It was before Halloween 2010 the last time I posted. Not that I don't have a lot to say. Well, maybe I don't after all. I'm been extremely busy during the fall and winter. And I've just been in the glass doldrums for a while. I suspect that the extremely cold weather has had a bunch to do with that.
It's been a very cold winter here in Michigan. I think there were very long periods to time when the high for the day was about 10 to 15 degrees Farenheit. My sheet glass and tools are in the garage. Way too cold to even stand there for five minutes. My pole barn (my workshop) which has the coldworking tools is heated, but I keep in down low to probably 45 degrees most of the time. This prevents things from freezing and water from condensing and rusting onto the surfaces of equipment like table saws. I can turn it up and it'll get quite comfortable in about 30 minutes, but walking out there and starting work just didn't seem like fun.
I'm getting ready for spring. And starting to think about glass again. I've sold a lot of pieces at the gallery in Lansing and that is nice to get a check every month for a couple of pieces or so. I need to gear up for glass. I haven't blown glass since November and am looking forward to it some more.
I'm always on the look out for new tools. I find them in the strangest places. I found this one last summer in the local Bed, Bath, and Beyond store.
You are probably asking - what is the "tool" that idiot is blathering about. Well, its the "Baking Mat". It's a baking sheet made of silicone. It is meant to line a cookie sheet and prevents baked items from sticking or burning. If it can stand 450+ degree temperature then it should be pretty durable. I can't remember the dimensions but it is a "Full Sheet" size, 17" x 34" or thereabouts.
I found that clay doesn't stick, wax doesn't stick, and it cleans up very easy. I've actually poured hot wax directly on the sheet. I built dams from clay, and then poured the hot wax directly into the dammed area. Once cooled it was completely flat and perfect. Peeling off the clay dams was easy and then the wax model just popped off. No fuss, no muss.
One more silicone item I picked up was a mini-muffin mold. I didn't get the full size muffin mold but that will be a future acquisition. The mini-muffin mold makes a dozen small muffins. I just pour leftover wax into the mold, let cool, and then pop out discs of wax. These can be easily stored and re-melted in the future. You can see one of the wax muffins off to the right side of the mat in the picture.
This post is about one of my favorite glass tools. Most glass blowers would talk about their hand tools from Jim Moore or Carlo Dona and argue over which is best. Warm glass artists talk about their cutters and their kilns. But for me, right now, my favorite tool is my DeWalt wet saw. Here is a link to it on Amazon. DeWalt Wet Saw . This thing rocks. I spent a lot of time researching wet saws and using ones I could beg or borrow.The biggest fault with a wet saw, in my opinion, is that I GET WET. I hate it. I don't want to be wet and sloppy and have to drag out my apron just to make a cut. I don't want to have to build an enclosure just to use the bloody thing and keep the water in the frigging saw and not on me, everything around me, on the floor, and so forth. 
After a lot of research I saw this. Now I must admit for woodworking I love my DeWalt tools, including my table saw. It is perfect for me. There are better more expensive options but I'm more than satisified. So when DeWalt announced a contractor-friendly wet saw I was excited. I read all the reviews - not just the fluff articles but ones from real contractors doing real work day in and day out. This one seemed like it would make the grade.It went on my Christmas wish list. I got it and was really impressed as I opened the box. One of the things that DeWalt did is make it portable. Now at 70 pounds, the think isn't light, but they did an interesting thing. It comes apart without tools into five smaller pieces. The saw itself sits in a tray that holds the water. There are two wings that just snap in to catch the water. The picture doesn't show it, but these are angled up to catch the spray and direct it back into the main water tray. The sliding table even lifts off. There is a reviewer on Amazon who built some carrying cases which are pretty cool. Note the rubber flap at the back that catches the spray as well. 
I don't want to sound like a DeWalt shill, but there are just so many features like the adjustable depth stops, the tilting saw head, the rubber covered sliding table that glides like its on butter, and on and on.I cut a lot of pattern bars and this thing is solid. The 1.5HP motor doesn't even slow down for 2" thick stuff. The water is fed by adjustable tubes on either side of the blade so the water coolant is directed right at the cut, not flying off and getting me wet.This thing is obviously designed for professionals by people who actually use tools. This is certainly my current "COOL TOOL" for the moment.
