Lampwork Etc.

Lampwork Etc. (http://www.lampworketc.com/forums/index.php)
-   Studio (http://www.lampworketc.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=37)
-   -   How do you organize your silver glass/striking glass? (http://www.lampworketc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=281343)

Eileen 2015-09-02 9:10pm

How do you organize your silver glass/striking glass?
 
I have pulled mine out, and am going to put it back in a more organized way, and make a chart showing where it is since it isn't easy to see what's what, like the regular colors are.

I am debating, and just wondered if you would share what works for you.
Alphabetical?
Do you separate the striking and reducing colors?
Do you organize by manufacturer? I have mostly Double Helix, but do have some Striking Color and a scattering of others.

Any suggestions (photos welcome too of course) would be most helpful. I do plan to put labels on all of it before it goes back in the cupboard, just in case it gets mixed in with my other colors on the workbench.

Michele R. 2015-09-03 3:59am

I still use mine pretty sparingly, but I'll share what works for me...

I keep (within arm's reach of my torch) a 6in square glass recycled vase that I have sand in - about 3/4 full. Along the sides I have vertical labels for each glass. One side is striking, one is striking/reducing, and 2 sides are just reducing. I keep one full rod plus whatever partial rod I'm currently using of each color lined up behind the label. The rods are also individually labeled. All of the excess is in a box to replace as needed. I probably have 24+ different colors in one vase.

The nice thing about this, is if I pull stringers, I can poke them in the sand behind the correct label until I can get it labeled - if I ever do... For each side of the vase, I have arranged the order of the glass so that similar looking rods are not next to each other. (ie.: Keep your Olympic Rain away from your Aion2...)

I like that when I'm working on a bead, and decide at the last minute I need some shiny dots on it, I just turn it to the "reducing" side and grab a stringer from that side. It helps when you don't have every name with its associated properties memorized.

Since I rarely would use a full rod of one color at each session, this works well for me.

I'd attach a photo, but I just moved and am in process of putting together a new studio, so all my glass is packed up... :sad:

AnArtistontheInside 2015-09-03 4:47am

I separate mine into separate shelves for Striking, Reducing, and Both. I keep a rod of each glass in a small jar near my torch and, because reading labels mid-bead is a recipe for trouble, I also have small sticky labels on each rod. Neon yellow for Striking, Neon green for Reducing and both for Both. Works like a dream. Just a bit labor intensive at the front end. Then again, I find soring and labelling new shipments of glass oddly soothing :)

Eileen 2015-09-03 6:15am

My mind is percolating these ideas, thanks to both of you. Hmmmm....

Hayley 2015-09-03 10:55am

By manufacturers, then alphabetically. StrikingColor, Precision 104, TAG104, GTG, and Bella Donna.

I store all my glass in 48" x 36" metal flat files. With Double Helix, the stock colors are in the front row and their corresponding test batches in the back row. Test batches that never made it to stock colors are in different drawers, again alphabetically. Overflows are in boxes.

Eileen 2015-09-03 1:39pm

Hayley, after making a list so I can make labels, and realizing how little I use it, I'm more glad than ever that I will be spending a week learning from you at Bead Camp in a few months! :D

dsglass 2015-09-03 11:04pm

....organize? 8-[

Eileen 2015-09-04 5:50am

Quote:

Originally Posted by dsglass (Post 4786824)
....organize? 8-[

:lol:
That's the way I've been doing it, but I am going to try something new ;)

echeveria 2015-09-04 6:16am

I have a couple of separate shelves for it, storage is steel shelving with fence rail sections. Mine is roughly alphabetical, but I have the test batches in a separate section since I cannot recall them by name readily.

I use a lot of it in stringer form, and have the upright water bottle ice trays for storage. I stick a labeled short of the rod into the slot with the stringers if I have one. If not, I stick a Post-it flag with the name on the side of that section.

Eileen 2015-09-04 7:24am

Thank you everyone. From what I have read so far, I am slowly getting my head settled.

One thing I will do is code the chart I am making for where the glass is. The glass is going to be in a cabinet with a door. On the door will be a diagram with the slots labeled with the name, and now I am planning to color code it so that I will be able to see at a glance the strike/reduce/both characteristics of each glass. I do know a few, but I think that will encourage me to experiment with some that I have not got experience with, or not much anyway.

echeveria 2015-09-04 8:03am

I think color coding is a good idea, especially if you aren't using them a lot. I find that I tend to ignore the striking colors in favor of the reducing one.

Hayley 2015-09-04 9:09am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eileen (Post 4786672)
Hayley, after making a list so I can make labels, and realizing how little I use it, I'm more glad than ever that I will be spending a week learning from you at Bead Camp in a few months! :D

Woohoo! I am so excited to spend a week with you, Eileen! We will have so much fun! :)

Hayley 2015-09-04 9:17am

Took a picture of the Double Helix stock colors and their corresponding test batches. Aether, Zephyr and the other test batches are on different drawers.


