Hope someone can help me on here... I'm absolutely loving playing about with my torch, & occasionally coming up with some "beads", but I absolutely can't bear sitting for a long time! (do lampworkers end up with enormous bums?!! ;) ;)) If you do stand, do you find you need arm rests etc? And what sort of height would you suggest fixing the torch ? (Minor arriving for my birthday next week, can't wait! :D) Would really appreciate help & advice!
My bench is quite high (an old school science bench) and I mainly stood up to torch for the first few weeks, partly because I was so nervous of pinging glass, I kept jumping back on my stool and nearly falling off! ::) I have a bar stool now and sit down nearly all the time (apart from when I am heating something risky). The science bench has a comfortable bar underneath to rest my feet on. As for using arm rests - I leant against my shedio door frame if I needed a bit of precision with stringers etc. Oh, and I have to get up between beads to put them in the kiln and to choose more glass, and then there are trips indoors to get a cup of tea and another biscuit (shhh! ;D)
Exciting news about the minor, you will love it, I lurve mine. :) There are quite a few folks who stand, but I sit (I already have a bit bottom and need to take the weight off! :o ;D ). I do get up quite frequently though, try not to sit for more than an hour (my eyes get tired and you shouldn't sit for too long anyway). Hope you find the best postion for you. :) :)
I suffer from a weak back, and I stand almost all the time. My bench is about 90cm high. That means that the torch is situated at/just below elbow level, and I can keep my shoulders relaxed (I tend to hunch them up if I am sitting for long).
I do have arm rests (the creation station), which I use when doing detail work etc., either by leaning a bit forward, or sitting down on my bar stool.
I sit. And I am absolutely not commenting on the size of my bum ;D ;D ;D
I sit. My bum demands it. :D
I sit for beads, but just made 400 glass hairs standing up, and loved it! They were too long to handle sitting down, and I was boogying like a sillybilly ;D ;D
I always stand - my bench is kitchen unit height - I guess I have quite a steady hand but have a foil covered loo roll which I very occaisionally use as a wrist rest ;D
BTW I have a large bum but am counting calories - today I have counted 2000 of them and still finding more ;D
Quote from: Kimster on May 15, 2012, 06:44:56 PM
Minor arriving for my birthday next week, can't wait! :D)
;D That didn't take you long! Hope it's all going well!
Thanks everyone! Sounds like a worktop height thingy & bar stool seems a good option. Now for the kiln...better get rinsing!!! ;D ;D
Also - silly question - how do you do that getting a quote in a reply like jellybean has done below? Hi Jellybean! :)
Look to the right of the page, level with the heading of the post. You'll see "Quote". Click on it and that post will appear in the reply box ready for you to type underneath.
Quote from: BeeBeads on May 15, 2012, 10:56:51 PM
Look to the right of the page, level with the heading of the post. You'll see "Quote". Click on it and that post will appear in the reply box ready for you to type underneath.
[/quote
Hey! Thanks Bee Bee Beads ;D
Duh! Did it wrong...how come I got my reply in the quote? :-\ must be way past my bedtime...
If you scroll down a bit further before you add your reply I think you avoid being caught up in the quote box! ;D
Quote from: BeeBeads on May 15, 2012, 11:10:17 PM
If you scroll down a bit further before you add your reply I think you avoid being caught up in the quote box! ;D
Try again!!
yay! :D
Yay! ;D ;D :D :D ;D ;D
Quote from: BeeBeads on May 15, 2012, 11:10:17 PM
If you scroll down a bit further before you add your reply I think you avoid being caught up in the quote box! ;D
Yay! thanks BBB. I can retire to bed happy... ;D
You'll be doing it all the time now! ;D
Quote from: BeeBeads on May 15, 2012, 11:17:22 PM
You'll be doing it all the time now! ;D
I'm just showing off now ::)
I tend to stand. I might start by sitting......but after a while I realise that I'm standing again.............it happens as an involuntary action, no matter what I am making beads, ceramics etc. Doesn't matter what the height of the workbench is either.....still end up standing.
Don't forget that when using the quote option, you can delete that part of it that's not relevant. It keeps the Forum tidier.
Both stand and sit.
My work bench is high enough to stand at comfortably and i managed to get hold of one of those extra high office chairs cheaply at a local secondhand shop.
In case you are wondering the chair looks like a normal office chair but raises much higher and has a metal ring footrest fitted above its 5 roller feet which can be adjusted for height so your feet don't dangle in the air when you are sitting!.
Thanks Scoobeadoo. I'm on the look out now for a length of worktop to make a 'perfect height' workbench. I'm about average height (5' 6") but I find average height worktops a bit too low. Would it matter that I'll be sort of looking down on the bead & flame? (unless I fix it about 5'high!) :)
Quote from: Scubeadoo on May 18, 2012, 07:42:17 AM
In case you are wondering the chair looks like a normal office chair but raises much higher and has a metal ring footrest fitted above its 5 roller feet which can be adjusted for height so your feet don't dangle in the air when you are sitting!.
Draughtsman's chairs, I have one in my big shedio so I can sit comfortably when I'm sewing.
This (http://www.viking-direct.co.uk/a/pb/Erogonomic-Draughtsman-Chair-Burgundy/pr=Q25&id=5594319/) is the one I have, but I got it in one of their advertised sales (sign up and you'll get loads of sale brochures, never pay full price) was easy to assemble and has lasted for years.
The other thing I've seen people do is screw the torch onto thick blocks of wood to raise it up (make sure everything is secure) :)
My OH is a welder and I have taken over his metalwork bench in the workshop, so everything is all metal. It is quite high and I didn't want to stand all the time. I tried to get a high chair with wheels so I could scoot out of the way of flying glass but apparantly they don't make 'em with wheels, cos the elf & safety police say they're dangerous! So I bought an old office stool with wheels on for two quid from the boot sale and hubby welded a longer piece of pole onto it and voila - job done!
My arm rests are a couple of lumps of iron (used for shaping wrought iron stuff), oh and by the way, my torch set up is a welders cutting torch!! :D So there ya go. ;D
Nete
Thanks Sue, Marg & Nete. I think I could prob borrow an old office chair from work to try. Never thought of raising the torch - I could probably have a go at that on my current table :)
I'm a newbie (a week in and addicted). I'm on a temporary set up at the moment as we are due to move house, so have my HH set up on an old computer desk with the keyboard pull out removed. I tired sitting, but am finding that I much prefer a combination of standing and perching on a metal stool that I use with my drawing board normally.
I think I will carry on this way when I get a proper metal bench in the new house with the stand/perch method.