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Tips, Techniques, and Questions -- Technical questions or tips |
View Poll Results: What were you most afraid of as a lampwork virgin?
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Lighting the torch
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227 |
42.91% |
Shocky glass flying at you
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126 |
23.82% |
Not being as good as you hoped to be
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146 |
27.60% |
Not having everything "just right"
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55 |
10.40% |
2013-02-11, 2:02pm
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Flame On!
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Join Date: Aug 01, 2010
Location: Virginia Beach, Va
Posts: 115
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I was afraid of the TORCH! Bwahahaha!!!! Sad, but true, the very idea of lighting it made me a tad queasy.
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2013-02-11, 3:16pm
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Dec 21, 2012
Location: Castle Rock, Colorado
Posts: 222
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For me..being at it a whopping month and a half..it's sucking so bad i have to sell everything off I have a severe handicap...i have absolutely ZIPPO color coordination..to the point i ask the clerks in stores..do these match ha ha...i can put a website together piece of cake...clothes..not so much.
Becky
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Becky Noe
Becky Noe Photography & Design
Newbie - But like a sponge To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
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2013-02-13, 12:56am
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The Harbinger of Cuteness
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Join Date: Dec 11, 2007
Location: Los Osos, San Luis Obispo County, California
Posts: 1,465
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BeckyNoe
I have a severe handicap...i have absolutely ZIPPO color coordination..
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Haha, Becky, you sound just like me. After pulling many beads out of the kiln I say to myself, "I SWEAR these colors looked great next to each other in rod form!"
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Aimee Moisa
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To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. #M-191
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2013-02-13, 6:01pm
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Loving learning
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Join Date: Oct 11, 2010
Location: Florida
Posts: 11,699
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Becky, there are a couple of tutorials for sale where they are showing you color combos that work!
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My current "hot" fantasy involves a senior discount on glass & tools!
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2013-02-13, 9:13pm
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Oct 26, 2011
Location: Amarillo, TX
Posts: 254
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I was afraid of lighting the torch. My hubby insisted I use a striker cause it's much safer. Yea, right. It seems I always had to turn my propane up so high it would almost explode when I lit it. Now I use a Bic lighter & it works so much better & doesn't scare me any more.
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2013-02-14, 4:49am
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Now part of the Dark Side
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Join Date: Jul 02, 2010
Location: North Central PA
Posts: 966
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Molly Bird
I was afraid of lighting the torch. My hubby insisted I use a striker cause it's much safer. Yea, right. It seems I always had to turn my propane up so high it would almost explode when I lit it. Now I use a Bic lighter & it works so much better & doesn't scare me any more.
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As long as you keep your Bic lighter up and away from your torch you are good, a Zippo is much safer.
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Roy
Hot glass does not crack.
Unless it is glowing and drippy, hot glass looks like cold glass.
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2013-02-15, 3:44am
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Artistically Absorbed
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Join Date: Jul 27, 2007
Location: Emerald City
Posts: 546
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I checked shocky glass, but really my biggest fear was burning down my studio space, which was in someone elses house! I made an entire floor of plywood covered in metal for the the room they let me use because I was so paranoid! Also I think when you first start people like to tell you the stories of studios that blow up...or at least in my case that was so....Major Nervous Nellies!!! Thankfully it wasn't as scary as I thought!
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2013-02-17, 11:46am
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It's about having fun!
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Join Date: Sep 30, 2010
Location: Arizona
Posts: 552
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I was afraid of the kiln! Seems so silly now but it sat there for months before we fired it up! I guess I thought it would just get so hot that it must be very dangerous..
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The Boneyard Punch Tutorial: Learn how to make a simple tool that will easily put a hole in hot glass! It really works! See my Etsy!
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2013-02-17, 2:45pm
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Junior Member
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Join Date: Jan 24, 2013
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
Posts: 26
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I guess Im lucky, Im a newbie who is, apart from spiders, not afraid of much. Just make sure you keep your hair up!
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2013-02-20, 6:50pm
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Apr 08, 2011
Location: NC
Posts: 1,687
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I was terrified that my safety skills were not up to par. I live in the boonies, and didn't have anyone to check out my studio, torch, etc., and I almost had nightmares about it!
Finally, after messing around for almost a week, I lit the torch and it worked! I turned on the exhaust fan and it worked so well that it sucked up any bugs in the room!
