Old tweezers

I'm not making beads this morning as is my usual practice, I have to leave the house in about an hour for an optician's appointment. But I will be back at work this afternoon and am planning on making some more recycled glass beads by melting a Cava bottle. All of the Aeolian Treasure jewellery has happily sold out in just over two weeks so I need to make some more (the necklace will be different this time - as regular readers know, any item over £25 is unique).I took this photograph of my tweezers so I can remember them before they completely fall apart! Look at the way the metal has bent in the heat of the torch whilst they hold the shards of broken glass firmly in place. I have bashed them back into shape more times than I can recall but they are so brittle now, they will just snap off if I apply any more pressure to them. I have to hold the glass so high up the length of the tweezer arms that they get hotter much faster than they used to so they can only work for short periods at a time. This is why I have three pairs in use so they can cool down but I can keep working continuously. You can even see where the wood has charred; occasionally they catch fire too and I have to quench them in a bowl of water I have on standby (hence the rust too). I think they are kind of beautiful in a way.

They have done such a great job for so long, I really don't want to part with them ... not just yet, eh? I hope I can find another use for them when they can't perform any more - a nice long retirement incorporated into a piece of sculpture perhaps.