setting up warm glass studio

[Lisa Feldman]

I'm planning to set up my own warm glass studio from scratch in the basement of my house, from the wiring to work surfaces to glass stock to kiln. I can find loads of info on equipment, but NONE on layout, safety, etc., for instance: Is it reasonable to expect to work in the same room as the kiln? How much space is needed for a small basic studio? How far should the kiln be from walls, etc.? The walls currently have wood panelling on them- should it be removed? Are there designs for venting? How much clean work area should I plan for? Do the floors have to be cement? What kind of lighting would be best? My engineer/husband will be helping me with the construction, etc, so any suggestions, floor plans, vent designs, etc would be greatly appreciated.

[Marty]

Yes you can work in the same area as the kiln, just have the ventilation flow from the rest of the workspace to the kiln to the vent. Partitions?
There's no such thing as a standard small basic studio- this will take up all the space you have and then some. Some of us work in a closet, some have 3000+ square feet. Your kiln should be at least a foot from the wall, and I'd put some cement board(or equivalent) up on the panelling. Carpet on the floor is nice but I just got rubber matting from Home Depot and it's wonderful- you'll be dropping shards, not globs of hot glass. I've got a balance of halogen and fluorescent- the former for task, the latter for overhead. A spray area is nice, put it next to the kiln for ease of venting. Don't forget to vent the coldworking machinery (even if it's only a Taurus and a small grinder).
There is actually lots in the archives (put everything on wheels, etc.) on this. We all dream of more/better space.

[Suzan]

Here are a few points to consider:

-If your kiln comes with an electric vent, you'll be connecting it a duct that will go to the outside, so be sure you're kiln is within reasonable proximity to an outside wall.

-The entire floor doesn't need to be concrete, but it might be advisable to have tile or keep concrete uncovered in the vicinity of the kiln if you'll be doing anything that involves manipulating the glass while the kiln is at high temperatures, e.g. combing, pot melts, in case anything very hot needs to be dropped to the floor. (While doing a pot melt one day, when it seemed that all the glass had emptied from the pot, I decided to remove the pot to avoid the bit sticking up from the centre. I put on my safety gear, picked up the pot with the tongs, and suddenly realized I didn't have anything to drop the very hot pot into. My plastic laundry tub was NOT the best receptacle!)

- A sink would be nice to include in the area, preferably close to the cutting and grinding tables. I don't have a sink directly in my studio, so I have built small low bench on which is placed a bucket of water for rinsing glass. The bench also holds a dishrack for holding the glass after being rinsed.

-Layout is kind of personal. How do you work? Along one wall of my basement studio is a 2' by 4' bench which holds a light box, which is my main cutting surface. To the left of this is another simple 2' by 4' workbench to which I attached a vertical back and sides, then covered the worktop surfaces with vinyl tile for waterproofing; this bench holds my grinder and glass saw, which toss water all over the place. Directly facing the light box table is a large 4' x 8' work bench, which is in the centre of the room (I make stained glass as well), but also serves for assembly. So, the cutting table is two steps away from grinder/glass saw, which is 3 steps away from the assembly table. Keep in mind your specific activities, and how far you need to walk to get to each task bench.

-If you have a hard surface floor, definitely buy some kind of padding for it. Home Depot sells a jigsaw type of padding (in pretty colours) that let's you assemble the pads in different ways. It'll be easier on your feet and back to have this padding in the areas where you'll be standing for long periods.

-Storage. Perhaps open wall shelving, supported every 1 foot or so, for holding boxes of scrap glass. A smallish glass rack for sorting larger pieces cut down from full or half sheets. I store half sheets in between a tall storage cabinet and a workbench, since I never have more than about 10 half sheets at a time. If you buy sheets in large quantities, you should build a rack for them, for the glass's safety and yours.

-More storage for chemicals, hand tools, fibreboard, molds (these can take a lot of space) and a hundred other odds and ends. For works in progress, I have this weird little plastic shelving unit with several shelves spaced only 3 inches apart, making more efficient use of the large storage cabinet. If you build or buy large cabinets, be sure they have adjustable shelves so you can rearrange them. Also, after a while, you may realize you have a need for specific smaller units within the larger cabinet to store these items more efficiently.

