3 more big days for Bella Forte Glass Studio.
FRIDAY
I got a call from Barbara at Powder Coatering Plus. They got my equipment ready a couple days earlier than expected. I was so excited to have my glass blower's bench, my rolling yoke and my rolling heat shield all looking sharp and bright red! Powder coating is the way to go. The folks at Powder Coating Plus really treated me great. Barbara, Jim, Bob and the staff did a great job. The other day, Jim gave Micah and I a tour of the facility and showed us some of the things they do. Among the things we saw were some really nice ornamental gates and a bunch of neat stuff. I recommend these guys. They are at 513 N. Indiana in OKC, OK. (405) 232-5707 .
Kim and Krista made huge improvements on getting the studio and surrounding area all cleaned up so we could get ready to pour concrete on Saturday, They exceeded my expectations! Great job girls.
For the benefit of the folks reading this that aren't glass blowers, I will explain what some of the things are and what they do.
The "Rolling Yoke" is what you use to bring the vessel you are working on in and out of the Glory Hole in a very steady manner. It runs on tracks and allows you to go in and out of the glory hole without touching the sides of the doors and damaging the piece you are working on.
The "Heat Shield" helps shield you from the intense heat from the glory hole. Some time you have to stand in front of the Glory Hole for prolonged periods of time and the heat can get very intense. The rolling heat shield protects you a little bit. I'll post the heat shield picts later.
The "Bench" is what you sit at and lay your blowpipe or punty across it's arms and there you "work" your piece. My bench consists of 2 parts. The sit down part and the tool part. The tool part is were you rest your tools and have them ready to go when you need them.
SATURDAY
Micah and I rolled out of bed at about 7:15 am and got ready to pour at 8 am. James with Premium concrete got there about 10 minutes early and we started pouring concrete for the pad that the furnace and glory hole are going to set on. Thanks also to John for bringing the extra wheelbarrow. I put that massive quanity of muscle on Micah to work. He wheelbarrowed nearly all of the concrete to pour the 11 x 16 pad by himself. I was screeding it off and leveling it. By Noon we were finished and cleaning up the tools. On a scale of 1 -10, based on our experience and skill level, Micah and I did about a 9.75. The pad looks great! We exceeded our expectations!
SUNDAY
Sunday was a great day. Randy Moore came out and looked at everything. I was glad to get to show him what I've built "ever since he told me that I really needed to buy that expensive welder…". Also, I've been looking forward to Andy and Angela of Blue Sage Studios http://www.bluesagestudios.com coming out and seeing what I've been up to for some time now. Linda and I were so glad to see them. The picture that has 4 people in it going from Left to right is Angela, Andy, Micah, and Anna. The other picture with 3 in it has me with Andy and Angela. Not only do Andy and Angela have Blue Sage Studios, they also have Lottinvilles Restaurant in Edmond. I'm going to have Andy be the first one to make something in my new studio when it gets operational in about 2 - 3 weeks. Again, I appreciate all the help, advice, teaching, and moral support that Andy has given me in glass blowing.
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