Bare-bones beginning lampworking kit:
[I wrote this up for classes but thought my followers might appreciate it as well]
Hothead torch–specifically a Hothead, which is designed for lampworking. A plumbing torch, etc, will not work. You also need an angle bracket, hose clamp, and c-clamp to safely secure the torch to your working surface. These things should be provided in a hothead kit.
Flame-resistant work surface. Even a cheap cookie sheet in front of your torch is better than nothing and will give some peace of mind.
Fuel. Hotheads are designed to take MAP/Pro fuel canisters, but can be adapted to take bulk fuels as well
Something to slow cooling so that beads don’t break–you can use vermiculite, which is cheap and available, but fiber blanket and thermal beads are readily obtainable online. If you ever wish to sell your beads, you will need to upgrade to an annealing kiln.
Didymium safety glasses protect your eyes and greatly reduce the sodium flare coming off the heated glass, thus allowing you to see your work more clearly.
Lighter. People use sparkers, matches, cigarette lighters, grill lighters, etc.
Marver–basic shaping tool. Graphite marvers are nice, but even a putty knife will do at first. To avoid confusion, note that any tool used to shape hot glass can be called a marver. What you need is something with a broad flat surface for rolling and pressing and crisp edges for basic shaping.
Vice grips or bench vise to hold the mandrels while you pull the beads off.
Mandrels. These are the metal rods you wrap the bead around. Smaller sizes create a hole size closer to that of most commercial beads, but larger sizes are less likely to burn up in the flame or bend while you are removing the beads.
Bead release. This is the mixture of clay and other ingredients that you dip your mandrel in so that you can later pull the bead off.
Tool rest. Anything you can use to securely keep the hot end of your tools and glass off your work surface. I have used bent pieces of metal with holes punched to create divots to hold the glass/tools in place, and I have made tool rests out of cut and bent hardware cloth.
Tweezers or needle nosed pliers. Used for shaping, pinching excess glass off, applying decorative elements like murrine, and pulling stringers. The expensive tungsten-tipped ones are much nicer, but you can use most anything.
Glass. Lampworkers generally use glass with a CoE (coefficient of expansion) of 104, also known as “soft glass”. You must always use the same CoE glass within a piece, or the different rates of expansion and contraction will cause the piece to break. Effetre is affordable and reliable glass, and a great place to start. Creation is Messy brand glass comes in all sorts of fun colors and I rarely have compatibility or working problems, but it’s not quite as reliable as Effetre. Other brands such as Laucha and Double Helix sell wonderful glass, but considerably more expensive. Devardi is cheap, but very poor quality. I think beginners should avoid it.
There are many, many more tools you can buy, but these items will allow you to safely make wonderful beads. Our ancestors did amazing things with less.
Arrow Springs makes and supplies excellent tools.
Mountain Glass is a retailer of a wide variety of glass, tools, and supplies, and I’ve had nothing but good experiences with them for many years.
Frantz Art Glass is also a retailer of glass, tools, and supplies and often has a slightly different selection from Mountain.
There are many other excellent makers and sellers of tools, but these will get you started. Do check to see if you have a local glass shop, which will probably be focused on stained glass and fusing, but may also carry some lampworking supplies.
Mounting supplies: hose clamp $3, angle bracket $4.48, C clamp ~$11
Marver: basic graphite paddle marver $52
Mandrels: 20x 3/32” mandrels, $12.50
Bead release: 8 oz Fosterfire bead release $14
Tool rest: $7.75 or make your own
Tweezers/pliers: $4.50 or use what you have
Glass: Effetre top 20 starter pack $20
Prices are taken from the Mountain Glass and Lowes websites ca. July 2022. I have not included fuel because it is a commodity and thus subject to price fluctuations. Currently Map/Pro canisters are experiencing a shortage, and available for between $14 and $20.
Mountain Glass also sells a kit containing most of these things for $200, which may well be a savings.
It should be understood, though, that fuel and glass will be significant ongoing expenses, and that upgrading to an oxygen/fuel torch and buying an annealing furnace will be large expenses. This is not the cheapest hobby and I think it does beginners a disservice to ignore that.
jacobvanloon
izzy806
blakekathryn
