Is your lampworking dependent on the weather?
 

It dawned on me that many of us have our studios in garages or sheds of some sort. Do you have times of the year when either the heat or cold makes it impossible for you to torch?

Indoor studio here. But, I do prefer to lampwork at night for some reason....

=)

*SQUISHIES* Gail!

I've got a little garden house for a studio, it's not insulated so really cold in the winter and Damn! is it ever hot in the summer. Currently I'm torching from midnight til 4-5 in the morning. All I have to deal with now is all the kamikazi bugs, I've got netting but somehow they still get in :/

In the winter I'm fine though, I've got a woodstove, works great :)

I used to have horrible pressure problems working on a hothead, if the tank is full in the winter the pressure drops quite a bit, but with a nearly empty tank I can't get the torch to light. In the summer the pressure is too much and fluctuates and makes it impossible to torch. I have recently gotten a regulator, as YES you CAN regulate a hothead, with great results! So now I can't be lazy in the summer anymore. My studio is heated in the winter by woodstove and very cool in the summer, so I'm lucky that way.

My stuff is set up in the enclosed breezeway that connects to the house to the garage, so I'm kinda in between. Sometimes it gets really cold in the winter but not as cold as the garage would be. What I did notice this winter is that glass doesn't like to play as nicely when it's extremely cold outside. So, yes, the weather limits how big I can work when it's cold outside.

Like Teresa, I torch overnight in the summer. I actually haven't gone to bed yet :lol: I start torching anywhere between 8 pm and 10 pm and finish up somewhere around 6am or 7am. My studio is in our house, but the humidity up here makes it a paint to work tubin during the day...it all fills up with condensation while your working, which means ya burn your hands. I love heat, but I'd rather torch when it's cool out since I have the choice. In the winter I am fine and I have a little heater if I need it, which I normally don't as the hat from the house, kiln, and torch normally work just fine for me. :)

I wanted to check off both the first two options, because I'm a heat wuss as well as a cold wuss.

Me, too, but the heat bothers me more so I checked that one.

Actually, you missed one. What way the wind is blowing, not the hot and cold.
For a few months in Florida we have had fires. I can't torch when the wind is blowing smoke in the direction of my home. I spent a month not torching recently because the air quality from the smoke was so bad that it caused a lung infection. AND it look so smoky outside I knew I would get sicker.

Can't torch in the garage when it gets warmer than 85 outside. Even with my fans on in the garage it is in direct sunlight and miserable! I work nights so cannot torch at nights! Sucks ha??

Wow, what interesting answers!!-Gail

I vote that it is limiting but I work through it.

That was the closest choice you had.

It is limiting in that my comfort level seriously declines in extreme weather, but I don't have much choice but to work through it.

I work at night anyway, so that helps out in the summer. I take breaks every hour or so to get a cold drink and wipe sweat. When it is 9pm and still 85 degrees outside, my studio, because it is extremely small, gets well over 90 degrees. On those days I keep a water mist bottle handy. Some of my beads take over an hour to make and I'd be in misery if I couldn't do something to curb the heat.

In the winter I dress in layers and have a space heater shooting at me. I keep hot tea or coffee on top of my kiln, and take breaks whenever my toes are numb.

In the fall and spring I can work 5 straight hours without needing a comfort break. Today would actually be perfect torching weather for me. 70 degrees and sunny right now. Light breeze. Perfect.

~~Mary

Yep - I'm with you Ellen. I may try the night torching sometime, though.

In the extreme cold, even though I use a 450 degree rod warmer - I still get lotsa thermal shock. Not only does the thermal shock scare the bejeebus outta me when it happens (I literally jump!), after I get my steadiness back I get really pissed off.

I am one of those lucky ones who live in a mild climate all year round - San Francisco never gets too hot or too cold. I chose "The weather doesn't affect me" but it's only because the weather is always fine.

I'm with Hayley. I can tough it out any time of the year. My "studio" has a skylight thought, and in the middle of the day, it shines light straight down on the torch and I can't see the flame. so I try to take an eating break at that time.

Teague

Well, like Teague, I live in Eugene, but I marked I cannot torch in the extreme cold... My studio is off the master bedroom. We "converted" the screen room outside which is a great set up. The problem is when it is very cold, with the air puling through on ventiliation, I can struggle with shocky glass. I do have a heater, but when the temps are in the 30s, it is a little more challenging for me.

