Jewellery Classes and Artisan Workshop
Celebrating 20 Years in 2025!
Bench Hire at Workspace Studios.
There are several different types of Bench Hire available at our three studios across Aotearoa.
You can rent a bench for making jewellery, for enamelling, for lampworking (glass beads)
and even copper foiling (leadlighting).
*Lampwork hire is currently only available at Christchurch and Ōtaki
*Leadlight bench hire is only available at Ōtaki
It can be difficult to know where to start when you feel like you're ready to begin doing some making outside of a class setting. We have three basic levels of bench rental available: Assisted, Independent and Resident. Most folks need to begin with an Assisted Hire - this helps us to evaluate your level of competancy in the workshop, and to guide you through our studio health and safety and systems.
If you are NEW to bench hires, new our studio, or wish to do specific high-risk activities such as Casting, Melting, Enamelling or Lampwork Glass - you must read the information below on New Studio Renters or Specialist Activities before you book.
Read on for an overview of what we provide, or skip to the detailed info, or booking links below.
You can also find info in our Bench Hire FAQ. Our T's & C's for Bench Hires are here.
For regular hires, we also offer a 5 trip ticket for Independent Hires with great savings!
What Kind of Hire Do I Need?
Even if you are relatively experienced, you may need an Assisted Hire for one type of activity, and be perfectly fine as an Independent Hire for others.
You should visit the info pages on each type of hire by clicking the links below.
Jewellery making and Glass Working have so many types of activity. Some involve dangerous materials or tools or processes, and some don't.
All our studios retain the right to upgrade your independent hire to an assisted version, or to cancel your bench hire should it be required for health and safety of you, our tools or the studio and it's people .
If you are unsure of what you should book, please contact us to enquire.
New to our Bench Hires?
All new bench-hirers must complete at least one Assisted Hire before they begin using the space as an independent renter or as a Resident.
We respect that some makers may come to our studios with skills and learning already under their belts. However, as each studio is different and may have very different tools and procedures in place we do require
This Assisted Hire will include a studio tour, as well as a health and safety induction.
Specialist Tools & Activities at Workspace
Specialist Activities:
If you wish to do a bench hire and work on specialist tools or processes that are a higher than normal health and safety risk for our studio and users, we require that you use an Assisted Hire for this activity. This is to ensure that you have a dedicated person on-site who is the health and safety monitor for the workshop while you are working.
Please find more details on this under Assisted Hires.
Specialist Tools:
Certain tools and equipment are not available for use as an independent hire, and some are only available during a class. Those that are available for Assisted Hires may require an additional training session before your Hire, which you can book as a one-on-one session.
Some specialist tools and equipment require an additional fee to use, or to use for an extended period.
If you are unsure and would like to use something specific that you think might be included in this category, please message us before booking to avoid confusion.
Examples of tools that require a one-on-one training session before hand:
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Use of the Smith-Torch (Oxy/Lpg) for any reason (melts, soldering, casting)
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Use of the Enamelling Kiln
Examples of tools that are only available for Assisted Hires:
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Melting and casting equipment for Sand casts.
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Enamelling equipment
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Lampwork equipment
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Leadlighting equipment
Bench Hire Details:
Ready to book?
A 5 - Trip Ticket of Independent Hires comes at a 20% discount and must be used within 12 months.
If you need to upgrade your Independent hire to an Assisted, simply let us know and pay the extra $10 in your booking. Remember that Assisted Hires are only available at certain times.