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Barbara
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2013-03-12, 7:22am
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hyperT
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Join Date: Jan 31, 2013
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Posts: 582
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My uncle who I was apprenticed to LOL
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2013-03-12, 4:39pm
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Junior Member
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Join Date: Jan 10, 2008
Posts: 17
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Finding out that there really are dumb questions
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2013-03-17, 1:30pm
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addicted to dichro
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Join Date: Jan 05, 2006
Location: Maine
Posts: 2,402
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Definitely the popping glass. I was pretty terrified until I realized that yes it's true that it almost always pops away from you. I just had my dad light the torch for me at first so that wasn't an issue. I was 15 when I started making beads so I had a bit of parental supervision.
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2013-04-17, 12:43pm
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Apr 03, 2013
Posts: 129
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I just started out and I'm surprisingly not afraid of the torch at all, or shocky glass cause I have experienced a lot of that but it has tended to fly away from me, I guess the flame blows it that way. I'm mostly scared (very very scared) of breathing in toxic fumes working outside right now, looking into hiring a HVAC guy to install a ventilation hood and install it
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2013-04-17, 12:46pm
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Apr 03, 2013
Posts: 129
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Molly Bird
I was afraid of lighting the torch. My hubby insisted I use a striker cause it's much safer. Yea, right. It seems I always had to turn my propane up so high it would almost explode when I lit it. Now I use a Bic lighter & it works so much better & doesn't scare me any more.
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Lol same here I tried te striker 4 times without it working so I said ah hell I will use my bic. Has worked fine for me
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2013-04-17, 2:42pm
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Loving learning
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Join Date: Oct 11, 2010
Location: Florida
Posts: 11,699
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Make sure you don't keep it near the torch. I heard a story recently where the lighter exploded after a while near a got torch, and the person scorched their their face & eyebrows. Thank goodness for safety glasses!
I use one with the long nose like for the fireplace, but I walk straight to the shelf 6 feet away & put it down there after the torch is lit. It never is put on my work surface, so I don't forget to move it.
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My current "hot" fantasy involves a senior discount on glass & tools!
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2013-04-17, 2:53pm
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Apr 03, 2013
Posts: 129
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It's only there for a second after I turn the gas on, poof and it's out of there for sure lol
The striker scares me I'm not sure I know how to use it properly
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2013-04-17, 2:59pm
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Apr 03, 2013
Posts: 129
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Ah yeah and I hate hate hate spider webs and spiders and I hang my apron in a spider-webery area, I'm afraid of getting spider webs on me yuck! I need to put nails in a different area to hang my apron. Will do that today maybe.
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2015-03-07, 6:06pm
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kinda torching....
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Join Date: Mar 26, 2013
Location: Pennsylvania
Posts: 301
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Ive used torches for over 16years now, and lighting my mirage for the first time was one of the scariest things ive done lol I think the reason i was so worried tho is because its my forst triple mix and also the single most expensive purchase ive ever made after a vehicle!
Another fear ive really been dealing with lately is a sheer fear of glass, mostly clear rod and tube. Ive been terrified if it breaking in my hands. Ik being a glass artist this sounds pretty stupid, but ive been feeling this way since i got badly cut and needed stitches. I could see the tendon, bone, and arteries...
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2015-03-14, 12:13pm
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Mar 14, 2015
Location: Moscow, Russia
Posts: 131
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Thank you all for this dscussion - it made my day this Saturday I had all beginner's supplies in hand for about a couple of weeks but could not get rid of the fear that the glass will shock. I am not new to working with glass and had some good burns while soldering a SG lamp as well as deep cuts but thermal shock seemed to me as something completely different and much more horrible. And the prepared mandrels were just waiting as well as the lovely glass...
But after reading this topic (twice, frankly speaking) I decided to try. Didn't want to stay alone with my fear anymore and wanted to join you, brave and creative. Spent half a day to provide as safe corner as possible, screw the canister support, etc.
Well... Managed to produce 2 pretty ugly beads - uneven, when I was doing the first one my hands were shaking, the glass was peacefully melting but I was waiting for some disaster, forgetting to rotate the mandrel evenly... "LOL". But when I took them out of the blanket and laughed looking at them I realized that all I now want - to go on. But I will anneal them in the kiln and save for shaking the bead release
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2015-03-14, 4:38pm
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Jul 14, 2006
Location: Northern Virginia
Posts: 2,366
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Congratulations, Katia! Be sure and save those first beads so you can look back at them in a little while and see how far you've progressed!
