LittleDabbie
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While you’ve probably heard tales, seen pictures, or had a college run-in with a fairly large bong, maybe six feet tall or more, physical constraints seem to keep them from growing much further. When you venture into double digits in height, it is totally unheralded, new territory.
Previously on invalid.com, we featured Stephan Peirce’s Glass Grill. Well, he and the crew at GravLabs in Austin, Texas are back at it, this time they are the glassblowers behind the world’s largest glass bong.
We first spied the beginnings of this ferociously ambitious project developing on the Reddit subreddit r/glassheads through this photo — a tree perc that dwarfed the soccer ball next to it for scale. We wanted to see what was brewing. As it turns out, the guys in Texas were hard at work building the world’s largest borosilicate glass bong. After they’d succeeded in pulling off the behemoth, invalid.com caught up with Stephan for an interview about the giant water pipe:
Was there any certain inspiration behind building a giant bong, and what was the true measurement from top to bottom?
I am always trying to push my limits, as well as the limits of what is possible with glass, and this was another idea that was too awesome not to try. A lot of details of this project will be revealed in the upcoming months.
The final height was 12′ 2″.
What parts of the process, design or the sheer size of it, made this project challenging? Any mishaps along the way?
This piece was a challenge all along the way. There were many late nights at the shop, cooking myself in front of a giant flame, and I received several second degree burns through multiple layers of Kevlar. The first completed bong broke in the cleaning process, which was quite devastating. We also lost several giant tree percs during construction. To create the tree percs, I had to first design and construct jigs, which was a long process in itself.
There was also a very strict time constraint to get this piece finished and shipped in time for the Denver Champs Tradeshow. After losing the first bong, there were only ten days to order and receive the material from Austria, create the giant piece, build a crate, ship it and get it to the show on time.
Has it ever been hit, will it ever be hit? Can the bong be cleared by one single human?
Although this piece is functional at its core, it could never be cleared by one human. One might, however, use an air pump to create an auto-hitting bong to use as a fog machine and smog out a room.
How did the rest of your shop mates help out with building the world’s largest bong?
At GravLabs, there are 20 glassblowers that I manage, and all of them helped in some way. During the week, I help them problem-solve issues and refine techniques and processes. It was great to have a project of this size and magnitude where everyone could come together and help. My buddy Zach Settles was a huge help in the creation of this piece. It would be a nearly impossible feat for just one reason. One guy took a lot of pictures, another helped with set up and cleanup. All in all, a lot of people played a lot of different roles throughout the whole process.
Was it hard finding space large enough to construct a bong this big?
Fortunately, I have a behemoth of a lathe. Even so, the mouthpiece and foot were sticking out of both ends. The harder part was finding a forever home for the piece, as most ceilings do not accommodate its twelve foot height.
How many pounds of borosilicate glass were used in construction?
60 pounds.
Any future plans for more large-sized versions of other smoking apparatuses?
Yes, I have a few ideas, but you’ll have to stay tuned to @spgatx on Instagram or follow us on Facebook for the updates!
And a few finals words:
I would like to send out a huge Thank You to everyone who helped make the world’s largest bong. Dave Daily: thank you for making it possible! Cheers to GravLabs for being great employers. Thanks to Bill and Schooch’s Excellent Supply Shop (SABA) for supplying the material. Thank you to my beautiful wife for your patience in letting me work so many late nights, with little to no repercussions, and to my daughter for giving me a reason to be a good role model. And a big Hell Yeah! to SPG fans and everyone who has supported me all these years!
This piece was shipped from the shop at GravLabs in Austin, Texas to the Champs Tradeshow in Denver and then bought by a shop in New Orleans. There’s more to the story that I can’t reveal at this time, but you should look forward to hearing more about this piece in the near future!
