How many and how often?

[fannydotson]

I am just curious.
How often do you torch?
How many beads, on average, do you make in a day?

I am on 1#er's right now. I am only making 1-3 beads a day, about 3 days a week. What about you?

[Elizabeth Beads]

5-6 days a week, sometimes 7. Anywhere from 10 to 50 beads.

[jamie lynne]

If I'm making focals, usually 2-3 a day. And of those I typically only sell 1-2 and the left overs go into a orphan bucket. I can crank out rounds at about 10 every 45 minutes, but the majority of that time is cooling time before the strike, and the actual strike, if they were just ordinary glass I would be quicker. I get to torch about 1-2 hours a day and I try to get in 6 days a week, or I get cranky! :lol:

[fannydotson]

Wow. I might wanna get a bulk tank pretty quick, huh? LOL.

[Ms. Priss]

[QUOTE=jamie lynne;2699488]I can crank out rounds at about 10 every 45 minutes, but the majority of that time is cooling time before the strike, and the actual strike, if they were just ordinary glass I would be quicker.[QUOTE]

Did you round those 10 beads by hand or in molds, and are they all the same size? I'm a newbie still struggling to get a "perfect" round bead without a press or mold, and trying to gauge my progress. Thanks!

[beadsoncypress]

I try to torch every other evening for an hour or two, I make between 5 and 25 beads depending on my mood and the cooperation of my my glass. Lately the damp rainy days are my best... Then I take a day to bulk anneal and make spacers, then once a month I take my broken beads and make cabachons... BTW I work with one concentrator and a BBQ tank of propane which lasts 4-6 months....(on a mini-cc that is!)

[maroli]

I will say a average of 2-3 hours a week, I made around 3-4 beads mostly focal during this time.

[simvet02]

I have a day job that gets in the way so I only get to torch on the weekend. I haven't even made it past the 3 hour mark, just too tired. I can make anywhere between 6 and 15 beads depending on how many of them are focals. The bigger ones take about 30 minutes so that really brings down the count. Some days are just better than others. I do much better if I have a purpose in mind when I go down there, even if I only make one or two beads of what I've planned it gets me going.

[jamie lynne]

No moulds here, I can make them faster by hand. And they are pretty darn close to all the same size :)

[QUOTE=jamie lynne;2699488]I can crank out rounds at about 10 every 45 minutes, but the majority of that time is cooling time before the strike, and the actual strike, if they were just ordinary glass I would be quicker.[QUOTE]

Did you round those 10 beads by hand or in molds, and are they all the same size? I'm a newbie still struggling to get a "perfect" round bead without a press or mold, and trying to gauge my progress. Thanks!

[Carolyn M]

I try to sell at least 6 sets on ebay each week, plus make enough to put some jewelry pieces together. That adds up to approx 60 beads per week. I torch on Fridays, and some evenings

[redrabbit]

It's a hobby for me. I work days and sometimes nights too! so I only get to torch once about every 2 or 3 weeks, and then I'll do it 2 or 3 nights in a row for 3 hrs or so a night. If I'm lucky, I'll crank out about 8 beads per night. I'm slow at focals and getting my shapes right, so some take over an hour. I don't care if I'm slow - making beads makes me happy and gives me something else besides buttons and fabric to covet.

Don't feel "pressured" to compete. You'll find your own speed as you improve.

[fannydotson]

No pressure at all! LOiek you, and probably everyone else on this forum, I make them because it makes me happy. My whole first week, I shook like a leaf the entire time the torch was on! Now, I have a pretty steady hand now. I just want to know about everyone else...I'm sort of nosey like that...lol.

[wendbill]

I go through phases where I can torch lots almost daily, and then other periods where I don't get time to torch for several weeks. And then it always takes time to get your eye back in.

Like everyone else I hate having to work for a living.

I can make about 50 small (single colour) spacers in an hour. But I don't do that very often. They will NOT all be the same size.

Anything with a pattern takes more time.

My attention span generally lasts about 90 minutes max at a time when the torch is on.

Anything that takes over 20 minutes is longer than my attention span.

[sortaflower]

5 days a week, three hours per session, randomness on how many beads- can make 150 small organics in that time, that's probably the most. :) weekends off from torching, and only torch 3 hours cause am busy making bath and body products for our shop the rest of the work day.

[Torched Art]

I think I have ADD. As soon as I am done with a focal or wine stopper, I have to turn off the torch and go do something else like, eat, check my email, visit LE, check the mail, eat, visit LE, play with the dog. So this means that the kiln in on for nearly all day.

To answer your question, it depends. I finally have my studio back up and it's improved and bigger, so I want to go out there more. I usually make between 3 to 15 beads per batch depending how big they are. And lately I've been out there every other day.

[Lisi]

When I don't have to deal with interruptions such as:

really hot dehydrating weather, like now
windy
rainy
family
pets
something essential acts stupid or breaks
need sleep!

I can work 5 days a week, and make 80-120 beads in a single day. The weather is record hot and humid here in deep south FL, to the point of being dangerous for the past three weeks. I need to make money but I don't want to die doing it! LOL