Every time I go, I come away wanting to make my own handmade marbles. Bruce tells me I could make some small ones with one of those little torches you can buy at Wal-Mart. Moon Marble sells a beginner kit, but it's not exactly cheap ($110).
For cooling bigger marbles, you need a kiln to step down the temperature gradually. Plus, you need a decent torch for the lampwork, as Bruce learned. He said he started with the little $8 torches from the hardware store, and when he realized he'd used a hundred of them in a few weeks, he saw that $8 a pop was a false economy compared to a proper torch and refillable propane tank.
I can identify with Bruce: this is how I am with my hobbies. Had I the means, my hobbies would be even more out of control. And if I could find a way to make them pay...
His latest torch, his fourth in the past eleven years, he says cost him more than his first four automobiles combined. It's a serious piece of fire breathing, complete with a foot pedal to kick up a 'rocket flame' when he needs extra heat.
This is, I'm sure, why I only own one handmade marble, a little $8 number I bought a year or two back. I see marvelous pieces I'd totally love, but then I see that this little sphere of glass is $80 and it's not like I can put the thing to work.
A fun time was had by all, though. The shop s full of non-marble stuff that's pretty fun as well. Everything from piratical lunch boxes to reissues of vintage games and toys.
The girls were of divided attitudes when we got there, as you can see in this picture taken as we got out of the car. By the time we left, though, even Em was diggin' it, talking about coming back soon.
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