Mimi
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2015-03-19, 2:44pm
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Mar 14, 2015
Location: Moscow, Russia
Posts: 131
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Mimi, thank you, I definitely will It's finally happened - got 3 or 4 small shards on the desk Recognition of this have not yet made my beads perfect, but the visible performance have already done a lot - it happens - yes, but if to consider it to be a point to turn off the torch - no, for sure
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2015-03-19, 10:32pm
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Sep 27, 2014
Location: Walla Walla, Washington
Posts: 289
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Running out of oxygen. it made me rush my work and learn less.
I had to get a concentrator in the first 4 months and save some money and work longer hours.
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2015-03-22, 6:31pm
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Wyoming Silvers
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Join Date: Jan 31, 2007
Location: Cowboy State
Posts: 273
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I began with a very used Bethlehem torch/ everytime I would turn on the center ports it would bang and pop! Very scary/ sent it in for repairs , it was so old it was not repairable. But hey, it was a start!
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Lovin my Lynx with M20
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2022-02-02, 2:17pm
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Junior Member
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Join Date: Dec 15, 2021
Location: Las Cruces, NM
Posts: 22
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I am most afraid of failing, to be honest.
Failing and realizing that I won't ever be an artist. I can't draw or paint, but I am obsessed with art. So, I am buckling down and doing daily sessions where my dots aren't pretty, and reading as much as I can and watching people on youtube do their dots to try and understand how to get it even every time. That's my first goal.
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2022-02-02, 2:34pm
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Loving learning
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Join Date: Oct 11, 2010
Location: Florida
Posts: 11,699
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Kathy, it takes a lot of practice for most of us, so don't feel bad. Everyone has to learn, it is a new skill for sure. So hang in there, and hold on to a few of your first beads so you can see your progress later.
In case you have a pile of beads where you think the dots are not perfect, or your design is wonky, check out the BeadsofCourage.org website. The kids in the program are not picky about perfection, as long as the beads are not too fragile and the ends are not sharp, etc.!
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My current "hot" fantasy involves a senior discount on glass & tools!
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2022-02-02, 3:04pm
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Junior Member
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Join Date: Dec 15, 2021
Location: Las Cruces, NM
Posts: 22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Eileen
Kathy, it takes a lot of practice for most of us, so don't feel bad. Everyone has to learn, it is a new skill for sure. So hang in there, and hold on to a few of your first beads so you can see your progress later.
In case you have a pile of beads where you think the dots are not perfect, or your design is wonky, check out the BeadsofCourage.org website. The kids in the program are not picky about perfection, as long as the beads are not too fragile and the ends are not sharp, etc.!
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That's a good idea, because I am pretty sure I will have a real collection of funny dot beads after a while. Lol
Hanging in! I have seen progress, so that's good. My husband says I am in the training portion of a Kung Fu movie where we see the montage of failures before he suddenly kicks ass. Ha
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2022-02-02, 5:42pm
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Phill
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Join Date: Mar 21, 2009
Location: Winnebago, MN
Posts: 2,489
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I've really got to go along with your husband on that one Kathy.
For me, my best stuff comes when I relax and let my muscle memory take over.
But first I had to do that forty bead challenge thing to allow my body to learn how to play with molten glass so that my muscles had some memory to work from.
I really suffer from the "gets in his own way when learning" problem.
I had to forget about trying to accomplish something and just play until I stumble on to happy accidents like that painter guy was always going on about.
I still have to mentally sit on my hands while I let the glass play in the flame.
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The Zombie Apocalypse is Upon Us.
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2022-03-20, 11:42am
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Junior Member
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Join Date: Oct 27, 2021
Posts: 15
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Transporting up a full, K-sized oxygen tank from Chicago to Des Moines. I kept picturing having an accident and it literally rocketing through the front of the car. Oh and the cost, it's a big leap from a hothead to even a beginner oxygen setup and I'm afraid of losing interest.
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2022-09-20, 4:45am
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Rank Amatur
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Join Date: Sep 20, 2022
Location: Dudley, UK
Posts: 3
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Kids, Cat, shocky glass and toes..
Studio space was in the utility room initially, but after one too many glass shards being removed from toes it went into a caravan on the front.
Picked up some CiM Orange Crush and its even shockier than trying to recycle a glass jar! That was the decider to move..
Oh, and ventilation.. that scared me!
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