Studio layout thoughts

MikeAurelius · #1 2005-09-16, 6:40am

Sarah's post in the safety forum about her planned studio, and my observation about 'handedness' has got me thinking...

Gail Joseph · #2 2005-09-16, 7:00am

I answered with the "mess" option....But there is a pattern to my mess. My glass in use (i.e. the big pile) is to the right of my torch)...The tools I use a lot are to the right of my table, usually resting on top of my stainless icebucket filled with water. My presses, frits and mandrels are on the left side of my table.

Jacinthe · #3 2005-09-16, 7:08am

I'm with you Gail...
glass, tools I use, water jar and my presses are on my right in front of me
my mandrels, flowerpot, and frits on my left

But its a mess when I've been playing for 2 weeks

DesertDreamer · #4 2005-09-16, 8:20am

I'm semi ambi. My tools are on the right, my glass is on the left. Kiln's on the right, too.

chrisdd · #5 2005-09-16, 9:08am

I'm a semi-ambi lefty. I keep all glass and frequently used tools on the right. I have a rollaway cart with occasionally used items to the left. Frit rolling and bead pressing takes place on the left. To keep from getting burned I keep nothing under my torch.

Marie · #6 2005-09-16, 12:52pm

I guess my workspace is a mess. I have tools on the right, presses on the left, glass all over but mostly on the right. And various other odds and ends scattered about!

Orchid40 · #7 2005-09-16, 1:40pm

A mess! Although I did just try to staighten it up a bid, unfortunately that only lasted one session..oh well!!

Char

Shawn T · #8 2005-09-16, 4:18pm

I am right handed but lampworking has made me use my left hand for more and more things. I can now use my left hand very well. Some of my tools are on the right, but I know which one are on the left side and why they are there. My glass is all in front of me on my rod rest, as I pick it out before I make my bead. Stringers are in glass jars in front of me also. So I can't vote in your poll, as there isn't an answer for me.

Roseanne · #9 2005-09-16, 4:29pm

I'm right handed, tools on the right, glass & kiln on the left. Kiln on my left because after decorating the bead w/my right hand the mandrel is in my left hand, open kiln w/ right hand & pop it in w/lefty. Grab a new glass rod w/lefty, switch to righty to melt

And I voted for Ambi, tools on my right

paintingwithglass · #10 2005-09-16, 4:31pm

Hmmmm....your poll does not cover what I do....I systematically have my tools on the right and the left side of my torch (I have about a dozen on each side all lined up by the way I will use them when I am working... I know I am the poster child for a.r. -ness.

...glass is on both sides on a long glass rod holder....usually by the color and size....now the mess of glass is in the what would be second torch space...just a big ol' pile of glass that I have used and needed to set up a new color palette so it gets scooped up and dumped there...now I also have some tools in front of the big mass of glass on Uncle Al's tool holders (not used very often tools)...then I have some tools to the left of me on a shelf (presses, etc.--hardly used tools) and some above the shelf on the table top to the left of my torch station (graphite pads, marble molds, mandrels,etc.).

Frostfire · #11 2005-09-17, 9:38pm

Let's see, tools on the right except for graphite pad, dual action marver, and Val Cox marver, which all are on the left. Oh, and the striker, which hangs from a bolt on the left. Full rods of glass are in a container in the left rear corner until I get ready to use them, while rods-in-use and rod pieces are on my right. Kiln is on the table behind me -- my chair swivels, so I just swivel around to put the bead in the kiln.

Donovan the Supervising Cat lounges on the floor behind me to my right, well out of the way. He's not exactly the brightest lightbulb in the box, but he DOES have enough sense to stay out of the way! Sarah the Diva Goddess Cat reclines in the desk chair behind the kiln table, beside my other crafts table. She is much smarter than Donovan and doesn't even think about getting in the way.

Moth · #12 2005-09-18, 9:19pm

Right handed. Tools and glass on the right. Water bowl on the right.

Mandrels, frits and metals on the left.

WillfulOne · #13 2005-09-19, 4:55am

Right handed here. Glass on the right. Water bowl center, left of flame. Mandrels center, right of flame. Tools on the left. Kiln on the left.