Tillie 2015-09-04 9:37am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eileen (Post 4786672)
Hayley, after making a list so I can make labels, and realizing how little I use it, I'm more glad than ever that I will be spending a week learning from you at Bead Camp in a few months! :D

Eileen, can you pm me with details on Hayley's class at Bead Camp?


I'm ashamed to say that I have all my "special" glass in my top row...and all the rest just stored by color. I do have everything separated by COE! And 90% is labeled. Sounds like I need to reorganize or rather....organize....no "re" to it.

Eileen 2015-09-04 9:58am

Sure!

Hayley 2015-09-04 10:12am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tillie (Post 4786899)
Eileen, can you pm me with details on Hayley's class at Bead Camp?


I'm ashamed to say that I have all my "special" glass in my top row...and all the rest just stored by color. I do have everything separated by COE! And 90% is labeled. Sounds like I need to reorganize or rather....organize....no "re" to it.

Love to have you join us, Tillie! The session Eileen signed up for is full but we added a new session the week before - 5 to 9 January. Here is a link to my workshop schedule page:

http://envisionsf.com/schedule.html

glasshouse 2015-09-05 8:15am

Wow, Hayley!

The pile on the left side of my torch is silver glass. The pile on the right side of my torch is regular glass. These are single rods or so of each color I grabbed from the box. I generally don't unpack my glass. I have a stack of boxes. Occasionally I consolidate boxes. If I want an older batch I have to go down a few box layers. I keep the labeled rod in the box so I can remember what it is.

I don't recommend my method. I really want a cabinet with drawers. Leaving glass out on a shelf just makes for dusty glass, so I keep it clean in the box, but the pile is an eyesore.

IronWolfforge 2015-09-06 7:41am

Hayley like the cabinet set up looks like an old blue print cabinet ? with plastic silverware
trays in it,thats what I have just No where near that amount of glass yet !
Now speaking like a blacksmith we have MANY!!! chisels of many shapes & forms we use
what we do cut a short steel SQ Tube say 1" x 1" by how ever long you want X however many pieces then weld them together this gives you rows of pockets for youre tools & then can be
labeled - if you add so sand then you could stick glass rod into also ** there easy to make
you could use plastic SQ Tube if you can find it & some glue

Steve

Eileen 2015-09-06 8:27am

I do have a combination of round PVC and PVC fence railing with 4 squares, plus a little rectangular downspout (that that is way to big for my DH, I use it for black/clear/ivories, etc.
It seems like no matter how many extra tubes I make, I always end up filling them though ;)

MelanieG 2015-09-07 1:06pm

All of my silver glass is grouped together by colour with elastics and stored in a plastic tote. The four or five colours I am working with at any given time have their own tube on my working glass shelf and their own place at my bench. I try not to use things that are very similar at the same time so that I don't get them confused.

carolinainmymind 2015-09-17 10:11am

All of my glass is in PVC tubes on shelving. The silver glass is in a separate section. I am anal retentive about labelling every rod when it comes in, using masking tape. For regular colors the label is applied parallel down the rod. For silver colors, they are wrapped perpendicular around the end, like a little flag. It says, hey, I'm special, pay attention when you pick me to use!

Curly Irish Girl 2015-09-17 6:12pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hayley (Post 4786891)
Took a picture of the Double Helix stock colors and their corresponding test batches. Aether, Zephyr and the other test batches are on different drawers.


OMG!!! Will you marry me for a week and organize my studio????? Hahaha!! Love it! Actually mine is well organized by mfg then alpha...each in its own clear plastic storage bag or bundled with rubber band....you would be proud! Now to tough out the next few weeks and get my rt eye fixed and be able to see to do the detail on some lovely bead styles I learned from a delightful and talented woman from San Francisco!!

Eileen 2016-08-02 7:30pm

I am changing my pvc tubes to the fence railing in my silver glass section, and reorganizing. I did a search, and this thread popped up, LOL. It hasn't even been a year and I forgot I had asked before!

This time I am going strictly alpha (but in manufacturer groups), unless I have a test batch that later got a name, and those test batches will go in adjoining bins with the named glass if I have it, with the new name on my chart along with the test batch identifier, because I can't remember which turned to which later. Any test batches that didn't get named I am still debating. Either keep strictly alpha, or put them all in one area in their own alpha order. I am marking the chart with S, R, SR, SL so I can look at it and remind myself if I didn't note it on the labels.

It isn't nearly as pretty on the shelf as the regular colors, but the possibilities abound!


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 2:28pm.

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.5
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.