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Jelveh Designs - Glass Beads Torched One-by-One

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Go Back   Lampwork Etc. > Library > Studio

Studio -- Show us your studio setup

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  #1  
Old 2010-02-10, 7:11pm
faiel faiel is offline
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Default Adive on setting up my studio, etc

Hello all. I have been reading alot of posts about studio set up and wanted to solicit some advice before I take the plunge and shell out the $$. I've been taking classes for about 8 months, and want more than 7 hrs per week torch time.

This is a pic of the future desk. The desk to the right of the shelves is where my silversmith set up is and I have an oxy-acetylene torch. Shelves in the middle store beads and various jewelry making supplies. Left side currently houses hubby's bullet re-loading equipment which will have to be moved to the garage. Excess clutter will be moved as well. The floor is slate tile for 8 feet back from the wall, then carpet. How far back shoould I be concerned about the flamability of carpet?

I intend to go with an oxygen concentrator, and plan to cover the desk, wall, and possibly shelves to the right with either sheet metal or concrete board. I am not sure which is better. I know I need a ventalation hood and am wondering what is best - to rig something myself, or buy a kitchen hood. Any suggestions on a safe but cheap hood setup? And if I run the hood into the attic, will a fan in the window to the left be enough fresh air?

Next is fuel - Propane has to go outside, but the lines to the propane tanks would be right below my fresh air source. Is that a problem? We have natural gas in the house and the main inlet valve is actually about 12 feet back along the wall to the left of the pic. Is it cost effective to have a natual gas line put in, rather than deal with propane tanks and how long does a grill sized propane tank last? I have actually only worked with natural gas as thats what they use in the studio where I take classes and I am not sure about the difference while flameworking. I intend to get a Nortel Minor, since that is what I typically use in class, but want to keep in mind the possibility of a bigger torch for boro in the future . . . .


Any insight or suggestions would be welcome.

Thanks

faiel.

Last edited by faiel; 2010-02-10 at 7:58pm.
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  #2  
Old 2010-02-10, 7:14pm
faiel faiel is offline
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OK, here is the pic. I am new to this posting thing.
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  #3  
Old 2010-02-11, 10:28am
NMLinda NMLinda is offline
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Welcome, Faiel!

Backer board is probably the best choice to cover your work area and behind your torch. Sheet metal can transmit heat to the surfaces underneath and behind - the backer board is thicker and doesn't transmit as much.

Just opening your window will be enough to give you the fresh make-up air you need. Remember that you need to have your vent exhaust 10 feet or more away from your make-up air source.

You can make your own vent hood relatively inexpensively. Don't waste your money on a kitchen hood/fan however. I've only seen one model (posted a while back by Dale M) that has a fan sized for our needs. Nothing in places like Home Depot or Lowes are even close to adequate. Making your own isn't hard and can be quite inexpensive. I framed one of my hoods up out of left over 2x4's and then covered it in backer board. Some folks have made them from sheet metal, equally inexpensively.

In my opinion, the safest style of vent hood is what's called a barley box (essentially a classic fume hood, popularized by Michael Barley for lampworking). If you search LE on 'barley box' you'll find post by folks who have shared pictures. One of my favorite examples is Robert Simmons' - if you search on his posts, you'll find a couple where he's shared pictures of his set up.

The biggest expense is in getting the right fan, and this is one area, like eye protection, you do NOT want to skimp on. It's extremely important to be sure you have the right type of fan and the right cfm rating for the hood you want to build. For the hood sizes most of us prefer, you'll most likely be looking at a fan with a cfm rating of ~675 cfm or larger. The best type for most of us turn out to be in-line ventilation fans (like Fantech, Vortex or CanFan) or squirrel cage fans. Both types are designed such that they perform well looking into the typical static pressures our vent ducting produces (kitchen range hood fans seldom do, by the way). Under the right circumstances, some folks have successfully adapted attic fans, but that won't work in your arrangement. Don't bother with duct boosters you might find at Home Depot or Lowes - useless. They require a real fan (like the inline fans) to operate correctly, so they're also a waste of money, since you can get one fan of the right type that will do the job. Inline fans can run $300-$700 new, but you can find them second hand on places like Craig's list. Equally good used squirrel cage fans are easy to find on Craig's list, and are generally much cheaper (I've seen posts by folks who have found good used squirrel cage fans for under $100). But if you can't find the right fan used, this is where it's well worth paying the bucks for it new.

One of the best resources for understanding how to design a safe ventilation system is

mikeaurelius.wordpress.com/ventilation-primer/

Another excellent site for overall safety, including ventilation is

http://www.artglassanswers.com/

This one requires a membership to see the pictures and diagrams, which I highly recommend.

