praxidis
2010-06-20, 9:53am
Hello all!
About 12 years ago, I became fascinated with glass beadmaking. Lucky for me, there was a stained glass shop in my town that offered lampworking classes. I took a few classes then got totally hooked! I made beads for a few years then quit when I was pregnant with my first child. A lot of time passed, one thing led to another, we moved across the country and I just never had time to go back to beadmaking.
Now, both of my kids are in school, we moved into a house that already had a studio in the back (previous owner was a painter and mosaic artist) and I want to start beadmaking again. After seeing all the great beads people are making now, I've gotten really inspired!
I have dug out my old Hot Head and wasted a couple of mapp cylinders practicing (I have a lot to relearn!) but I was wondering-
I always wanted to move up to a Oxygen/propane set up...and now since I have a studio space (its a 12x15 stand alone space with good ventilation but not hard wired for electricity-this is a problem for my kiln I know) I was wondering what would be a good next step up as far as torches go? Have there been improvements in the past 10 years or is a minor bench burner still a solid choice? I want to stay with soft glass (thats enough of a challenge for me), I have a used kiln I got from a friend (its a paragon PMC kiln, can be modded for a bead door which I plan to do), but I need a torch update.
Thanks in advance!
About 12 years ago, I became fascinated with glass beadmaking. Lucky for me, there was a stained glass shop in my town that offered lampworking classes. I took a few classes then got totally hooked! I made beads for a few years then quit when I was pregnant with my first child. A lot of time passed, one thing led to another, we moved across the country and I just never had time to go back to beadmaking.
Now, both of my kids are in school, we moved into a house that already had a studio in the back (previous owner was a painter and mosaic artist) and I want to start beadmaking again. After seeing all the great beads people are making now, I've gotten really inspired!
I have dug out my old Hot Head and wasted a couple of mapp cylinders practicing (I have a lot to relearn!) but I was wondering-
I always wanted to move up to a Oxygen/propane set up...and now since I have a studio space (its a 12x15 stand alone space with good ventilation but not hard wired for electricity-this is a problem for my kiln I know) I was wondering what would be a good next step up as far as torches go? Have there been improvements in the past 10 years or is a minor bench burner still a solid choice? I want to stay with soft glass (thats enough of a challenge for me), I have a used kiln I got from a friend (its a paragon PMC kiln, can be modded for a bead door which I plan to do), but I need a torch update.
Thanks in advance!