What were you most afraid of as a lampwork virgin?

[Mr. Smiley]

I was afraid I'd die before I try everything I want to try... that still scares me a little. Prolly my biggest fear now is losing my limbs and not being able to melt glass right up until I die.

[Mopnglo]

Funny, I was never afraid of the torch, kiln nor glass. I've burned myself severely in several different places, lost hair on arms, face and head. Learned not to mind the smell of singed hair. But what totally terrifies me, still to this day, is showing my work. I still do, but I always get a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach.

[swamper]

Originally Posted by Emily

Tell me I'm the only person who read the title of this thread and thought, "oooh, the big hard rods."

(Yes, I'm a bad bad person, and need to skulk back to the disreputable sections of the forum.)

Emily, no one would know what a shy, retiring sort you are.

PS, I just ordered almost $200 worth of Dichro - now, I may be afraid of that.

[klcbeads]

I was afraid of burning myself. The fear surprisingly went away after I did indeed burn myself. I now just dress the burn should it happen and move on.

[Ancasta]

Well, I've just been hoisted by my own petard. I was using some pretty shocky glass today when the whole thing exploded everywhere and a piece managed to ping inside my shoe via the vent holes. Ow ow ow it was hot and it burned, but it didn't even melt the plastic. However, my swearing probably melted everything else...

[Debx2]

I have to agree with Krisdaka - fear of blowing up the garage - ahem, my studio. A friend's husband is a fireman used to kid me and say that he was under instructions to go to the garage - "studio"- if there was a fire call at my house. The house would be fine but the detached garage would be up in flames.

My DH still yells "don't blow anything up" when I go out to the torch.

Deb

[Retta]

I said "lighting the torch" but if there was an "exploding" option that would have been it.

All that other stuff is no biggy.

[Shadymilkman23]

My first time I turned on an oxygen tank I blew the diaphram on my oxy regulator. It was really really old and hadn't been used in a while and I didnt know you had to open the diaphram first. I'm over the fear now but for that first year I was deathly afraid of that big K.

[glasskarma]

I was more worried about the kiln than the torch. I thought my hand would melt off if I got to close to it, even with the gloves.

Shouldn't laugh but when I first lit up the torch this happened. I had my father on the other side of the small window adjusting the PSI on the propane. He told me to light it up so I lit up the mini cc and it was like a flame thrower. It shot out the window and poor dad had sizzled hairs on his head. The smell of burned hair is gross.

[beadsoncypress]

As administrator of a glass school I got to watch many masters at work who make making beads (etc) look sooo easy....HA! ......that was before I ever got an opportunity to try it! Three years into this and I still have problems with heat control.....but then this 'No depth perception" thing doesn't help (blind in one eye).....

[pmpattye]

Fear of blowing our house up - which was heightened by my husband's dire warning that I would...lol.

The other option, the glass popping, is strange. Everytime it is about to happen, I get a tingling down my back and neck. Must be psycho...I mean psychic!

Pat

[Spookyjewel]

I'd been hanging around forums and looking at beads for around 8 months before I actually atarted making beads, so not being as good as I hoped was a biggie....

Like Pat, I seem to know when glass is about to shock! Weird. I've also learned which direction it usuallyflies and position myself accordingly

[dogmama45]

I started with a Fireworks torch kit from Hobby Lobby. When I turned the torch on, it scared me to death!! I apparently had the valve wide open! I nearly ran from the room! Next, I decided to use some stained glass pieces and I didn't know squat about slowly heating the glass up! The first piece I put in the flame split and I nearly did, too! LOL

After that, I decided to put the storch on the top of the stove and turn on the fan in case the gas got weird on me!! Boy, I don't know how I managed to get through those first few beads! I real quick decided to buy a Hothead and run it off a small propane tank! Live and learn! I still like the hothead, but now I use a Mega Minor with an oxy-con and the same propane tank. I have an oxy tank for backup in case I try doing some boros stuff.

[Abacus Beads]

My DH had to light the torch for me for the first month or so. When I begged him to come home from work to light my torch he had enough and made me sit there and turn it on a n off myself till I was copmfortable with it. Now I can light the bar-ba-que with out him holding my hand. Ahhhhaaaa freedom lol,lol
Liz R

[cyndi13]

i was scared of lighting my hh, scared of the glass breaking and shooting at me, i didnt think i could do it, and i was scared i was gonna suck at it, but i learned that i am better than i expected to be!

[DarleenMB]

Setting the house on fire!

Seriously. I had a video (this was back in '94?) and the woman who did the video held her MAPP canister between her legs. I had visions of dropping a piece of hot glass in my lap, leaping up, dropping the lighted torch and setting fire to the house.