I live in Oregon so usually the weather is great for my garage studio. I am comfortable to about 38 degrees, I too layer and keep tea on top of the kiln, below that I make jewelry instead of torch. I have never had a summer evening or morning that was to hot to torch in the garage. Now finding the time...well that is the other thread :)

Aloha, Chris

Garage in Florida. Every once in a while in the "winter" months, I'll get a day so cold that I just do other things inside but that's only maybe 5 days from October to March. But summer months! I've already switched to early morning because that allows the garage to cool overnight to about 85 degrees. Soon, it'll be quite hot and humid through the night and I probably won't torch at all late June through about mid-August since nothing cools down during the summer! The heat index will stay plus/minus 100 degrees.

Also, as someone said above, I didn't torch when I could smell smoke from the wildfires -- it's just too irritating to my eyes and lungs.

I shouldn't complain, because I USED to work on on outside 2nd floor balcony and be really vulnerable to the weather, but even now, moved inside, outside heat is a consideration.

I have issues for two reasons. One, our electricity is on a time-of-use plan so in the summer we try to turn back the thermostat during the peak hours (1-8 PM, weekdays). That means timing my beadmaking so that the kiln is done or close to it by about 10:30. In summer I'm not much of a morning person, so this is an issue. I could start right at 8 PM, but it's usually still pretty warm in my studio and after all this time I'm still sorta twitchy about running the kiln when I'm asleep.

The other issue is that it's just HOT. As I said above, we turn back the a/c to save on the electric bill, and if I have the kiln and torch running even early in the morning, the heat builds up pretty fast. We just ordered a blackout-style Levolor blind to put in the west-facing studio window, and I'm hoping that will help...the afternoon sun just blazes in there!

Ditto on that one... My studio is in our Florida Room and the smoke was even coming up through the vent hood.. It was yucky..

I am a wuss about the heat.. July, August, and Sept., I will probably torch very little unless I get custom orders or get out there early in the day.. I dream of the day when I have a room in the house specifically set up for lampworking in the nice air conditioning..

I have now shed my five layers, like an animal shedding it's winter coat, and am now working in an eighty degree workshop with shorts and a tea towel over my lap to prevent burns.

Actually today was perfect!

Old, detached garage for me. Because of old wiring, can't run AC or even a space heater, just my kiln. Even so, weather isn't a huge factor.

I'm a morning person, so it isn't unbearable on the summer mornings. In winter, I've discovered electric socks (actually battery run) which keep my feet warm and that's enough to let me torch in below freezing weather.

Still can't beat a 65 to 70 degree day, as few and far between as they come!

Jeanie

I live in VA, so much of the year the temps are pretty good. I have a studio over the garage in an apartment kitchen. I work over the sink and my Lynx is aimed at a window that has a double fan in it when I am torching. There are four problems with this. Strong wind can blow right back through the high setting and mess with the flame, and, if it is a cold wind, it can shatter the sculptural piece I am working on. Cold weather can cause a lot of thermal shock even if I preheat as it sinks down from that open window onto my glass and near my work. Very hot weather means a very high electric bill due to the AC, and finally, humidity can cause a lot of problems with my bead release. I have to keep my coated mandrels near the kiln to keep them dry if I am working for any length of time on a humid day.

I voted for working around the limitations, as I try to shift my times around or work on days that are either warmer, cooler or less windy. I really need to work at night at this time of the year, but that seems to leave me very "wired." I am currently trying to work in the morning instead, but I am not really a morning person, so the plan has not been very successful yet, LOL!

It just gets too hot in my garage when the temp gets over 90-100 degrees. I have an airconditioner but with all the heat the kiln puts out and the fan sucks the cold air out it is hopeless.
Oh, know what you mean...not a morning person. If I do it late I can't get to sleep, might as well stay up all night....which I would do if I were not married.

I'm in the same situation as Karen out here in the AZ barbeque pit! I work indoors, but that means sucking precious AC outside and having a window open for make up air pulling HOT air back inside! I am definitely a night owl, but during the 4 months it is intolerably hot outside, I have to get up at 4:30 or 5:00 a.m. to get some good torch time in.

Sooooo true for me! It's not unusual to find me torching in bra and knickers in summer!!! Then in winter (like now) i'm frigging freezing. i am outside under a pergola

My studio gets too cold in the DEAD cold of winter, and during the summer I have to torch in the early morning, because by later in the day it's way too hot.

basement studio here so nice all year round. actually in the summer the basement is the coolest place in the house. I am limited to torching at night
(8-12) because life gets in the way

yesterday was 102 outside. It was stinking hot when I torched. I took a break after each bead. But the weather was not going to stop me. I have no idea how hot the inside of my studio was. But with the ventilation, going outside was a lot cooler......

Jacksonville gets hot in the summer! Torch naked! Well, almost naked.... LOL.

I spent my first two years torching in my basement with my coat on!!

Paula