I am now using a piece of marble cut from a countertop where they install the sink. These discard pieces are available from marble countertop manufacturing places for next to nothing. So far I have found the marble to be just as easy to use as a steel marver with the bonus that it does not rust.
You can also see the new gas plumbing for the glory hole in one of the pictures, and the quick-connect fittings for torches in another picture.
Click on a picture for an enlarged version.
Click on a picture for an enlarged version.
The studio is well ventilated by the two plexiglas windows, which are opened when blowing. The glory hole is propane fired, running at about 1-2 psi, and getting hotter than it ever did on natural gas in Calgary. The overall placement of the equipment is almost the mirror image of the original Calgary Tin Shack, but there is much more usable room in the new studio, thanks to the higher roof. On a very hot summer day, the studio will exceed 250F in the rafters, but the blowing area remains decent. Also shown in these pictures are the colored glass frit sitting in stainless steel gravy boats, ready to be applied to a piece.