|
|
I know that once in a while you will feel the need to send an email to PRAISE something you have seen/read on my site. Here is a list of those involved in the presentation of this website and other publications and tools. Click on the name of the person you want to send an email to!
©2012 Corina Beads • Powered by pappashop.com
|
|
The new Brass Bead Shaper
These tools are born in the way the best tools in all trades are born: out of need. For a couple of years now I had been searching for tools to help me shape round beads, and by "round" I just mean "round" - versus flat, cylinder, lentil-shaped or any other pressed shaped. Not "marble-round".
I was basically looking for a "curved marver", and my search let me mainly into the kitchen, into the spoon drawer, or that other drawer with measuring spoons. I think I spent about $ 100 just on different metal measuring spoon sets, and some sizes were okay, but if I used the spoons for an extended period of time, they got so hot they I literally burned myself a few times.
You might wonder (or not) why I didn't use one of those graphite bead-molds, aren't those supposed to make round beads?
Here is a look at the one I have had for years (next to the large bead shaper, I took the handle off to take the picture.)
One of the reasons I never liked those marble mold is that fact that they are made out of graphite.
Graphite is an incredibly dirty material, even in the picture you can see the black streaks on the background paper.
I'm not sure that glass gets contaminated when coming in contact with graphite, but I just don't like it (except for in flat marvers,
but even then I make sure to get high quality graphite, since there is a huge difference in the dirt-level depending on the grade of
graphite used....
Besides the material, the indentations in "classic bead molds" (which are basically a variation on marble molds, with a groove for
the mandres) are meant to mean REALLY round beads. In order for those to look good, the bead has to be EXACTLY the width of the mold, and
there is only ONE amount that fills the molds perfectly. Most beads are just not made in that "exact" way. In my opinion, tools should make your
beadmaking LESS complicated, not more.
Finally, in my own beadmaking I found it important that I can place the bead at an ANGLE into the mold:
In a classic bead mold, there is too much graphite around the hole, you can only use it by rolling the mandrel straight over the surface of the mold. Again, that is very limiting in what you can do with the tool.
In the brass bead shapers the holes sit as far as possible to the edge of the tool, so you can place the mandrel at many different angles and not only shape the bead itself, but also the SIDE of the bead. I'm sure you all know how handy that can be.
As for the depth of each hole - there is no mathematical formula on how you get the perfect "diameter-depth-ratio" (unless it's marble-round). I tried about 20 different depth, driving myself crazy, and in the end I kind of randomly picked what worked for ME. Some of them could be deeper, or shallower, there is really no end to the possible variations, and probably nothing is just "perfect". I'm happy with it, and I hope so will you.
Using the bead shaper
There is no ONE way to use the bead shaper - pretty much whatever works for you is right. If you make a bead and ROLL it in the shaper it will be more or less an olive shaped bead. You can either keep the bead that way, or use the olive as the center of an encased bead. You should only roll a bead if there is NO DESIGN on it, otherwise you might risk distorting the design.
If you work on any bead with a design on it, it's much safer to heat the bead, push it into the mold, lift the bead up, turn a little, push again, etc., until the bead is cold and has to be heated again.
The most useful "application" for me is the re-shaping of encased beads. Depending on the encasing method you use, the bead needs some major re-shaping after the encasing. By pushing it into the shaper, instead of using heat and gravity alone, it will be much less likely for the bead to get out of control and the design under the encasing to distort.
Also, keep in mind to think of the shaper as a "curved marver". So, whenever you have a raised design (like dots, flowers, stringer) that you want to flatten, by pushing it into the shaper you will maintain the curve of the design.
Another way to use the shaper is to use it as a "rim" for shaping. I still remember how Loren Stump teaches in his classes to shape the small paperweights on the RIM of the stump shaper. Meaning: in order to influence the shape of a bead you don't need the tool to touch the entire bead, but using a "ring" is sometimes preferable. This might sound a little complicated, but once you try it, it makes perfect sense.
I hope to add a little video tutorial soon, thanks for checking!
(oh, and you might have noticed that there is a small and a regular shaper - a BIG one is just around the corner....)
|
|
