How do you prep your new mandrels?

[lynn's lampwork]

Just wondering how/what ya'll do to your new mandrels before you use them? Do you "rough" them up? If so, with what.....etc....

Thanks for the info!
~Lynn

[Moth]

I stick them in the flame for a bit. Then I let them cool, wash them with a brillo pad, rinse them real well and dry them off. Then they are ready for dipping. That's just me.

Yes, you do have to do something to them to rought them up before you use them. I think probably just scrubbing them with the brillo pad or steel wool is enough.

~~Mary

[evolvingBeau]

So long as the ends are without burrs (smooth), nothing to hinder removal of beads then I just use them. The bead release won't stick quite as well at first but will still do fine if you dip them slowwwly..
If they're homemade from stainless welding rods, just make sure you file or grind the ends.

[evolvingBeau]

Kewl Mary, never really did that myself and didn't have trouble but I'm sure it helps.

[JavaGirlBT]

I put mine in the kiln for a cycle while I'm making beads.

[DesertDreamer]

I rough 'em up with a green Scotchbrite pad.

[kramdas]

I just wipe mine down, check the ends, and use them. Never had a problem :)

[Wendyki]

I throw mine in the kiln and go :)

[Rob]

I take them over to Jans house and make sad puppy dog eyes at her for a little bit and then she lets me dip them in her ferric whatchamacallit and they are just right.

[evolvingBeau]

I just wipe mine down, check the ends, and use them. Never had a problem :)

Nice, I'm not the only one..

[Carolyn M]

Nothing. Never been an issue

[kramdas]

Whew-glad to hear it, I was getting worried for a minute there lol!

[NLC Beads]

Anneal them and ask Brian to grind the ends. Wash them to make sure no oil residue or nasty stuff I don't want to breathe remains on them before dipping them. Not necessarily in the order stated. :)

[artwhim]

I lay a few of them on sand paper and give them a fast roll back and forth. Don't use a real course sheet though.

[Carolyn M]

Ok, I must be missing something here. Why all the preparations? Like I said I've never had a problem, but now I think I must be doing something wrong!

[meadowesky]

never do anything. Just dip and go.

[scoutycat]

Usually I dip and go, but if I find that I'm getting bare patches, I'll rough them up with a little sand paper - it doesn't take much, and I do a whole bunch at the same time so it's only a minute or 2 of work. Rinse, towel dry & dip

[kramdas]

Jen, the bare patches patches my be from some oily residue on the mandrels...I've gotten some kinda greasy ones before :S

[Hothead Beads]

Ditto on what Ellen said. A run through the kiln.

[Sherry]

I either run them through the kiln, or flame them for....gee, I don't know how long? Long enough to change color, probably 10-15 seconds.

It think the practice started when people would dip new mandrels and have issues with residual oil, etc. that may have been on them, which could conceivably stop the bead release from gripping properly.

I've got mandrels that are 5 years old and still going strong, but it's no skin off my behind to run the new ones through the kiln, gives them an idea of what will be in their future, so to speak.

[jesgen]

I used to torch them, turn them red, because the bead release did not stay on them otherwise. Now I put them in the kiln for one bead annealing session, makes sure there are no burs on the ends and add a 6 " piece of brass tubing on the ends of my 8 1/2 inch 1/16 inch mandrels. I found putting them through the kiln stress relieved the mandrel and they were straighter.
Other mandrels I use without the brass tubing. The brass tubing makes the 1/16 mandrel easier to hold and spin and makes them a bit stiffer. I use a drop of supper glue on the bottom end of the brass tubing and mandrel to hold the tubbing fast to the mandrel. When it is time to replace the mandrel, a little heat breaks the glue hold and I can put a new mandrel in the tub. The glue also breaks if the mandrels are garaged in the kiln.

[robinh]

Not a thing, and never had a problem.

[Karen Hardy]

Prep? :lol:.

[Jane P]

I rough 'em up with a green Scotchbrite pad.

Ditto - otherwise I find the bead release can break off "mid-bead" - really annoying! That's also how I clean them between uses.

[beadgoodies]

I just dip them into dry bead release (the powdered stuff from Alice) and then into the wet stuff. It works without hardly any effort at all.

Candy

[Aleigh]

I've always rubbed mine with steel wool and then dipped, otherwise the release just slides down them. It must be because I didn't clean them well.

Amy
www.aleighdesigns.com

[Moth]

I have 6 year old mandrels that are still holding up. I can tell which ones are the old ones because they are all long ones before I realized I prefer the 9 inchers. I recently purchased some new ones and the bead release coated them just fine, and looked normal when dry, but instantly flaked away when hitting the flame. I washed the release off them all, flamed them til they glowed, passed them through some steel wool under running water, dried, redipped and they were fine.

I did try to go with no prep first, but I didn't even get to the glass part. The release cracked off before I ever even touched a rod of glass to it. I know it wouldn't have survived my rough bead making methods. All that mashing a twisting. I should have known better.

~~Mary