to
see that completed joints are not overheated in making others, since
if any of the side arms are unsupported they will bend under gravity.
Adequate annealing is, as in all other joints, essential.
Working Capillary Tubes
Working capillary tubing requires a slightly different technique from
the working of normal tubing. This is principally due to the small
bore of the tube and the very thick walls. Generally speaking it is
necessary to use a smaller, hotter flame for capillary than would be

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