Photos: Tucson business breaks into glass straw production
A local company, iloveglassstraws.com, makes glass straws as alternatives to plastic straws, to save the fish and help the community.
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Glass straws
Glass straws are manufactured at Tucson-based iloveglassstraws.com. The straws, made from borosilicate glass and printed with borosilicate infused decals, are produced as alternatives to plastic straws.
Glass straws
Glass straws manufactured at Tucson-based iloveglassstraws.com. The straws, made from borosilicate glass and printed with borosilicate infused decals, are produced as alternatives to plastic straws.
Glass straws
Ricky Segura, project manager at Tucson-based iloveglassstraws.com, marks borosilicate glass tubes to be scored and cut to size at a small warehouse in Tucson, AZ. on January 9, 2019. The straws, made from borosilicate glass and printed with borosilicate painted decals, are offered to companies as alternatives to plastic straws.
Glass straws
Xavier Mungia cuts decals printed with borosilicate paint at Tucson-based iloveglassstraws.com, in Tucson, AZ on January 9, 2019.
Glass straws
Borosilicate printed decals are hand set on each straw and then fired in a custom-made belt-driven kiln at Tucson-based iloveglassstraws.com in Tucson, AZ. The borosilicate printed decals fuse to the borosilicate straw making the printing essentially impervious to scratching or removal.
Glass straws
Borosilicate paint is mixed in custom colors to exacting standards at Tucson-based iloveglassstraws.com. The borosilicate printed decals fuse to the borosilicate straw making the printing essentially impervious to scratching or removal.
Glass straws
Senior pressman Cisco Valencia applies a blue borosilicate paint onto a printing plate to be printed onto waterslide decal paper at Tucson-based iloveglassstraws.com in Tucson, AZ on January 9, 2019.
Glass straws
Sheets of blue waterslide decals printed with borosilicate paint come off the press individually at Tucson-based iloveglassstraws.com in Tucson, AZ on January 9, 2019.
Glass straws
Ricky Segura, left, and Cisco Valencia, from left, make sheets of blue borosilicate waterslide decals one at a time at iloveglassstraws.com in Tucson, AZ on January 9, 2019. The sheets are air dried and cured on a drying rack.
Glass straws
Del Hendrixson, Cisco Valencia and Ricky Segura, from left, make sheets of blue borosilicate waterslide decals one at a time at iloveglassstraws.com in Tucson, AZ on January 9, 2019.
Glass straws
Del Hendrixson explains the printing process he used on a project for boxer Mike Tyson using 24K gold based paint at iloveglassstraws.com in Tucson, AZ.
Glass straws
Glass straws pass over a set of flames on a polisher designed by Del Hendrixson to smooth the sharp raw ends of the scored glass straws at iloveglassstraws.com in Tucson, AZ on January 9, 2019. A properly tuned propane flame is hot enough to melt the glass to a smooth, rounded end.
Glass straws
Del Hendrixson with a printed glass straw at iloveglassstraws.com in Tucson, AZ on January 9, 2019. Prior to founding iloveglassstraws.com, Hendrixson used his printing business to print designs for glass products, such as beer mugs and jewelry.
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Each of the glass straws, which are made in a warehouse near Armory Park, feature detailed designs including "Tucson cares" and business logos.