How safe is lampworking in the house?

Hi there!

Okay, for books.....still the bible of beadmaking, IMO (and a good value) is Cindy Jenkins' Making Glass Beads. Corina Tettinger has Passing the Flame, which IS full of information, but also costs $75, as opposed to Cindy's being 15.97 on Amazon (reg 21.95). I'd say wait on Corina's book until you're sure this is really for you.

Now, about working in the house. You have two big issues to deal with....First is ventilation. You need a very good air exchange, like a good window fan to draw air out of the room, but far enough away from your work space so as not to make the torch flame jump all over the place. A steady drawing air current is definitely possible. You also want a carbon monoxide detector. The other issue is not catching the room or its contents on fire. Most synthetic carpets won't flame if a hot glass piece lands on them, but you probably don't want singe marks on your rug, either. I know of folks who have used those carpet protecting heavy plastic mats (usually used to run office chairs over) and that seems to work. Or, if you really get hooked, you could consider removing the carpet and putting down ceramic tile (that's my plan for wherever we move to). Just keep in mind that some shocky rods and really make those pieces fly. This is NOT the room to have fluffy curtains or fabric wall hangings.

One other thing, for both the torch and kiln, you'll need table space that is heat tolerant, AND a good electrical line because the kilns can draw a lot of juice.

Hope this helps!

Karen has provided lots of good advice. The other thing to mention is that your propane tank must be outside - it is not safe at all, and often illegal to have propane tannks indoors. Some people do it - but they are taking big chances to do so.

Susan in Canada

I agree with Karen_AZ on all points.

First, I have my setup in my kitchen. It's very large and I put a desk next to our kitchen table. I have a kiln on the desk along with the torch. The desk is covered in tile and then I also have a piece of metal under my torch. The tile was an idea I got from another beading person. It's not stuck to the desk yet, but I might do it at some point.

I would definitely get Cindy Jenkin's bible, um book. I also purchased a beading video on eBay that was excellent for first timers and that helped me a lot with questions the book did not cover. I've been happily beading ever since.

Good luck!

Starlia

Somehow I completely missed this conversation, and the only piece that my newsreader still has is one message.. I am interested in the answers, so please, if anybody can, please send me this conversation :)

If you aren't a very good in-class student then I suggest getting some videos. I'm not a good in-class student. I don't like folks who are disruptive, show up late without phone calls, etc. I'm vocal about it too and it makes me unpopular. Therefore, any classes I take are online, out of site, or with a group I trust. I've been taking painting classes for years, but the group is well put together and we've been together for seven years now.

Starlia

Cindy's new book, Beads of Glass, is beautiful and full of great information, but I think her first one is better for getting a handle on the very basic techniques. And Corina's is very good, from what I've seen of it, but I can't wrap my head around urging a beginner to spend $75 on something they might or might not like, when there are reasonably-priced alternatives. Of course, borrowing any of them is even better.

-- KarenK Desert Dreamer Designs

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i got the info I needed, thanks jewitch :)

samantha

That's what I charge, except I don't charge for materials (except stuff like dichro or gold leaf). I have found that people don't use that much glass in a learning session since part of the time they are watching my demos. We just use the partially used rods that are in abundance.

on the same note:

how much are the gasses one uses?

and how much is a kiln?

thanks :) alia :) auntbeep.com

how much are the gasses one uses?

and how much is a kiln?<

Both have a range. The propane and oxygen will vary depending on your location. I bought a 122 lb. oxygen tank for $139 and it costs $22 to have it filled (about once a week when I'm working steadily). I use a BBQ type propane tank, bought for $24 and it costs about $12 to have it filled....lasts me about 4-5 months.

There's a pretty wide variety of kilns out there, too. The firebrick-type ones range in price from around $350 to $700 and up. There are some smaller ones out there, different design, for $200 or so. You don't HAVE to have a kiln when starting out, just to make practice beads, but be aware that they won't be properly annealed and larger ones run the risk of breakage.

-- KarenK Desert Dreamer Designs

Store:

You could convert that to a studio; if you can't take up the carpet, buy a piece or two of Wonderboard for $6 at Home Depot and lay that down on top of the carpet under your work area. Now you have something fireproof to walk on. Your kiln can be indoors, and should be on a stable kiln stand or on cinder blocks on the (Wonderboard) floor, at least two feet from any flammable surface. Most kilns need a dedicated circuit, but some of the smaller bead annealers don't require one.

