Thrifty Frugal Tips and Tricks for FlameWorkers

[Sulis (Hazel)]

tic tac boxes are great for frit cus you can open them with one hand  (as im not a great at planing a head ! )

I've been looking for a perfect frit solution for aaages this is FABULOUS Sarah!!!! Thanks!!

Pat, you're a genius with the George Foreman grill, I'm SO going to look out for one at the car boot sales this spring.

I use a round marble cheeseboard thingy for a marver - charity shop, came with a plastic dome top which I couldn't find a use for so flung out, and now wish I hadn't as it would have been good to cover up the various bits I invariably keep on my marver to stop them getting lost at the end of my torchering session.
Also 1970s style stainless steel trays are really cheap to pick up second hand and are a great place to lay hot rods/tools etc. I stand a rod holder in one end of a tray and it means that if anything rolls off because I pile everything on top, then nothing hot lands on the floor.

For fused glass work (well, slumping anyway) I picked up a stainless steel cocktail shaker, removed the lid and strainer fitting, coated the outside with kilnwash, turned it upside down on the kiln shelf and slumped glass over it. So long as you find a good stainless one, that's a lot cheaper than the nearly identical mould they sell.

LOVE this thread - Thanks!

Hazel xxx

[Jeanniegems]

this is such a good thread, keep the ideas coming!

Jeannie

[sarah t]

 after i  (and all my friends and family) have eaten enough tic tacs for all the frit i have i will nead to learn how to make glass teath 

[jobead]

Surely there's a market for glass teeth, if there is there should be 

[Hels4444]

My daugther has  a dentist appoint next week, I gonna ask too  - what a fab idea xxxxxx

[ARBeads]

Morrisons do a range of cooks measuring spoons in Stainless steel they're great for doing lentil beads of all sizes.

[squirsygirl]

Morrisons do a range of cooks measuring spoons in Stainless steel they're great for doing lentil beads of all sizes.

ooooh - I'm off to Morrisons.

[Moreton]

Some great ideas there folks, thanks.
 
Don't forget empty film canisters (35 mm) for small screws, frit & all those little orphan items that have no real home.

I got 3 plastic record racks (vinyl albums & 45s) to hold glass pieces. Verticaly between the "loops" & easy to cut some of the loops out for thicker glass. Ebay £5

Emulsion paint, non vinyl, is a good shelf release if it is watered down a bit. Not sure if it would be any good for mandrels but could be worth a try.

The turntable from an old Microwave is just right for trailing lines/spirals on glass disks for plate fusing. I printed concentric circles on stout paper and glued that to the surface as guide lines.

Artist's brush stands are brill for pencils, cutters, odd bits of wire and assorted poking things!!! 99p from The Works (a remaindered book shop) who also have a good selection of cheap artists brushes and stuff.

My stringers (comercial bought ones) are in a panel of twin wall polycarbonate roofing cut to be a few inches shorter that the sticks & taped over on the lower end.

I lift my kiln shelf for a small testing kiln with a home made "fork lift" made fron shelf brackets and a window stay.
 
Better stop now. I will try to photo all that so that it becomes a bit more understandable.
Regards Pete

[♥♥Tan♥♥]

love the george forman grill idea, have been lookig for a cheap platewarmer but these grills are indeed everywhere, Ta muchly

Jeannie

Jeannie I used to use a donut machine to keep elements like murrini and shards warm, it works really well because it has six donut rings so everything can be kept separate.

Keep an eye on the animal charity shop in front of the rec in Hayle they have lots of stuff like that for a couple of pounds

[♥♥Tan♥♥]

I got a grinder from b and q for £15 last week, I can make my own mandrels now.

I have three wine racks that hold my glass, dont use plastic pipe or card tubes because you can't fill the whole of the hole, if you see what I mean, make a loose tube out of thick card with a big overlap and as your glass expands in the hole so does the tube.

Mr frit is stored in everything from sample jars to those little tiny jam jars you get sample jams in, they are all stored on lazy susans or turntable spice racks picked up at car boots for about 50p

My metal work surface is from the local junkyard, I smiled sweetly and they even cut it to the right size. My chair is from the skip and my actual workbench I bartered some gardening time for. It was brand new in someones shed!!

Check out the cutlery boxes in charity shops and car boots, nearly everything that is metal is good for shaping

[jobead]

I'm not sure which is more worrying, the amount of time spent by everyone rummaging through skips and tips or the fact that I am insanely jealous that I don't have time to rummage through skips and tips 

 
Jo

One day I will turn all the wine bottles on my window sill into beautiful beads.......................

[jammie]

In B&Q buying the usual white plastic pipes for glass storage  I found a blind with thick black fabric with no box or hooks and asked how much, new was £13 he said £4.99, I said, but its only a bit of material, he said £3.50s low as I can go, Done says I. It's perfect for blocking the sun out so I can see the flame as the sun comes right into my workroom.

[lemon kitten]

I melt my stringers back into the rods when I've finished using them.........how b***dy tight is that!!!  If I dont they just get stuck in a jar and I never look at them again!

Janey x....yeah....yeah.....I need to get out more 

[Barbara]

Janey, that's exactly what I do!!!
I can't stand it any longer - those million of stringers.

[Kaz]

Nooooooooooooooooooooo!  Not melting stringers back into rods - I can't bear it! If life is too short to stuff a mushroom it must definitely be too short to melt stringers back into the rods!!! The only time I'd ever do that is all the bitty ends of silvered ivory stringer but even then I sometimes just chuck them if they are too short to stick on a bead!
Kazx