So in 2000 I took a class so I'd get over my fear. Worked. Still at it.

PS

what the heck is it with husband's BTW? Mine still, like several others, warns me not to burn the house down. HUH? I've been at it 8 years now and the only thing I've burned is ME. damned shocky glass.

[EaglesLegacy]

This thread and all its answers has been very good for me. It's so nice to see that almost half of you had the same fears. I STILL haven't started yet, and now it's because of my DH, because he wants me to be "just one more" step ready to actually being behind that torch...lol. At the beginning, he thought I needed to have a welder's helmet, gloves, suit...lol. I've tried convincing him that yes, I'll be careful, but I don't need all that other stuff.

[lunamoonshadow]

I think men just don't like the idea of "us" playing with things they consider to be "thier" type tools!
(I mean, really, torches belong in thier toolboxes for plumbing, or in the garage for welding, right? )
Makes me happy I'm single

[DarleenMB]

Well, my hubby bought me a soldering gun for valentine's day way back when. I wanted to do stained glass but couldn't find a teacher anywhere OR decent instructions. I knew I needed a soldering iron and had mentioned it in passing. His heart was in the right place, he just didn't hear me.

[EaglesLegacy]

He finally helped me light my torch!! It scared me the first few times. He demonstrated it for me about 3 times, then the 4th he had me turn the propane up while he lit it with the sparker, then the 5th time I did it all on my own. I am still scared, but I got past that first hurdle that I'm not going to blow up.

[mdimatteo]

I put off learning for years because I didn't have anyone to get me started in my area and because I was afraid it would be addictive. Then I decided to go for it. Flame tree sent me the torch all put together (bless them) and I took off from there. I was right, it is very addictive.......a happy addiction. Now, if I could just do everything perfectly IMMEDIATELY!!
Mary

[Rudy]

Oh my gosh....getting burned of course!!!! : - )))))

[Megan]

I was completely scared of the propane. It took me months before I lit the torch because I was afraid that we wouldn't hook the propane up right and I would blow the house down. It's not so scary now.

[Carolyn Ramsay]

I was scared I would blow up the place with an oxygen tank but Schermo said I should order an oxy concentrator and a Minor, so I did that before I even got back to SC. I thought with my studio on the very back of the lot at least I would not blow up the house. I learned my lesson about heating glass without socks on, though. A small crack in the shoe is an ouch if a shard pops into your shoe!

[Jgiovacchini]

I wasn't afraid of the torch as long as someone isn't watching me. I live in an apt where I cant even keep a can of mapp without getting eveicted so torching on the balcony is a no no so my stuff is in my dads garage and I can't seem to do anything if hes watching me. I was most afraid that the glass was going to pop. I still jump a little at shocky glass but I thought it would be much worse than it was

[samtheglassman]

i just went for it and burned my finger so then i got a little scared of burning myself but now im fine!

[Frogsongstudio]

Originally Posted by Mr. Smiley

I was afraid I'd die before I try everything I want to try... that still scares me a little. Prolly my biggest fear now is losing my limbs and not being able to melt glass right up until I die.

Oh yeah! This has been and still is one of my greatest fears. There's so many things I still want to try before I go.

I actually didn't have any fears about any of it at first because I had been silversmithing and into ceramics for several years before I took up lampworking so was used to torches and heat and kilns and stuff.

However, I do fear the kiln now and refuse to go to bed while it ramps down like I used to. I will stay up half the night waiting so I can turn it off before I go to sleep now because things can and do go terribly wrong with kilns. I learned that the hard way but luckily it was during the day while I was actually using it and caught it.

NEVER leave your kiln unattended!

As a not so newbie, teaching others is what scares me. I taught a couple of silversmithing classes once and the first thing the lady did after she was finished soldering her piece was reach down to pick it up....with her bare hand! If I hadn't been watching closely she would have been badly burnt. Bout gave me a heart attack.

I've been tossing around the idea of teaching a beginners lampwork class, (my doctor wants to learn) but after that experience, I'm afraid to even try it.

It's way too easy to grab hot things without thinking. I do it all the time....LOL

[KnitSteph]

Originally Posted by Mopnglo

Funny, I was never afraid of the torch, kiln nor glass. I've burned myself severely in several different places, lost hair on arms, face and head. Learned not to mind the smell of singed hair. But what totally terrifies me, still to this day, is showing my work. I still do, but I always get a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach.

This is what I was going to say. I answered the poll "not being as good as I want to be" or whatever the answer was, but my biggest fear is posting photos of my stuff.

[Jackiesdesigns]

blowing myself up would have to be my #1 fear.

[Sherena]

carrying the oxygen tank inside the house and making sure it didn't drop.....