New FosterFire bead release
I have to say that I was very underwhelmed when I put it on the mandrels. It was grainy, thick and didn't want to stick. I decided to try it anyway. Had a friend try it too. She was also underwhelmed.
WELL...the freeking beads almost JUMPED off the mandrels! I've never got a bead off so easily ever! If I can just get over the thick but doesn't want to stick thing, I will never use another bead release again! Any suggestions for me? |
Add some water and shake it up!
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Where do you buy it?? I want some!
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I have some -- really had to thin it out but the release came out of the bead made with a cone shaped mandrel much easier than i ever expected! I got it directly from the foster fire people here in LE.
leslie |
Yep, it's much smoother when it's nice and thin. I have tendonitis in both wrists, so I love how easy the beads come off.
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Debbie,
Here is the website for it. It is called Smooth & Tuff. www.fosterfireglass.com |
how well does it clean out? is there anything that can be cleaned without the use of a dremel?
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Deb, I observed the same exact thing! What I did was scoop some out with a spoon, put it in a baby food jar, added some water plus a few wonky beads, and shook it up real good. Nice smooth texture, not too thin or thick of a coat...perfect!
Now ask me about how easy it was to get them off the mandrels! ;) I have used Alice's for a long time because all others were so awful at trying to get the beads off. Even some of the newer releases out there that everybody raves about. So, as a very happy user of Smooth 'n Tuff, I'm sold! I don't see a need to buy anything else now! But I still haven't tried Zippz for the transparent beads yet, and would like to. Hopefully that one isn't a "mandrel bender". |
Lisi, I just got an order of Alice's when this came out. I had just mixed my blender with Alice's and put in 1/4 of the bottle of Smooth & Tuff (32oz) with my Alice's mixed and love it!! I work in boro.
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The heavy duty foster fire releases just as easy as the smooth and tough and it is a little smoother. THe smooth and tough is a little more fragile for me than the boro Foster fire and cracks a little easier too, but it does work better in presses as it is thinner on the mandrel.
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I got a freebie sample of the stuff when I ordered from Glass Alchemy's seconds sale. I have to say, it's a lot better than the blue junk I was using. It stood up to the boro heat pretty well inside the bead where it counts the most.
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Ordered some today, glad I saw this post.
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You can order directly from me, as noted above and here is the direct link to the order page..
http://www.fosterfireglass.com/beadrelease_main.html or if you see my sidebar here in LE you can just click on that. The following suppliers also have it now, or will have within a few days: LB Supplys ABR Imagery GG Glass Zooziis Winship You still get the best deal when you can combine shipping with your glass, tool or press order. |
Part of my problem with thinning it out is that I am a center of the mandrel kind of girl. LOL! I pour some on a flat surface that I use and kind of twirl them in that. If I think it out too much more, it'll be running all over the place. I need to find a taller skinnier jar and then just smoosh one end off with my fingers when I dip. Ahhhhh....another quest.
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We sell in it tall skinny jars, too - but if you just want the tall skinny jar I can send you an empty one ? It's 6.5 inches tall, 2.25 inches in diameter, you would have to pay the shipping, although since it's plastic it's pretty light.
I'm a middle-of-the-mandrel convert via Kristen Frantzen Orr and Sharon Peters! It's great for anybody with hand problems, arthritis, carpal tunnel or nerve damage. |
You could try a plastic baby bottle, just take out the nipple and use the plastic insert. Put a couple of beads in it for when you shake it. I got one after a holiday last year for less than a dollar and it works perfect.
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Metamucil jars are perfect, if you know anyone who uses it -- tall, straight, and practically no lip. The Smooth 'n Tuff comes in a jar like that.
You could also use an olive jar (one of the tall thin ones) or a plastic cigar tube and just fill it up as needed. |
Robin, is 6.5 inches long enough for a 12 inch mandrel to be in the middle? Seems a bit short but maybe not. Ithink I'd like something that I could dip to 8 inches. I'll go and look around at the grocery store. Do you think they'd think I was nuts if I started measuring jars in the store? LOL
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Our big jar is wider, but taller - at 8 inches. Because the welding rods are one yard long, but the end tabs have to be cut off, most 12 inch mandrels are 11 to 11.5 inches long, so the 16 oz jar is long enough to dip more than halfway.
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Hey Deb - I bought a tall stainless coffee tumbler thingy at target on clearance at Target for $1.99 - the lid is dented (hence the clearance price), but it is almost 8" of dipping length and it's cute :)
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Just a thought about Foster Fire. I find it is great....and I put a few drops of lavendar oil in it and it is really nice to work over..pretty calmning. Also I leave the tabs on the end of the mandrels and only use the one end. Then when it is time for the beads to come off I grab the tab with pliers and the bead with the other hand and barely twist and it is off. I buy my mandrel rods at the welding shop and there is a tab on each end. Then my husband cuts them for me. They work just a well and are must less expensive.
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Forgot alsoo....those tall thin Reese olive jars work so well for the bead release. They are about 6" tall and not very big around. It is easy to pour more release in them and they great for me. However, different strokes for different folks.
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Ok, guys, I need some real help!! I have used it thick and thin..I had a few crack on heating with thick coatings when I first got it from Jon..the first two with a thin coating cracked as soon as I put the first wrap of glass
today...two more cracked with heating...I tried further back in the flame and same thing...the rest I used today worked great!! And they sure do release easier than anything else I have tried...I want this to work!!! HELP!!!!!!!!!! thanks, pat |
are you air drying of flame drying? I have had better luck when I air dry my foster fire.
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Pat are you using new mandrels??
Paula |
Thanks for the questions...Squid, I always air dry...usually dip just before bed for the next day...Paula, I had it happen to new and very old ones....ok, what next??? I am sooooo frustrated...this makes no sense to me...thanks,
pat |
hmm... I made a number of longer beads on this release this weekend and didn't have any trouble. Can you post a pic of how your release looks on the mandrel?
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Sorry, squid, have cleaned all up except the ones in the kiln that held enough to anneal...as soon as the heat hits, they start getting little cracks like a windshield hit....and some look fine and then after starting a bead the same little cracks, like in a sidewalk....I will try to get a pix in the am from the kiln or if it happens tomorrow when I am beading, I will stop and shoot a pix...thanks so much for trying to help...pat
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the ones that cracked - were they thin and grainy or thicker and smooth? or neither?
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