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This is the back of the main bench. I left an overhang of 1 ft. This provides be with enough space for glass storage bins. Each bin is a milk crate box, found from all over the place. They stack, they nest, they're strong, they clean well, it's ideal to to hold glass in them.
The glass are separated by size and type. Mostly by size though. I have boxes that hold onto just 12x12, 12x16, etc. I have a box for glue chip scrap, colored mirror, and iridescent baroque (got a lot of it once). Towards the back I keep all my antique glass, out of the way so I don't mess it up. There's a box that holds onto larger art glass (12x16), two boxes for iridescent, and boxes of odd glass that I don't use on a regular basis, but want to hold, and keep out of the way.
These boxes hold a lot of glass, but there are draw backs. For example, in the picture shown above, I don't have much room to move them around. The space there is a 1/2" wider the the box, an I have to handle these boxes sideways. These boxes hold onto 50-80 pounds of glass. It's very heavy, I have to slide them down against another box to keep from dropping it. Filling each box, I place the first sheet against the back with about 3" of space behind it. The trick is, you need to let the glass rest against the back of the box, without it falling forward. Believe me, it hurts when it falls forward on your hand. The glass may shift forward when you pick it up. There is no place to put your hand when that happens. It's either drop the box on your foot, or cut your your finger... The glass rests on the one sheet, so too much space behind the glass means that glass could crack. Plus you need to keep some open space in front of the glass. Glass can scratch and chip if it's packed too tightly, plus you won't be able to flip through the glass.
This box contains glass in the range of 20"x30". It's plywood box with a hinged door. I can slide the glass in from the front. The door, has two eye hook catches on it to lock it in place. I used to keep the glass on a piece of carpeting in that very same spot. Glass is fragile and I could have broken the glass that way. I only had enough about 3" between the wall and the bench. I cut off the overhang on the other side of the bench. This gives me about 8" of space. I can only store a limited supply of glass in here, but since I usually don't buy sheets of glass that big, it won't be a problem. I got most of this at various moving sales.
This was one of my original benches, by the way. This box contains odd scrap glass with really funky edges. I had to chop off a piece here and there to get them to sit up properly. It was a waste of glass, but the points stabbing through the bottom of the box, locking the glass in place, was much more annoying. There is also some glass behind this box that is too oddly shaped to be placed anywhere else. My sheets of colored mirror are placed here as well. The light is a simple pull chain light, which was installed a very long time ago. That bulb was never changed, it has to be at least 10 years old.
This is a part of my main bench. It's the only cabinet that I have, that's attached to the bench. The glass is all in the 16x20 area. Mixed art glass, large sheets of glass that's too large for the box on the oil tank, and yet too small for the wood cabinet. To the right is a metal bin. This was built when I was still in Junior High (Thomas Edison Intermediate, for those who are interested). It's a galvanized metal box that's about 20" square. It was my first scrap bin, originally, however, it was supposed to be a box for my larger sheets (12x16 at the time), and my scrap bin was a cardboard box. My teacher (Mr. Revere, I only remember by shop teacher's names by the way), didn't want me to use all the metal in the shop, but it worked out better like this anyway.
The box used to contain all the scrap glass. All colors, jumbled up, when I needed something, I would have to pick through it all one at a time. The first glass to be removed was the iridescent, in which was all placed in one box, then later separated by color. Then all the colored glass was separated (no color jokes intended :þ ). It now holds all the tan and beige glass. It also houses my rags, dust masks, and the occasional glove. Next to the bin, I keep the front surface mirror, used for kaleidoscopes. It's safest here.
In front of the bins are various types of cleaners and waxes. The door holds glass cleaners, crayons, and waxes. There is a small plastic drawer crammed in there as well, it holds odd's and end's like sculpting tools.
I installed a light in there as well. I installed a micro switch, in the always closed position. The light turns on when the door opens, like a refrigerator. This way I don't have to turn it on manually, and I always know that it's off when the door is closed.
This is the glass bin on top of the oil tank. I built it after I discovered that I was running out of space quickly. A friend of mine was cleaning out the basement of his shop. One dollar a sheet was a pretty good price, wish I bought more. Some of the glass was pretty large and it was clear to me that I needed more space for glass in the 16x20, 20x20 size.
The enclosure is made of 1/2" plywood. Covered on all sides including the back. I didn't want to take a chance and let glass fall behind the oil tank, I'd never be able to get it out. Plus it would crack the glass if it repeately hit a contrete wall. Enclosing it on all sides, ensures me that the glass won't become dirty (the saw is near by). And will keep things from smacking into it, like debris from the metal grinder, located directly below it. I placed a bi-fold door on it to protect it from the front. Bi-fold because there wasn't enough room for a solid door. The cabinet was painted white on all sides to give maximum light. There is no light inside this cabinet, there is however, a fluorescent light very close to it. If I were to build another one, I would place spacer's about 8-10" apart. It's hard to hold up a bunch of glass to while looking through it.
This assortment is located in a the bench where my ringsaw and grinders are kept. Each tray is a flat box that you would keep soda cans in. The messy stack contains: scraps of clear baroque, restoration glass, craquel, and much more. There are also boxes of semi antique scrap. Below this bench I have all the scrap iridescent separated by color.
These are some of the iridescent scrap bins. All the iridescent scrap are in boxes, sorted by color, placed under these two benches. The main bench contains all the solid colors. Behind the bench, further then where you've seen, contains all the semi antique, and color mirror scraps. Underneath one of my father's benches, I hold onto weird glass things like, Waterford broken scrap, a box of mirror tiles, and some antique scrap. Everything is in a box. When I need red, look for the red box. Reds, pinks, and yellows are in one box, Black, gray, and white, in another. Blue, green, and purple have their own box. Browns, tan, etc, are kept in the metal scrap box.
This small area is outside my normal shop. This is a part of my mother's studio, in which I'm slowly taking over. heh... heh... heh... The large file cabinets were inherited, more or less. They are bolted together, to prevent it from tipping when open. On the top, is where a bulk of my art glass is can be found, 8x12 is the largest I can fit in here. The collection is growing, at one time I could fit all my art glass, in just one bleeding hand.
The top drawer contains art glass scraps, sorted, as you already know, by color. The drawer below it, all electrical wire. The maroon cabinet contains paint, and solvents. The gray file cabinet holds: agates, bevels, craft items, and weird stuff. That big gray box is a sand blaster. Not a good one, but it can be used on glass. There is a hole in the bottom that let's the sand leak all over the place, still need to fix that. I don't use it much, because I still need to run the wires for a new circuit for the air compressor.
On top of the paint cabinet, is a plastic hardware box that contains all my allen wrenches, sorted by size. The old band saw sit's here as well.
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Started on 7-9-2001
