Dot masher
 

Anybody know where I can get a dot masher or have one to sell? TIA!

Do you have a photo of the particular tool you are looking for? You can just use the tip of a graphite marver, or the back of a spoon, or tip of a knife, or just about anything really that is wide enough for the particular dot you are working. Just remember if it's steel or brass to dip it in water often enough to keep it from sticking to the glass.

Ace Hardware (and several art supply stores) sell brass rods. I use a brass butter knife or an Exacto knife with a box cutter blade for 99% of my needs, including flattening dots.

What Shawnette said. Check out your local Goodwill/Salvation Army. You can usually pick up what you need for a $1 or less.

Thank you very much!

ccaronn, I love it how you always say Thank You!

LOL, thank you, echeveria! I am very grateful for the time and expertise of others on this site!

do you by any chance mean the tool from my tutorial?
i couldnt think of anything else to call it :lol:
if so, its just a short length of graphite rod, flat on the end and held in a handle you can buy from most hardware stores

The welding shops have carbon rods used in electrical arc welding and you can pretty much carve them with a pairing knife into points and pokes and smooshers.

It's pretty soft stuff but it will push molten glass around and you might get one or two for nothing just for asking.

I like the selection of brass rods, strips and tubing at the hardware store. A Dremel tool shapes the brass nicely with one of those metal grinding disks.

Phill,
I have a dremel, and I have a block of brass about 7 inches long, maybe 2x2. So I can make something with the dremel?

Aye, you could Eileen.

It is going to one of those Michael Angelo things where you have to be patient while you 'expose' the sculpture hiding inside but for me that would be a little more work than I have the gumption for.

I did reshape the end of a quarter inch brass rod into a 'pointed finger nail' oval kind of molten glass push thing. I found it was good for getting clear encasing closer to the mandrel for better 'puckers' at the bead hole.

I have another two or three shaped into points and flats kind of like Heather Trimlets (sp)tools. (I may have the name all kinds of wrong, please forgive my addled mind).

My only trouble was that I am right handed and the Dremel tool wants to spin the cut off grains in my face so I work in a large clear plastic container with both ends open as a round splatter guard.

I made a custom shaping tool from brass rod (purchased at Home Depot or a hobby store, can't remember). Used the dremel to make one end flat (like a screwdriver) and the other end pointed (like a pencil tip). Easy, peasy and you can always reshape as desired to suit your exact needs, wants and desires for pennies compared to purchasing a special glass tool.

The humble kitchen butter knife is also an excellent tool for all kinds of flattening, shaping, making lines, etc. for only $0.25 at the local 2nd hand store.

Yep. I paid less than 50¢ for each of these. The brass pie cutter & butter knife came from Salvation Army and I made the poker with brass rod & shrink tubing from Ace Hardware.

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/08...13fa7d4420.jpg

My kind of folks here, thanks, everyone!

LOVE the shrink tube idea!! I used some heat resistant tape, but it looks kind of low rent, the shrink tubing looks so much nicer!