My New Torch!

Today I anxiously awaited the Man in Brown to roll up in his truck and deliver a most important thing:

Photo via GTT

My new Bobcat torch!

This was supposed to be my Christmas present, but I've been having the devil of a time lately with my current lampwork torch.  Or the propane.  Or the oxygen concentrator.  No one seems to know for sure.  

I'll be going along fine for about an hour, making beads, humming along, when all of a sudden, pressure drops in everything and my flame dwindles.  I've posted this dilemma on Lampwork Etc and had several people give suggestions, and then a local lampworking friend came over to test things out -- and we're all still stumped.

photo by Cindy Wimmer

Soooooo.  The plan right now -- get my Christmas present early.  Next -- replace the propane tank, even though it's not empty.  My friend will come over then and run another test.  Heaven forbid the problem is with the oxygen concentrator, because that's my most expensive piece of equipment, and it weighs a ton so who knows what shipping it off for repair would cost.

photo via ?

Keep your fingers crossed for me.  I was having so much fun melting glass before this flame poofing out on me thing started and it's now just frustrating me to no end.  Of course, it's also been hot as Hades and probably not a good time to even THINK about using a flame, but still.  

(And isn't it cool that my torch is purple????)

Are you going to BeadFest?????

Keeping up with my plan on taking classes, I'll be taking a beginning lampworking class at BeadFest in Philadelphia August 22nd.  I'm actually heading up the day before to go bead shopping and hope to see some of you bead artisans there -- and if any of you designers are going, give me a shout so I can read name tags and maybe find you!

Are you going?  If you are, are you going to take classes, or just shop?




Lori Anderson makes jewelry for Lori Anderson Designs, and also writes the blog Pretty Things, and occasionally for Art Bead Scene.  She loves funky, colorful beads.

Broken Torch and Smashing a Wall

Oopsie doodle.


I was cranking along just fine, torching my little heart out, making beads, even starting to add dots, learning new things (yay me!) when


CRACK!


Glass flew everywhere and a big chunk flew directly at the torch and MELTED over the part where the flame comes out. Right. On. The. Front. Where the gas and the oxygen comes out. Which, if you've never lampworked before, is, um, kind of stinking crucial.



I managed to flick off the biggest glob, but of course, as luck would have it, bits of glass got into the tiniest of the holes and there was no getting it out. So the torch is on its way to Bethlehem Burners to be fixed.


I'm bummed because I just bought a ton of glass and was really getting into a groove and was trying to fill up my Etsy store with spacers and had decided to take a deep breath and get brave and start exploring.


Not sure when I'll get the torch back (2 weeks? More?) which is NOT a long time, but I hate when momentum gets stalled. It's like running like hell and then turning your head to look behind you to see where you've been and then WHAM hitting a wall. Looking back, it's funny, but when it happens, not so much.



I tried to make some jewelry today but it's just not happening. So I'm giving myself permission to relax with reruns of "The Office", a bag of M&Ms, open windows, and the cats. Rick and Zack are at the farm, so the house is chaos-free. The Bead Soup Blog Party started today, so I'm visiting a bunch of blogs, too.


There's a slight bit of guilt inside that whispers, "Hey, you should be working," but thanks to so many of your wonderful comments over the past weeks, I'm finding it easier to just... let it be.


Thanks.

Lori Anderson designs jewelry for Lori Anderson Designs and also writes the blog Pretty Things.