It was the turning wheel, and not the lathe Mold pressing and mold turning of hot glass in ancient glass vessel production

Abstract

After a rehabilitation of the mold pressing method, the logical development from core forming and mold pressing to working glass hot on a turning wheel is shown. A manufacturing method known from ceramics - mold turning of the body and free turning of the rim - seems to have been used in glass first. Glass working by turning is mentioned in Pliny's description of ancient glass manufacturing methods. Up to now this has been incorrectly interpreted as cutting on a lathe. But vessels presumedly cut on a lathe show unequivocal signs of being made by turning hot glass.