Say Hello to My Little Friend

I have a new friend. A new bestest friend.

An assistant. A helper. Someone to lend a hand.

I have a rod warming rack. It is way cool.

The weather broke last night - and we finally got some rain and some cooler weather. So - after heating up the beadFX studio last night and today - I thought I would give it a shot.

I have been wanting one of these for years - ever since I saw one at the ISGB gathering in Kentucky - and I flashed on what a timesaver it would be to have the rods pre-heated and handy like that.

Of course, the recent class taken with Lucio Bubacco just served to re-emphasize that - and spurred me to get one!

This is an impressively well-made tool. Note the join at the corner of the rack - not just welded, but the corners fitted into each other.

The decorative flame cutout is a nice touch too!

I had to do some tidying and re-organizing to get it into position. It also needed the addition of a brick under it to add some height, as I prefer to leave the angle of the torch as is.

So - does it work? Yes, yes it does.

Rods melting quicker due to pre-warming. No shocking when re-starting the rod.

Didn't try it on anything uber shocky yet - will have to find something that shocks a lot and try it out.

It did seem to make the night's beads go more quickly and there isn't the usual spray of broken glass around the torch after tonight's session. I would know - as I had to sweep/scoop up the old piles of instanta-frit.

I'm very happy - it looks like a winner. I would say it was worth the wait - but I think I would have liked to have had this years ago.