stringer storage...
 

So I finally got a great glass rack built, however now I have a new problem...STRINGERS! I have Quite a few stringers that look very similar if not the same and have a hard time telling them apart( ex. metallic black and black nebula).
Right now I have three cups with regular colors, silvered colors, and twisties and cane.

So does anyone have a good way to store stringers that would fit on my work bench?

I have taken the this lesson I got from Melanie Moetel's class.

Make what I need and toss them at the end of the session. Now that is easier said than done. But I don't feel bad when they pile up or when I toss them.

Ice Tube trays:

http://cn1.kaboodle.com/hi/img/2/0/0...AAAAAMqhkQ.jpg

You can also use the kind for making popsicles

Well I would do that but I am usually a bit pressed for time so I have days that I call string days and all I do is spend about an hour pulling stringers. That way when I have another hour free I can spend it making beads and my stringers are ready for me.

I am with you on making what you need.. At the end of a beading session, I make an end of the session bead and just use a white base and just pile the stringer on. The only stringer I keep is vine cane, silvered glass, or flower cane.

That looks great! Thank you Shawnette. Where can I buy one of those?

Bed Bath & Beyond, Walmart, Target, etc. You can also make one out of small diameter PVC.

I love I tube trays! I have one each for 96, 104 and boro colors. They're a little tippy if they're not very full, so I poured a few tablespoons of sand down each tube, for added weight.

I like having stringers of various colors ready to go at any time (that's how I roll, baby!). When I get to the end of a rod of a color I like, I'll set it aside and pull stringer while the kiln is warming up.

Metal soup cans and pint mason jars. I prefer not to have any plastic on my worktable. I already rested a hot rod on my mug warmer base. Sizzle!

I taught a class at Bedrock Supply in Edmonton last week, and Kathy had a fantastic little stringer holder at each torching station. It was a piece of wood, about 4x6 inches, and about 3/4 inch thick. The wood had about 16 holes drilled in it, each of which snugly held a straight sided clear test tube.

Brilliant.

I use spice racks. I like to keep organized so these work great for me.
Attachment 75761

Peace Wendy

I've been looking for this for weeks. Linens & things had them, they closed down. Target & walmart around here didn't have them, BB&B didn't have them. I FINALLY found them at REI. You can buy them online if you don't have a store near you. Hope this helps...

Well, that's certainly one of the LAST places I would look ... but there they are!

Don't know how you did that ...

Regards,
- Beck in MN

I use the ice tube trays like Shawnette posted. Bought them at the dollar store for a buck!

They still have more. If you want, I can get however many you want and ship them with the bead you bought from me today. They don't weigh much, but it might be cheaper for you to get them locally. Just thought I'd mention it.

I also used to use a spinning kitchen utensil oganizer. It had a large hole in the middle, and a bunch of smaller sections around the outside and the whole thing was on a lazy susan and spun around. It was good, but took up more room than the ice tube trays...that was why I switched.

Good luck!
~~Mary

I place stringers in the same 'bins' as the original glass. But those are plain and simple stringers, no encasement, just plain stringers.

But for twisties and others, I use what's on the table until they are gone. I've tried storage - then you don't remember the colors or the stuff just sits there picking up airborn dirt. You don't remember if they are perfectly encased or if they have a transparent applied. Every so often, I just make 'end of day' beads all day to get rid of all the stuff. Sometimes the beads suck, sometimes they are fantastic. And they are truly unique, even I don't have a clue as to what I used.

Thanks for the offer. I went to the wicked wal-mart and got one last night. I feel so much better now. I am a major neat freak and I cant leave rods just laying around. Kind of OCD every thing has to have a proper place!!

Thought somebody might like these for stringers.

http://www.barsuppliesdirect.com/Test-Tube-Shooters/

Toni

That's originally what I was thinking of but I didn't want to spend that much. I'm a tight wad!

In a previous question that was similar, someone suggested the Starbucks cappachino bottles. I had a friend who drank one everyday and was willing to give me the bottles. I finally had to stop taking them. They are a great size, hold quite a bit, and are glass so there are no worries about plastic being melted.

I used long tubed ice trays for my stinger storage:

I got one, it works great! Allie, that's the most stringers I have ever seen!!