A table with a fireproof top is your next consideration. The whole table doesn't need to be fireproof, but the area right around your torch should be; tile, a piece of sheet metal, or another piece of Wonderboard (I LOVE that stuff!) will do the trick.

Your propane tank will need to be outdoors; you can run a hose out the window and use a quick-connect for easy setup, if you're not keen on drilling a hole in your wall!

Ventilation is VERY important; you need to think of where your fresh air is coming from, as well as where your bad air is going. A fan in the window to suck fumes and stale air out may be adequate, but you'll want to have the door open a bit so new air can get in. Better yet would be a hood with a fan over your work area, ducting your old air out. However, I work in my garage with both front and back doors open, so I'm not exactly the Ventilation Queen myself!

REALLY good books? Heck yeah! More Than You Ever Wanted to Know About Glass Beadmaking, 5th Edition, by James Kervin. Making Glass Beads by Cindy Jenkins. Beads of Glass, also by Cindy Jenkins. Passing the Flame by Corina Tettinger. I know there are more, but those are the ones on my "highly recommend" list.

I hope that is helpful!

Gasses vary; oxygen in my area is about $12 for an 80 cf tank, which lasts me about 12 hours of torch time. The tank itself cost $100. Now I use a concentrator, which I highly recommend. It cost about $200. Propane is cheap; a $25 empty tank costs about $10 to fill and lasts somewhere just this side of forever.

Kilns vary a lot, but you can get a small bead kiln with an infinite control switch (manual temperature control) for about $300, and one with a digital controller for about $500. That doesn't include shipping, though. You can spend a lot more, and I probably will next year if I can justify it later. I like my Jen-Ken, but I don't love it. Top-of-the-line IMHO is an Arrow Springs kiln, expect to pay $800 to start, with a digital controller.

I agree that she barely touches on safety, but I would still recommend her book in conjunction with Jim Kervin's as the two best books, in combination, for a beginner; not too much of an investment, and Jim covers lots of safety and technical details while Cindy gives great instructions on beadmaking basics.

I still refer to Cindy's "Making Glass Beads". Mostly for the eye candy.

Keep in mind that Jim's newest edition is hot off the presses. It's even better than previous editions, IMO. You can order directly from him at: glasswearstudios AT comcast.net Put the @ sign in the appropriate place, and you're in business.

I had Corina's book for a couple of weeks and then sold it. It is definitely geared towards the beginner. Very inspiring and has some great techniques.

I really love Cindy's "Beads of Glass". I've learned a lot from it.

Also, don't discount the value of videos. I was turned off on videos for a while, as the only ones I had seen were older, the video and sound quality sucked desperately... I simply wasn't impressed. I just got the new DVD by Jim Smircich though, and it's AWESOME! I highly recommend it to everyone, regardless of skill level.

The video is available through Jim Smircich, and you can get either a DVD or a VHS video. I love the DVD, as I can easily skip to exactly the section I want.

Here's some more info on it:

You can contact Jim through the page above. It's a FANTASTIC video!

Hey Tink did you ever manage to get Bandhu's books? His Contemporary Lampworking is MAJOR eye candy! Another big expense, like Corina's....but given the choice (which I made this spring) I'd get Bandhu's first any day. Eventually I'll buy Corina's book just for posterity, but I saw it hot off the presses and didn't feel as compelled to have it.

-- KarenK Desert Dreamer Designs

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Karen,

Tell us more about the Bandu's book. I haven't heard of this one and I LOVE eye candy. Please send link or tell us where we can view such eye candy.

Starlia

eye candy. Please send link or tell us where we can view such eye candy.<

's eye candy, tons of instruction and more. His new "Formed of Fire" isalso major eye candy from several artists. Extremely droolworthy!!!

-- KarenK Desert Dreamer Designs

Store:

If anybody (even just one) shows up on time, my classes start on time whether everybody is there or not. When a student shows up, I am on the clock. The people that are timely paid just as much for the class as the ones who are late. I do a short talk at the beginning about setup, COE and stuff like that. Then the rest of the class is "I do a demo, now you do what I did"* kind of thing. That gives me a chance to catch up any latecomers. It seems to be a format that works fairly well and no one has much room to complain.

*this is not as stiff as it sounds, there is plenty of room for individuality and questions. But all anyone can teach is technique. The artistry has to come from within you, usually after you learn the techniques.