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Studio -- Show us your studio setup

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  #1  
Old 2015-03-03, 10:45pm
LunadelaOssa LunadelaOssa is offline
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Talking What is a reasonable number of colors to aim for?

Do you have a lot of different colors? Do you find yourself working more with some colors than others? Do you have colors that you find that you don’t use?

The reason I am asking is I am preparing to order materials for glass storage. Does anyone have a suggestion as to what might be an appropriate number of cubbies for housing the rods?

Thank you in advance.

Claire

Last edited by LunadelaOssa; 2015-03-04 at 4:45am.
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  #2  
Old 2015-03-04, 4:58am
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I think alot of that answer will depend on where your own interests are.

I could see when I started that because I am inclined towards the "Oh Pretty" side of just admiring the glass rods I would have to limit myself to only buying a half dozen colors at any one time.

I started buying very slowly from dozens of different small shops getting one or two rods of glass at a time. Because of that they were all from unknown manufactures although I did ask the shop owners to ensure they were soft glass of the 104 coe.

Once I started buying glass through the mail I would limit my weights to a quarter pound unless it was under $10 a pound but I still restrained myself to a half dozen pounds or so at a time.


So to better answer your question;

You are going to want some clear glass.
Ditto black and white.

The color packs available from just about any of the glass retailers are a good idea to start out.
You will get one or two rods of the primary colors and most of the shades in between.
They have various variety packs with transparents and opalescents and alabasters and streaky types.

The quantity of glass you wind up with will fill the space you set aside to store it in.

How much room are you setting up for glass storage?

Browse through the studio thread photographs to get some ideas.
Keep in mind that those pictures with over two square feet of storage for glass probably took a year to get that big.

I will see if I can hunt up some of my own pictures.
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  #3  
Old 2015-03-04, 8:26am
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With experience you'll quickly figure out what colors you just can't live without. I started out with a couple sample packs of colors. Even with the basics, you'll find that there are certain ones that grab you --intense black vs. black, or CiM Grape Ape vs Effetra dark violet for example . At the start you can get just a few rods of something new, so you can decide if it's worth it to purchase more, or not. Franz has a 'try it before you buy it' option that's wonderful!

I almost always end up putting clear and ivory on every order. Black is the other one I seem to use up fast. Interestingly enough, I don't really use large amounts of either ivory or black in any of my beads... but those little bits in every bead do seem to use it up fast. I use clear as a base for the more expensive glass, plus do a lot of encasing, so I go through it more then any other color.
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  #4  
Old 2015-03-04, 8:42am
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it's very easy to get seduced by glass and overbuy.

If you love the look of hundreds of dollars getting dusty in a nice storage shelf (and admittedly stacks of colored glass are quite lovely), then purchase to your hearts content. I did that and then ended up selling lots of glass back to the community through the GS here.

If you can find some restraint (tough as it is), consider sticking to the basics; black, white, clear and a few favorite colors at first. Then get just a few rods or not more than a 1/4 pounds of a new color and then USE IT (lots of us have "too pretty/expensive/fussy" to use glass gathering dust) before getting more and/or newer colors.
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Old 2015-03-04, 8:44am
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To answer one of your original questions. If I were getting ready to store soft glass, I would plan for about 12 colors.
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  #6  
Old 2015-03-04, 8:54am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AmorphousDesigns View Post
it's very easy to get seduced by glass and overbuy.

If you love the look of hundreds of dollars getting dusty in a nice storage shelf (and admittedly stacks of colored glass are quite lovely), then purchase to your hearts content. I did that and then ended up selling lots of glass back to the community through the GS here.

If you can find some restraint (tough as it is), consider sticking to the basics; black, white, clear and a few favorite colors at first. Then get just a few rods or not more than a 1/4 pounds of a new color and then USE IT (lots of us have "too pretty/expensive/fussy" to use glass gathering dust) before getting more and/or newer colors.
I agree with this. My advice to anyone new is to only buy small amounts of the colours that aren't 'staples' and then really work through the available colours to figure out which ones you want to concentrate on developing skills with. I have a lot of glass that I wish I hadn't bought that I will have to force myself to melt.

My staple colours are White, Black, Ivory, Dark Ivory, Copper Green, Opal Yellow, Intense Black, and Mosaic Green. Then, I have another list of colours that I want to keep in stock because they are proven winners in the beads I like to make, so I buy them when there are sales / really good deals. I've made a point in the last couple of years not to buy any glass that isn't on those lists (with a couple of really minor exceptions) until I've burnt through the backlog of stuff I shouldn't have purchased.