Cheers,
Suzan

[dee]

I'm planning to set up my own warm glass studio from scratch in the basement of my house, from the wiring to work surfaces to glass stock to kiln. I can find loads of info on equipment, but NONE on layout, safety, etc., for instance: Is it reasonable to expect to work in the same room as the kiln? How much space is needed for a small basic studio? How far should the kiln be from walls, etc.? The walls currently have wood panelling on them- should it be removed? Are there designs for venting? How much clean work area should I plan for? Do the floors have to be cement? What kind of lighting would be best? My engineer/husband will be helping me with the construction, etc, so any suggestions, floor plans, vent designs, etc would be greatly appreciated.

lisa, i believe jenken recommends 3 feet between kiln and wall - i have turned our garage into my studio, both kilns are over by the outside wall, 3 feet approx away from it. i like cement cause i can drop shtuff, spill, generally be messy and i know that someday, when we sell the house i can swab out the garage ;P i have lights from office supply stores at my various work stations, i like the halogen bulbs the best and a bright overheard bulb in the standard garage light socket - i would LOVE overhead light fixtures for MORE light - i have a window that is halfway down the long wall of the garage that acts as a vent and during decent weather i open the garage door and in summer have my oscillating fan going...

for a work table, we have one sears workbench - hubby wanted it and the friggin' light fixture is STILL up in the storage room NOT attached to the backboard of the table which i purchased at HIS request ;P my 2nd work area is melamine boards, 2 different widths put together for about a 3' or 4' wide area, forget exact measurements as i did this one over a year ago, and they are screwed on top of 2 yellow sawhorses that have adjustable legs so i got the height i wanted and could make it as long as i wanted and i use the empty space underneath for storage.....

marty mentioned rubber mats from home depot - these are fantastic, i am slowly replacing the cheap "fatigue" matting from lowes with these - they are the ones that you can put together with interlocking edges, come in packs of 4 - were $20/pack last time i bought some...

shelf space - as much as you have room for, glass storage space - since i've taken over the garage i have room for a pallet of glass, in the basement you might want to go to some stained glass stores and check out their glass storage system - personally i would love something open with dowels in the base to hold the glass - i buy full sheets and if you are going into this as a business you'll want to do that too...

organization at the work area for all that little stuff you find yourself accumulating that you need regularly - i'm gonna get some shelves from kmart that they advertise for shelf system stereos, will fit perfectly on the 2nd work area...

home depot and lowes have in the laundry organizing area a square metal stand with sliding shelves, these are also great! have one for storing small bits....

work surfaces for the various tools and a place to keep your log book and pen for your kiln so you can record your firing schedules and results easily - for my "wet work" area - tile saw, grinder, etc - i have plastic sheeting behind the tile saw and all of that is away from my main work areas. the sandblasting cabinet also has a plastic sheeting compartment around it to keep the majority of the crap in there when i blast....

i'm kinda feline in that i like small cozy spaces to work in - my studio layout reflects that ;P around the kiln i want as much open space as possible so it's easy to get shelves to/from/in/out.....

and i'm always trying to take over the rest of the downstairs with glass
D

[rosanna gusler]

my next studio will have an obscene number of electrical outlets . they will be above the work area. i am really tired of tripping over cords. rosanna

[Alecia Helton]

Lisa,

I have just gone through this process. In addition to what has already been said, Sam's Club has been a great resource. Their Gorilla Racks were the best shelving units I could find. The best. Adjustable shelving, can hold 750 pounds each, 7 feet tall, under $60 per set.

Sam's also has the adjustable floor mats cheaper than Home Depot. They are great for the standing area.

You can never have enough storage area. I have significantly increased my storage area. It's not enough. Plan for room to grow.

You need working surfaces at standing and sitting heights. A surface for works in progress. Plenty of lights and plugs. Storage for finished work. There's lots more in the archives.

Good Luck,
Alecia

[sadiesjewels]

I've been working on a new 200 sq.ft studio for a few months (a slow process when you are doing the work yourself). My family have been having a good time teasing me about the number of outlets I have had the electrician install. I have one double outlet every 2 feet all at working height. I also have one dedicated 240volt circuit for the kiln, and two 20 amp, 110volt circuits for smaller kilns when I get them <smile>. One side of the studio is all GFI outlets where I will be doing any cold working and polishing.

I haven't got to the flooring yet - we've been installing the insulation this weekend - yuk!

Can't wait to get it all finished!

Sadie

[charlie]

I've been working on a new 200 sq.ft studio for a few months (a slow process when you are doing the work yourself). My family have been having a good time teasing me about the number of outlets I have had the electrician install. I have one double outlet every 2 feet all at working height. I also have one dedicated 240volt circuit for the kiln, and two 20 amp, 110volt circuits for smaller kilns when I get them <smile>. One side of the studio is all GFI outlets where I will be doing any cold working and polishing.

I haven't got to the flooring yet - we've been installing the insulation this weekend - yuk!

Can't wait to get it all finished!

Sadie

a gfi box in the first box of a circuit will protect all the downstream boxes. it's usually not a good idea to have multiple gfi's in the same circuit, not to mention a lot more expensive. you can also get a gfi circuit breaker which will protect everything on that circuit.

[sadiesjewels]

Thanks Charlie,

I believe/hope that's just what the electrician did ... I didn't have enough know how to do the wiring - just told him what I needed ... I'll have to double check with him how it ended up when he returns to finish it all off.

Sadie