Melting glass with solar energy: The next question everyone asks...

Last week I mentioned my most frequently asked question - how sunlight can possibly melt glass. My second most frequently asked question is "How in the world did you come up with this idea??"⠀

I have to be honest - I didn't. A friend of mine, back when he was 14, got his hands on this giant magnifying glass - and, being a teenager in rural Alaska, went around burning everything he could find! 

The first magnifying glass.  You may notice our setup has changed a bit since - my current magnifying glass is rectangular, and mounted in a much more robust frame.

He melted lines in the beach sand, and started making these neat little glass teardrops...⠀

Fast forward a decade or so, and we went into business together. 

Fast forward another decade or so, and while he has moved on to other things - like a recent 8-month adventure in South America with his wife and two young kids (you can read about their previous adventures at their site GroundTruthTrekking.org) - I'm still making Sundrop Jewelry and loving playing with glass!