Linda
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  #4  
Old 2010-02-11, 11:07am
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laserglass laserglass is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by faiel View Post
Hello all. I have been reading alot of posts about studio set up and wanted to solicit some advice before I take the plunge and shell out the $$. I've been taking classes for about 8 months, and want more than 7 hrs per week torch time.

This is a pic of the future desk. The desk to the right of the shelves is where my silversmith set up is and I have an oxy-acetylene torch. Shelves in the middle store beads and various jewelry making supplies. Left side currently houses hubby's bullet re-loading equipment which will have to be moved to the garage. Excess clutter will be moved as well. The floor is slate tile for 8 feet back from the wall, then carpet. How far back shoould I be concerned about the flamability of carpet?

I intend to go with an oxygen concentrator, and plan to cover the desk, wall, and possibly shelves to the right with either sheet metal or concrete board. I am not sure which is better. I know I need a ventalation hood and am wondering what is best - to rig something myself, or buy a kitchen hood. Any suggestions on a safe but cheap hood setup? And if I run the hood into the attic, will a fan in the window to the left be enough fresh air?

Next is fuel - Propane has to go outside, but the lines to the propane tanks would be right below my fresh air source. Is that a problem? We have natural gas in the house and the main inlet valve is actually about 12 feet back along the wall to the left of the pic. Is it cost effective to have a natual gas line put in, rather than deal with propane tanks and how long does a grill sized propane tank last? I have actually only worked with natural gas as thats what they use in the studio where I take classes and I am not sure about the difference while flameworking. I intend to get a Nortel Minor, since that is what I typically use in class, but want to keep in mind the possibility of a bigger torch for boro in the future . . . .


Any insight or suggestions would be welcome.

Thanks

faiel.
your ventilation needs to go all the way outside, and not into the attic. your make up air should not be anywhere near your propane tanks. IMHO i would use natural gas and move your work area to minimize the cost of ventilation and natural gas instalation. you can build a low cost, freestanding hood like i built, or you can attach it to the walls but it needs to be enclosed on all sides to minimize the face area. for example, my face area is 32 inches wide and 24 inches tall. all other sides are closed up with fire proof cement wall board. my studio sits on top of a 4 foot banquet table i got at walmart. minimal permament modifications to my home other than the hole in the wall and added natural gas connection.
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  #5  
Old 2010-02-11, 7:41pm
faiel faiel is offline
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Thank you for your input.
laserglass, not contrdicting you about venting into the attic, but wondering why this is a bad idea? I asked my instructor at the studio where I take classes and this is what she does. And I really cannot move my work area. Closer to the natural gas inlet, and I will be over carpet, and this is the only room I can ensure that my toddler has no access. My attic is huge, and I could run ducting to one of the vents to the outside that are all arround the perimeter of the attic . . . . And if I do have natural gas plummed, which would come along the wall right below the window, can I use the windo for make up air?
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  #6  
Old 2010-02-12, 9:03am
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Dale M. Dale M. is offline
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Venting into attic space completely fills attic space completely with carbon monoxide gas (CO) and nitric oxides (NOX) and heavy metals from glass and fuming and what ever.... This will contaminate whole attic space and make it a danger to access if one ever has to go up there, also it will seep through ceiling and minute cracks into every room in house and in time completely contaminate house and make whole house health hazard.....

Many people run glass studios and many studios are safe, and many studios are not....... Evidently the person who you spoke to is not a informed person about studio safety... Unfortunately there are some studio owners that don't care or are not informed or to ho-hum to do it right..

Ventilation need not only to bring fresh outside air into studio bit to exhaust contaminated air outside so nature can dilute and break down the gasses and particles into harmless components....

You can take vent system out ceiling and THROUGH attic but it must NOT stop there....

Using the window for make up air is not a problem.... And any good plumber should be able to bring in the Natural Gas along any wall, inside or outside (preferably outside) to with in a few feet to where you need it.... Just be sure shut off valve is easily accessible because you will be turning it ON at beginning of every torch session and OFF at end of every torch session... You can not depend on rubber hose not becoming a problem (damaged . brittle, leaking) or the valve on torch not function properly... A GAS APPROVED shut off valve at end of metal piping is mandatory (also it is code everywhere)....

Dale
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Last edited by Dale M.; 2010-02-12 at 9:10am.
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  #7  
Old 2010-02-15, 8:02am
faiel faiel is offline
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Thanks again for all the input. I really appreciate it.
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  #8  
Old 2010-02-15, 4:20pm
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cheng076 cheng076 is offline
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Dale has given you good advice. I would like to mention that a metal backdrop for a torch station is perfectly safe IF you leave an air space between it and the wall. 1/2" to 1" is all that's needed. What happens is that the warm metal surface starts a convection current that draws cool air up between the wall and the metal keeping the wall and the metal very cool. A lot of zero clearance fireplaces are installed this way and comply with US building code.
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