In April of 2008, my mother and I cleaned out a room in the basement to make way for a lampworking studio. We bought shelves, moved boxes, painted the walls, removed some cabinets, did some major work on an old train table (we're obviously not carpenters, but the table came out level), and had a ventilation system professionally installed. This whole project centered around upgrading my torch from a hot-head to a dual fuel torch. Here is a picture of the empty studio - ventilation and all - before I moved my stuff in. As you can imagine, it didn't stay empty for long.


This is my kiln - a lovely Jen Ken Chili Pepper Bead Annealer. Not too much to say here except that I'm glad I have the digital controller - I don't know how people function without one. I do like the multiple program feature - that means I can easily switch between soft and hard glass - even though right now I'm using soft glass exclusively. I also like the fact that it heats up quickly. I don't have any experience with other kilns, but my little Chili Pepper is usually up to temp by the time I finish dipping mandrels and get everything turned on and hooked up.


Glass, of course, is an essential part of any glass working studio. This is all Effetre and Vetrofond. I did buy a couple of rods of borosilicate glass to play with, and I hope to work with boro more in the future, but I'm focusing on soft glass now, despite the temptation. (See my Guide to Lamp-working Glass)

I was keeping my glass in those glass vases, but when I began buying more glass, I outgrew the vases and I needed a better storage solution. My mother and I built the storage unit here - I call it my glass-holder-contraption. We have more PVC pipe, but haven't found the time to cut it into lengths and glue it together yet. Hopefully that will happen soon because I have bought a lot more glass.

And we have the torch! This is a GTT Lynx. I (as most people do) love my torch. It's so quite that I can listen to music as I torch. That, and being able to sit down while I work are the two things I most looked forward to during the whole studio project. This torch is a dual fuel torch - the red hose goes to a propane tank outside, and the green hose goes to an oxygen concentrator on the other side of the wall (see below). As you can see, the torch has three valves. There is one for the propane and two for the oxygen. This makes the torch more difficult to learn how to use, but it gives the torch more variability in flame characteristics. It's possible to get a very small, short flame, or a bigger, wider flame. The triple surface mix torch also burns cleaner and hotter than other torches - if you have enough oxygen.

I want to call attention to the large stainless steel work surface that I have. I was a little skeptical when I ordered it (as was the guy taking the order), but I'm so glad I have it. It's such a luxury to have so much room. I'm also glad that I have such a big table - two tables really.

To the left is my oxygen concentrator. I'm glad I got a concentrator rather than messing with a tank. It's so easy to just flip the switch and I don't have to worry about lugging tanks around. The ventilation duct work is visible here too. This is the other side of the wall from the studio pictured below. It took two days for the professional HVAC people and Sheet Metal Mechanic to install all the duct work and make the intake and outlet openings.

And to the right is a wide shot of the whole studio, soon after I moved everything in. I have bought a lot more glass since this picture was taken. And I continue to accumulate tools and lamp-working incidentals. This photo is a little deceptive - the rest of the room that is not pictured is a storage room and only part of the room is painted. I'm confident that we will finish off the room eventually. For me it's OK because I only see the painted walls when I am working. And really, I find the studio part of the room much more interesting than the storage part of the room, so that is what I focus on when I go down there. I'm very happy with and appreciative of the space that I have, and I can't thank my mother enough for helping me set this up.