My practice now after seven years is to keep about 24 cubbies with glass in them for the colours I am immediately focused on, and then keep the rest of my glass in storage tubs so that I'm not distracted by it.
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Last edited by MelanieG; 2015-03-04 at 8:58am.
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  #7  
Old 2015-03-04, 9:58am
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I must have been a crow in a past life. I have a ton of colors. I haven't counted, but I'm guessing over 100 at least in COE 104, not counting the silver glass.
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  #8  
Old 2015-03-04, 10:21am
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Quote:
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To answer one of your original questions. If I were getting ready to store soft glass, I would plan for about 12 colors.
You left off three zeros
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Old 2015-03-04, 10:38am
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I guess the answer I would go for is to start small, and leave room for expansion. I think I started with 10-15 colors, but grew from there.
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Old 2015-03-04, 10:57am
nevadaglass nevadaglass is offline
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Here! Here!

I totally agree or else you will find yourself in my predicament- trying to post 165 pounds of destash in the garage sale (which isn't fun to begin with) but to add to the excitement you get to enjoy others complaining about your prices, about shipping charges, blah blah blah blah LOL -
Back to Basics!!! 1/4 pound of anything still makes a lot of "stuff" /wink


Quote:
Originally Posted by MelanieG View Post
I agree with this. My advice to anyone new is to only buy small amounts of the colours that aren't 'staples' and then really work through the available colours to figure out which ones you want to concentrate on developing skills with. I have a lot of glass that I wish I hadn't bought that I will have to force myself to melt.

My staple colours are White, Black, Ivory, Dark Ivory, Copper Green, Opal Yellow, Intense Black, and Mosaic Green. Then, I have another list of colours that I want to keep in stock because they are proven winners in the beads I like to make, so I buy them when there are sales / really good deals. I've made a point in the last couple of years not to buy any glass that isn't on those lists (with a couple of really minor exceptions) until I've burnt through the backlog of stuff I shouldn't have purchased.

My practice now after seven years is to keep about 24 cubbies with glass in them for the colours I am immediately focused on, and then keep the rest of my glass in storage tubs so that I'm not distracted by it.

Last edited by nevadaglass; 2015-03-04 at 11:01am.
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  #11  
Old 2015-03-04, 11:00am
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You left off three zeros
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  #12  
Old 2015-03-04, 1:08pm
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As many cubbies as you can afford.
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  #13  
Old 2015-03-04, 3:11pm
LunadelaOssa LunadelaOssa is offline
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Red face

Thank you everyone for your answers, this is such a great forum! Being new to this, I have so many questions, and you all are very helpful. Your answers are just what I was looking for!

I was just looking at the photos in post number 12 in this thread and it nearly had me swooning.

I had been looking at using the tubing for central vacuum systems, and had put some in my cart at Amazon, mostly as a placeholder. I got a prompt from them this morning and there were only 6 left, so I pulled the trigger on that. I like the idea of starting small and making certain that I have the basic colors. I’ve only got a handful of beads that I made and I think I need to sit with them to figure out what a couple of favorite colors are. And maybe a ½ pound each of black, white and clear?

Wow! At some point I'll be ready to shop for glass. One of my friends does glass fusing, so I'm hoping that our timing will work out and we'll be able to take a trip together down to Los Angeles to go glass shopping.
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  #14  
Old 2015-03-04, 3:44pm
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HAHAHAHAHAHA if that had you swooning you need to see Sheryl Kelseys stash I wish I could find the post/picture



Found it,


sit down



http://www.lampworketc.com/forums/sh...73&postcount=2
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  #15  
Old 2015-03-04, 4:17pm
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You are going to find out that white is one of those colors that will melt if you just look at it and think about lighting the torch.

And there sometimes heated discussions about clear from a dozen different makers.

And then there are the Devardi colors which will lead you to pages and pages of discussions about this inexpensive glass made in India.

But I think you should shop until your eyes get blurry and then wait a week and shop some more but don't buy much of anything until you get a feel for what is out there and what a good price is for that particular glass.

But do set a few pennies aside for some of the exotic stuff. I am talking about the wonderful folks at Double Helix. Don't let the high cost of their normal stuff they sell throw you.

I am suggesting you hunt the mistakes that manufactures wind up with when something goes wrong and they wind up with glass that they might not want to attach the company name to.
Referred to as seconds and thirds these are batches that got screwed up some how and the company does not want to do anything with them but get rid of them.
The secret is that these cast offs are often just wonderful for the frugal student just getting started and often I can not find anything wrong with them but I don't have dozens of year of experience to be able to see it.

Oh and did I mention that some of it is a fantasy to play with in the flame?
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Old 2015-03-04, 4:55pm
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Holy Mother Puss Bucket .....

David.....

Her son did a wonderful job on that studio!


