small hotshop

**davidwillisglass** · 09-02-2010, 09:58 PM

Standard answer: hotshops are expensive

part 1. you can take a lot of classes and rent a lot of time for what it costs to build a hot shop
part 2. dont build a hot shop until you have a product, the skills to produce it and someone to buy it

that being said... do what you like. struggle can be good for us, and i support learning of all kinds as long as you are having fun.

**zippetmonster** · 09-03-2010, 05:25 AM

sparky sounds like you have a good handle on things. I have build a bunch of equipment and a kill switch on the lid of the furnace is nice. If you build it right the switch will operate correctly. I didn't have one on my furnace at first and i thought i was fine until i touched the wrong thing while working and got zapped. Then I put in a double pole mercury switch. After you get zapped once you take the time to engineer it right!

**Sparkey** · 09-03-2010, 08:44 AM

Originally Posted by davidwillisglass

Standard answer: hotshops are expensive

part 1. you can take a lot of classes and rent a lot of time for what it costs to build a hot shop
part 2. dont build a hot shop until you have a product, the skills to produce it and someone to buy it

that being said... do what you like. struggle can be good for us, and i support learning of all kinds as long as you are having fun.

Agreed and understood. I'm a hobbyist and since moving to Eugene I really don't sell much glass (although I have been selling pieces through requests lately). I have the luxury of being able to fund my ideas through a day job, and the end goal is to some day lower my expenses and raise my skill set to a point where I could consider blowing glass full time. Building out the infrastructure for that now while I've got my day job makes that easier.

The other reason is that there is nothing like the comfort of your own shop, being able to park your ass on your own couch for lunch, then go back out to work some more. I would really enjoy my evenings and weekends just making baller nug jars on a glory hole, much bigger than what I could manage on a torch. Hell, if I've got a welder I'll make my own Pastorelli fork for rollups :-)

The thing that concerns me about a hotshop is the cost of maintenance. Everything - kilns, glory holes, furnaces - are perishable items and by fabricating them myself, I will be able to maintain them myself. I may be able to recoup some of that by renting it out, but I honestly wouldn't want other people working on my equipment. No one will take care of your things the way you do yourself.

Thanks again for the input everyone.

Josh

**Shatner** · 09-03-2010, 09:57 AM

Originally Posted by barefoot stash

If you already have a bunch of hotshop experience disregard this..otherwise I would highly recommend looking into renting hotshop time first if at all possible in your area. That way you can develop your skill and product line without the stress of running the studio. You will also be able to get a feel of what you really need in your shop. Just like everything else in glass, the initial investment ends up being the cheapest part. Keeping it up and running is what gets ya, and it's nice to be able to hit the ground running.

Pretty much what's in the bolded. I don't know much about hot shop studios, but I have visited one with the late Shannon Hill during a Carlisle class.

While speaking to the studio artist/owner, he mentioned $6,000+ gas bills/month. I don't know how accurate that number is, but I have no reason to distrust this person.

You also would like to have pipe coolers and pipe warmers. G.H. and furnace are obvious. Along with a bench. you'll also need a table to lay stringer and frit patterns.

Have you taken in to account any electiral service that you might not have, or be ready for. ie. Bigger braker, which means bigger wiring and a new wall outlet to match the Ampreage.

I'm not trying to iscourage you; in fact, I hope you get to put it together! And if you do, please provide "along the way" pics.

Just my .02C

Good luck!

**Sparkey** · 09-07-2010, 11:40 AM

So we are moving forward on building the 40llb furnace; a buddy of mind does some ironwork and has a welder already. There was enough crossover between a glory hole and a forge that we just decided to go ahead and fabricate it (the furnace).

I ordered the DVD, as well as this book:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/188...F8&me=&seller=

These two will be ordered at some point in the future:

http://www.amazon.com/Beginning-Glas...pr_product_top

and

http://www.amazon.com/Advanced-Glass...pr_product_top

I was gonna pay off my IRS debt....but...why would I do that when I could have a glass furnace??