Yes, I am another of the 'a.r.' folks. Everything has its place and all glass and frit are arranged by color. Heck, I even wipe down the work table when I am done. I just have a hard time getting started with a messy table. OMG those of you who posted pics of your messy work stations. I would be in a nervious twit. One question, How do you all know what color those stringers are when they are in mass like that? Is that apart of the 'going where no man has been' rule. You know, SURPRISE. I am a beautiful bead now try to figure out what colors you used to make me. I break into sweat just thinking about it. Oh, It did just occur to me maybe thats what I am doing is wrong..... Maybe my beads would look better if messed things up a bit. Naw, I just cannot bring myself to do it, yet. I do have my limits however and may have to give it a try soon if my beads dont improve.

debbie

papimom · #14 2011-08-10, 4:16pm

Sounds like we all have similar arrangements. Some of this, some of that. As long as it works, that's what counts.
Joan

glassymom · #15 2011-08-10, 5:25pm

I'm a righty. My kiln is on the right..........everything else is everywhere! glass in front of me, to the right of me, to the left of me..........tools...Well, I have a magnetic holder on each side of me so tools on left, right, left and right on my bench and also in front of me, (down in front of my torch)
Its a mess.....On occasion I pick the glass shorts up, throw them in a coffee can, move the big stuff away and use a paint brush to sweep the rest into the trash! Clean!!

sue

SerendipityArtGlass · #16 2011-08-10, 9:19pm

I voted for a mess, although most of my tools. etc are to my right. I just have a habit of dropping stuff off to the left where I can't find it when I need it!

foolrex · #17 2011-08-10, 9:42pm

Voted for mess, but . . . I am a righty. For electrical reasons, my kiln is on the left of my chair . . . which leaves most of my glass storgae on the right of where I sit. In a cabinet under the kiln I store frits, murrini, extra bead release and dichro, etc. that I am not using regularly. On a vertical board to the left (and in front of my torch area) is my tool storage area and my water pot (at the front and handy to the kiln for when I take stuff out). But I have a rod rest slightly in front of and to the right of my torch where I have some rods in use and to the right of that, on the work table (BTW, left side is covered with a sheet of stainless steel, right side is a slab of granite with the torch roughly in the center) are some canisters - separated - with stringers (solid colors or transparent), twisties, stringers of silver reducing glass (DH, TAG, BellaDonna, etc.), and silvered stringers (mostly silvered ivory or black). It seems a mess, but I know where what I need is.

jaybee766 · #18 2011-08-11, 3:17pm

This is such a great question. I was wondering if I was crazy or if there was a way things were "supposed" to be. I'm a righty but feel like there isn't enough space to the right. I feel like I need access to tools more quickly so keep those on the right and glass on the left but I do hate reaching across the flame and mandrel to get to the glass so I tend to flip flop the mandrel from hand to hand to pick up glass. SIGH......

Pia Kaven · #19 2011-08-12, 8:18am

I have my kiln on the table to the left of me. My glass is on my right. Then I have on my both sides storage units, the tools are on the left, and some that gets used all the time, are on the right of the torch on the table. Glass storage is on the right. My presses are on the right ahead of me, and my mandrels are also on my right... I need more room on my right for things, but dont know how!

shawnette · #20 2011-08-12, 10:07am

I voted mess but my glass is to the right and tools are to the left.

CheriB · #21 2015-10-27, 4:59pm

Messy mess, but the kiln is to the left, glass not in use is in an armoire to the left side of the kiln against a wall; glass in use is in the front of the torch and to the right. Tools in use are just to the right; those not in use are to the far right, and on pegboard hanging from the wall, and on a rotating storage rack (bought from Borders bookstore that went out of business) and in a toolbox from Habitat For Humanity thrift store, etc. And overall it's not nearly as organized as it sounds.

Deb L · #22 2015-10-30, 11:26am

Glass in front, mandrels and tools right and left, kiln behind me due to space issues. I'm a righty so I want to keep most things on the right but it just doesn't work out that way. I don't consider myself messy until I look at my bench after a few hours. I usually don't clean up until I change coes or totally change colors, like from brights to neutrals. I do store most things on the right, such as tools, frits, foils, etc. I'm not using.

Hmm...found this pix from a couple of years ago. Things do seem to be on the right more. But that is as much because I'm on the left edge of the table and have no room there. I save the other end for cutting big sheets of glass. Gee, I sure have more glass than then! (And a nice new concentrator!) Kiln is behind the cart.