I think I can see a spot on the floor just under the bench where I could sleep and I could live there quiet as a church mouse. Do you think I can get them to adopt me?
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Old 2015-03-04, 4:59pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LunadelaOssa View Post
......One of my friends does glass fusing, so I'm hoping that our timing will work out and we'll be able to take a trip together down to Los Angeles to go glass shopping.
Does said friend have glass scraps she can pass along to you from her projects? That could be a good source of learning glass. As long as you don't mix different types of glass, you should be able to melt it down to make beads
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Old 2015-03-04, 4:59pm
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HAHAHAHAHAHA Phil, that doesn't show the half of it,
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Old 2015-03-04, 6:14pm
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Ivory &/or Dark ivory is another I buy in somewhat larger quantities, although maybe not as much as the white/black/clear.
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  #20  
Old 2015-03-04, 7:44pm
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I keep all my color in a 4 inch diameter piece of pvc. I sometimes wish I had two 2 inch ones instead . If I had it to do over I would have kept the heavy duty box my first order of tubing came in. It was cut down and the box was perfect for storing color in.

Please note I don't make beads.
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Old 2015-03-04, 8:10pm
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You need at least one of every color, so 12,000 colors sounds about right to me.
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Old 2015-03-04, 10:07pm
LunadelaOssa LunadelaOssa is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Elizabeth Beads View Post
You need at least one of every color, so 12,000 colors sounds about right to me.


Oh my, I’m glad I was sitting down to view Sheryl's pics. Hmm.....I can see why it might be tempting to curl up under that table. Field trip, anyone? I’ll have to ask my friend about scraps, that would be a fun way to use colors that I might not otherwise, and perfect for practice beads. I love it, “upcycled” beads.

I do favor ivory, especially the dark. And I’ve read a couple of threads on the clear, one here and Corina Tettinger tested some clears. I’m wondering if the formula changes on those when coming from the same company. Being a beginner I’ll initially be looking at inexpensive clears. I really want to try some imploded flowers.

Shopping? I love shopping! It will be my first time in a glass store, oh god, I’m afraid I’ll behave like a kid in a candy store. I’m thinking about driving down next week for a scouting trip. The pipe that I ordered is 6-8 foot lengths, enough for 48 cubbies. After all I’ve read here, seems like that will be a good number to grow into.
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  #23  
Old 2015-03-05, 5:36am
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Howaco lets you order by the rod, fyi. I think that is a great way to sample colors. I have a lot of full lbs from when I started that I would not order now, as I only use them a little bit. And my favorites have changed over time.
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Old 2015-03-05, 9:46am
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I asked Corina when she made that comparison on her web site and she told me she did not remember what year it was so you will have to take that with the knowledge that it could be a half dozen years old.

And also the formulas can change from batch to batch to batch. Search for a few threads about the color labeled as 'coral' or 'pink' to get an idea of how hard it is to make several thousand pound of a single color.

Also the makers have to deal with the source of materials changing from one delivery to the next.
I am kind of surprised that most of the colors remain somewhat consistent from one year to the next.

The chemistry involved with just getting the glass to qualify as coe 104 is pretty complex let alone trying to get the same color as the last batch.

So...

Shop till you drop, buy what you find that interests you and understand that some of the stuff you might find in the garage sale could be ten or twelve years old and they are not making it to that specific recipe any more.
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Old 2015-03-05, 6:05pm
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Quote:
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As many cubbies as you can afford.
And as many as you can fit into whatever space you have.
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  #26  
Old 2015-03-06, 8:52am
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Oh and glass gets heavy in quantity so ensure your tables can handle the future weight.

It adds up quickly on you.
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Old 2015-03-12, 8:33pm
LunadelaOssa LunadelaOssa is offline
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I've read all of your posts, thank you so much for your replies, they have been extremely helpful. It's going to be hard to resist buying larger quantities of my favorite colors, I'll have to remember what Melanie said, after all, if I spend a lot on a color and it sits, that is less than I can spend on a color I end up using a lot of or want to try out.

The tubes came today, I plan to clean the markings off before I have my husband unearth my saw to cut them to length. My saw will need to find a permanent home as I'll be building the base for the work table soon.
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  #28  
Old 2015-03-12, 9:19pm
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I work boro and stock 4 clear tube sizes all extra heavy wall , lots of clear solid but all my colored rods will fit standing up in a big coffee cup. I might have a couple pounds if that.

I spent lots on my equipment and have a very complete set up now I have a bigger torch. All I have to do is buy glass now. 6 months on the torch on the 23rd.

Maybe by this fall I can dabble in soft glass and enjoy the huge rang of colors. Make a run down to Portland Oregon where I can hurt my bank account.
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  #29  
Old 2015-03-12, 9:39pm
LunadelaOssa LunadelaOssa is offline
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Hannah Rosner's Recycled Glass - did you see this tutorial? I may be starting out with recycled glass myself, I know, getting the shop together is expensive. Every week money goes back into the kitty to pay for it. You're in the Pacific Northwest, Washington State? I bet there's some killer glass in Portland, love that city.
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Old 2015-03-12, 9:50pm
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LOL my honey is a very frugal woman and I try to avoid even mentioning recycled glass.

She would be scrounging up every color under the sun in second hand stores.

I recycle my foul ups now with a home made frit crusher.
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