One of my previous storage attempts - a plate rack side on
I shall start with a confession... I am not a neat freak, I never have been and probably never will be!
I am not very good at slowly and methodically unpacking my glass before selecting what I need to use and then finally returning any unused tools or glass to their rightful place once cool. Instead I have been piling all my new glass rods into 'approximately matching' piles before grabbing what I need, adding it to the 'working pile' on my desk and then walking away at the end of the day!
Ever since I started lampworking in 2012 I have struggled with this neatness conundrum, I have tried to find a cheap and simple solution to my messy piles of glass. I have used a maddening mix of elastic bands, plate racks, flower pots and plumbers tubing (the tubing seemed like a good idea at the time but trying to cut 2m long, thick plastic pipes into 25cm tubes took a lot more effort, time and mess than I thought).
After a lot of searching I finally found the Glasscube on a Dutch website. It sounded perfect but... they did not offer delivery so I had to collect it in person at the annual Flame Off at Uttoxeter Race Course earlier this year. At £35 it was not a cheap solution so I only bought one, but with 36 holes and sturdy design it seemed like a worthy purchase.
I am not very good at slowly and methodically unpacking my glass before selecting what I need to use and then finally returning any unused tools or glass to their rightful place once cool. Instead I have been piling all my new glass rods into 'approximately matching' piles before grabbing what I need, adding it to the 'working pile' on my desk and then walking away at the end of the day!
Ever since I started lampworking in 2012 I have struggled with this neatness conundrum, I have tried to find a cheap and simple solution to my messy piles of glass. I have used a maddening mix of elastic bands, plate racks, flower pots and plumbers tubing (the tubing seemed like a good idea at the time but trying to cut 2m long, thick plastic pipes into 25cm tubes took a lot more effort, time and mess than I thought).
After a lot of searching I finally found the Glasscube on a Dutch website. It sounded perfect but... they did not offer delivery so I had to collect it in person at the annual Flame Off at Uttoxeter Race Course earlier this year. At £35 it was not a cheap solution so I only bought one, but with 36 holes and sturdy design it seemed like a worthy purchase.
The Glasscube is strong and looks smart - you could even attach labels to the sides if needed
Unfortunately, when I got home, I found I have more than 36 different types of glass to store (who knew?). So I started to investigate other cheaper solutions. And, after a bit of searching, I found some A4 cardboard postal tubes on Amazon, at just £22.50 for 100 tubes (including delivery!) this worked out to 22.5p per hole rather than almost £1 per hole for the Glasscube!
The card tubes came quickly with strong plastic ties keeping them together.
Luckily the tubes came with strong plastic ties that kept them in neat bundles that slotted straight into my Argos shelving unit. This meant I could just slide them into place and then start filling them with all my glass rods.
The result was amazing, a cheap and easy glass storage solution that lets me see immediately how much glass I have, what I am running out of and what types of colours I have very little of.
I suspect, over the years the tubes will probably begin to show signs of wear and tear and then I will have to decide whether to replace them with new tubes or splash out on some more sturdy cubes, it will all depend on how well they last I guess.
The result was amazing, a cheap and easy glass storage solution that lets me see immediately how much glass I have, what I am running out of and what types of colours I have very little of.
I suspect, over the years the tubes will probably begin to show signs of wear and tear and then I will have to decide whether to replace them with new tubes or splash out on some more sturdy cubes, it will all depend on how well they last I guess.
Inexpensive card tubes used to store my glass rods
I generally use a mixture of Effetre, CiM, Reichenbach and Double Helix glass to make my lampwork beads. All these glasses can be used together but the three last brands of glass are often more expensive than the standard colours of Effetre so I have chosen to store them in the Glasscube to keep them separate.
I hate to admit it, but this little bit of neatness has made my studio more workable and made grabbing more glass half way through crafting a hot bead a little easier... maybe my desk will be next for the tidy up!
I hate to admit it, but this little bit of neatness has made my studio more workable and made grabbing more glass half way through crafting a hot bead a little easier... maybe my desk will be next for the tidy up!
Final shelving unit with card tubes on the top two levels for Effetre Glass and Glasscube on the bottom for the more expensive glass rods
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