Patent ID: 6957552

Claim:
A manual glass lathe for use in glass-blowing comprising: a hollow, generally tubular housing having an outer surface which is sized to fit into the grip of a human hand and an inner surface defining a longitudinal axis, such housing having a first end and a second end; a plurality of generally circular bearings arranged axially within the housing and sharing said longitudinal axis, such bearings having inner races and outer races, the outer races of such bearings being mounted to the inner surface of the housing; an inner generally tubular sleeve mounted on the inner races of the bearings, such inner sleeve being generally cylindrical and having an outer surface and an inner surface and extending nearly the length of the housing and also sharing said longitudinal axis; a plurality of generally circular o-rings arranged within and mounted adjacent the inner sleeve, such o-rings having an inner diameter sharing said longitudinal axis; and a thumb wheel assembly mounted to the outer surface of the housing comprising a thumbwheel that extends through a cutout in the housing such that the thumbwheel contacts the outer surface of the inner sleeve, such thumbwheel being capable of spinning on an axis which is generally parallel to said longitudinal axis.