All of my beads are made using 'soft glass', usually the Italian glass known as Moretti or effetre. I sometimes use other types of glass from Germany, England and Czechoslovakia. Glass arrives in long thin rods about 39 inches long and roughly the diameter of a pencil. I cut these rods into thirds, clean them to remove dust and dirt, and store them sorted by color in a rack next to my torch. That way I can reach over any time I need another rod while I'm making beads.