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Tips, Techniques, and Questions -- Technical questions or tips

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  #1  
Old 2015-05-30, 8:51pm
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Default Newbie: how to get two to match in size??

Help, please! Other than making two beads on one mandrel, please tell me how to get a pair of round beads that match in size. I blew one bead up putting two on a mandrel already. Placing the first bead in the blanket means I can't see it to gauge the correct size of the second bead. I've actually made 5 or 6 of the same design only to find that I've got a row of graduated sizes and none are the same, Jeez. How do you all do it, please?? Frustration level is high. Thanks in advance.
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  #2  
Old 2015-05-30, 9:14pm
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Well, maybe next session you can set one of those out to use as a guide, and make the 2nd of the pair that way?
Some people use rollers and presses to get sizes to be consistent.
I have my torch marver marked off in half inches to help me.
Some people mark their glass beforehand with a sharpie, to help them figure out how much glass to put on the mandrel.
Others cut a piece off their rod the same size for each bead, if you are OK working with shorts.

I think the main thing is practice, practice, practice. And graduated sets are very nice too!
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Old 2015-05-30, 9:16pm
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Oh, and how large are you trying to make them? Very small ones you can make more than one on a mandrel and they will probably be OK if you don't get them back in the flame, but as you get larger they will be more likely to crack without the slow cool down.
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  #4  
Old 2015-05-31, 12:04am
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I have some sheet metal cut into S shapes and attached in the middle to use as calipers as well as some precision calipers that I can set to a specific size and hold up next to the bead to get an idea of sameness.

You can also buy some "eye hooks" or eye bolts and those you can actually put right up against the hot glass.


Mostly I think everyone just makes a dozen each of a pattern and picks the middle closest 5 to make a set out of.

It does get easier with practice but you do have to go through the 2 hundred or so to get the hand, eye and timing thing learned.

There really isn't any magic fix other than that.
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Old 2015-05-31, 3:14am
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Default Calipers

I have two sets of digital calipers. One is set for the height of the bead the other for the width. As in 18mm by 8mm. Add or remove glass as you need to.

Or you can cut several pieces of cane the same length and preheat them.
Same amount of glass same size beads.
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  #6  
Old 2015-05-31, 5:18am
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Go the route of making a "master" bead the size you like. Keep it on it's mandrel as a point of reference for yourself as you proceed to make the beads you want to be the same size. As the glow starts to leave your bead, compare the size to the reference bead. That way you can always view the bead you want your others to match.
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  #7  
Old 2015-05-31, 5:21am
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Awesome help, everyone! Thanks a million!
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  #8  
Old 2015-05-31, 6:29am
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ccaroon, here's a link to some video's to show you how to use my beadroller tools. I was a beadmaker long before I started making the tools, and one of the reasons I started making them was so I could get consistent sets without all the leftover sizes.

-Donna
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  #9  
Old 2015-05-31, 6:53am
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Here's a thread by Sue in Maine that has a great idea For making beads the same size

http://lampworketc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=204924
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  #10  
Old 2015-05-31, 10:27am
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And Donna's tools are 'da bomb' as they say.

Well worth the cost.
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  #11  
Old 2015-05-31, 10:28am
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I can't wait to try these methods out. Thanks a lot!!
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  #12  
Old 2015-05-31, 2:11pm
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Some stupid newbie's thoughts, if you do not mind.

You can make a sample bead of the size you want without any design but in clearly visible colour/geometry and have it as a reference object. You can even make it from poly clay - it is a sample anyway.

Why I do not like measuring the rod with a ruler and marking with a sharpie (I tried, honestly. 3 times and gave up) - first - rods can vary in size (1/2 mm (1/50 inch, I suppose) may already give you a deviation, if the rods are hand pulled linear measuring is nothing. Second - if an end of the rod shocks - you'll have one more deviation. Third - if you failed to keep the base shape and adjust it by adding glass - there is a deviation again.

So far the suggestion to make 200 of them sounds to be the most reliable way.
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Old 2015-05-31, 2:37pm
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You could also mark your work bench, a piece of graphite or other flame-proof material with the sizes you want. I mark the size of the bead at the equator with horizontal lines and the size of the bead hole to hole with vertical lines.
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  #14  
Old 2015-05-31, 5:14pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Speedslug View Post
And Donna's tools are 'da bomb' as they say.

Well worth the cost.
Definitely, I have a few of them,too. 😄
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  #15  
Old 2015-05-31, 9:12pm
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I have also seen some youtube videos where the artist has a grid chalked out on the dark work bench just behind the line of sight for a bead in the flame and they use the grid as a size reference while making the bead.

Good Luck and come back and tell us what you figured out as you learn it.

For folks who have been at it a while there is a lot of technique that is on auto pilot by now that we don't consciously realize we do when making beads.
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Old 2015-05-31, 9:59pm
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I use 1 wrap wide, or two wraps wide etc.

Then I build until I have a donut or a round for the footprint, paying attention to how many wraps I do.

Then if I have a 1x3 spacer, they will be fairly consistent.

And it's practice. And duplication. I always make 3 on a mandrel to get an earring pair.

And more practice.
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  #17  
Old 2015-06-01, 2:52pm
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Gosh, this has been an immense help, I can't tell you. Thanks again, everyone!
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  #18  
Old 2015-06-01, 7:05pm
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In case you get into off mandrel stuff...

When I do chess sets, I'll make one pawn, one rook, one bishop, one knight one day and I'll do the rest of the side the next day once I have those as references.

When I make drawer pulls, I use a mold to get them the same size.
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Old 2015-06-01, 7:37pm
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Default Newbie: how to get two to match in size??

Thank you, I'm looking into a donut marver.

Last edited by ccaronn; 2015-06-02 at 4:39am.
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  #20  
Old 2015-06-01, 9:12pm
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I agree marvers or rollers are great, everyone has their "way" and you know, whatever works for you is the answer.

But don't overlook practice practice practice either. It's the only way to really get the "eye" and after a while you will find that you tend to certain sizes naturally and you will have the "imprint" of those in your mind, as a base for focals, base for this or that, spacers. It will get to be second nature.

Don't forget to have fun either
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  #21  
Old 2015-06-02, 4:40am
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Good point! I agree completely!
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