:-)

Josh

**justiceglass** · 09-07-2010, 12:08 PM

thanks for the kind words!

**Sparkey** · 09-07-2010, 01:21 PM

Originally Posted by justiceglass

thanks for the kind words!

Thanks for the inspiration! I hope you don't mind if I use some of your pics.

Did you insulate the drum at all in this? Cement? Frax? Sand in the bottom?

Really excited about building this, simple and functional. This will probably go into my buddys forge.

**justiceglass** · 09-07-2010, 05:57 PM

brick on bottom frax on on top. check out henry halems book and dudley gibersons book as well.
www.joppaglassworks.com has a lot of free info

have fun!
josh

**Sparkey** · 09-07-2010, 08:25 PM

adding this to the thread, a burner dyi pretty much identical to yours

http://handmade-glass.com/cgi-bin/ad....pl?read=14442

and a corrected link http://www.joppaglass.com/

**N~DARK** · 09-08-2010, 08:00 AM

I use Burners from PineRidge. They are Awsome and run great! Because they are rectangular and not round the flame is spread out more in the container. Harbison-Walker Refractories is where I buy my refractoties. I poor thee bottom of the GH and let it set -up , then insert and wieght down a sonet tube in the center of the container. put the tube in a garbage bag and tape it well. poor around the tube and let set. I leave about 3 inches to the end of the container that area I poor a Higher temp refractory Missou. This high temp refractory will hold the heat back in the container when the doors are open it will keep the heat inside... with the burner I have 175,000BTU burns through a 100LP tank in two six hour sessions. It will freeze the tank @ six hours so I have to change tanks @ that point and let the 1st one thaw...

**somewhere** · 09-08-2010, 11:57 AM

Ribbon burners are great for even heating but if your used to using a torch to heat your glass a giberson tip or something like it delivers a nice hot spot. I'm trying to follow your post n-dark but not sure. Doesn't matter if you use brick or castable but you will want to back it with fiber. Your cast shell only needs to be a couple inches thick anything more is counter productive. Kastolite 30plus is a great all around castable. Mizzou makes a great floor but has no insulation value. A heat retention ring is a must. This reduces the size of the opening smaller then the interior. In turn it will hold the heat in when the doors are open.

**Sparkey** · 09-08-2010, 12:08 PM

Got any pictures of in-progress or the finished furnace?

Originally Posted by N~DARK

I use Burners from PineRidge. They are Awsome and run great! Because they are rectangular and not round the flame is spread out more in the container. Harbison-Walker Refractories is where I buy my refractoties. I poor thee bottom of the GH and let it set -up , then insert and wieght down a sonet tube in the center of the container. put the tube in a garbage bag and tape it well. poor around the tube and let set. I leave about 3 inches to the end of the container that area I poor a Higher temp refractory Missou. This high temp refractory will hold the heat back in the container when the doors are open it will keep the heat inside... with the burner I have 175,000BTU burns through a 100LP tank in two six hour sessions. It will freeze the tank @ six hours so I have to change tanks @ that point and let the 1st one thaw...

**Sparkey** · 09-22-2010, 02:55 PM

I found this thread, which is interesting:

http://www.talkglass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19349

I've been looking at Ebay and controllers that are compatible with S type thermocouplers are pretty cheap. Can I really get away with buying one on the cheap? Also, I was considering scavenging a controller from a used ceramic kiln that are cheap on Craigslist. Any thoughts??

I haven't received either the book or the DVD's yet....boo...

Thanks

Josh

**J Howard** · 09-22-2010, 08:31 PM

i haven't tried to rent time a corning in a long while, but....

when i was, it was getting hard to find time slots because several hot shops in the area were closing down because it was cheaper to rent time than it was to run your own shop. rental at corning at the time was 35$ an hour, just to put that in perspective. figure on about 500$ in gas, just to light the furnace and get the glass melted. once it's going, you can't shut it down!

none the less, i'd like to build one myself! i just put a floor into my barn, so now i have the space. just 30k more to go!