Do you switch hands?

[sweetiedog]

This has been most fascinating. I am so glad I asked the question. Here I had it in the back of my head that I was doing a great disservice to my beads by switching hands, but it appears I am in good company

I will continue to practice keeping the mandrel in my left hand at all times because I can see where it would be beneficial in the long run, but I am not going to beat myself up about it anymore. Thanks!

[Hayley]

Leslie, as long as when you switch hands, you make sure that you continue to rotate your mandrel and that it stays parallel to the table surface so your bead doesn't go wonky, you can switch as many times as you like (also helps if you wait for the bead to cool before switching). . . forget the rule in that book! I don't find any benefit in keeping the mandrel in my left hand at all times at all. Do whatever it is comfortable. I switch hands and grips all the time and my beads remain well shaped.

[truegem]

I don't see how anyone could not switch hands. I apply glass with my right, holding the mandrel in my left hand. I switch to my right hand to melt it down nice and round or whatever shape. I cannot marver with my left hand at all! I then switch back to my left to apply glass again with my right (dots or whatever), then I have to switch back to my right to melt and do final marvering. I'm super right handed. The only thing I can do with my left hand is hold things, lol!

[beadgirl]

I voted other because I work in the middle.
When applying glass hold in left hand and rod in right, center bead out, and decorate switching back and forth. When applying dots I also change the rotation to back and forth so they do not shift. Oh I spin away from me and work under the flame too.
In watching other bead makers I have seen they work on top of the flame and spin towards them...I just can't do that and control the heat at all.
MarieAnn

[smkes]

I'm a middle dipper - But I do turn the bead around so I can get to both sides evenly AND when I dipped on the end I switched hands all the time.

[truegem]

Originally Posted by Mopnglo

Both hands and my mouth too.

LOL!!! I've come close a few times!

[Cherine Perrin]

I switch constantly.

[Truewealth]

I switch hands constantly....approach the flame from every angle as well, depending on what part of the process I'm in.

[LaurieBSmith]

There's a rule that says I have to use one hand? who wrote that book? Napoleon?

The very first thing I was told in my very first class by a teacher who had been working glass for twenty plus years...."if you aren't ambidextrous now, you will be by tomorrow". He taught us to use both hands....(that was over 9 years ago....maybe he hadn't gotten the memo..)

So, what's the point of working with the mandrel in one hand?

(I'm trying to picture my bench if I had to organize it for one-hand work....it would like tip over! and it's permanently affixed to the wall!!)

[CrazyLadyGlass]

I apply the glass with my right, holding the mandrel in my left hand but change back and fort when shaping.

[maren]

I was taught to switch and it makes sense to me. I use my left hand (I'm left handed) for all the things where fine motor control is even vaguely important, and for getting beads round (I'm after all a newbie). Sometimes I switch back and forth rotating the mandrel.

[DarleenMB]

Originally Posted by carolinainmymind

I voted other... more than just switching back and forth for me, there's also over and under...

Add glass with mandrel in left hand. Round up bead with mandrel in right hand. Now... here's the weird one. When I add dots, I've discovered that if I flip my (left) hand over when I'm holding the mandrel- palm up with mandrel kinda across it, and my pinky out- I have alot more control over my dots. Sounds weird, but it works for me....

Corina taught that very technique in her first class (or close to her first class) which is where I learned it. It's great for putting dots real close to the mandrel near your hand.

[Moth]

I don't switch hands a LOT, but I do switch hands for different things and I switch the way I hold the mandrel quite a lot.

Overhand, underhand, pointed away, etc. I switch to holding the mandrel in my right hand when I'm melting in a bead that is entirely covered with dots because I believe that the direction that the flame hits the bead affects where the glass goes. This helps me end up with perfectly round dots because the fire hits all the sides of the dots as they get melted in (glass goes to the heat).

~~Mary

[Polgarra]

I have been noticing some numbness and 'that feeling' that I recognize as being early warning signs for Tendonitis. I figure I better learn now how to use my right hand rather than having to learn later. I am just starting so I don't know any better.

[SilverRiverJewelry]

I switch on a regular basis also. I do most of the turning, rounding up etc holding with my left hand, I add glass with my right hand but when I go to roll the bead in frit, use a press or my bead roller I switch the mandrel to my right hand. I will also round up the bead with my right hand if the left is starting to get too tired.

[malem]

I switch hands all the time, beads, off mandrel, sculptures! When one gets tired I simply switch to the other one. I am lucky, I am good with both hands

[Pia Kaven]

I switch, but only if I am melting and forming the glass in fire, and only if it takes a long time, so I can rest my left for a sec. For everything else the mandrel stays in my left hand!

[bead-meltdown]

i am a switcher.

[Diane Woodall]

I'm a middle of the mandrel gal. Never have figured out how the rest of the world makes beads when they can only hold the mandrel with one hand.

[parisgal]

I switch. It's interesting because I am right handed, so for most things I want to use my right hand for detail work. But certain tasks I use my left - applying certain kinds of detailed stringer or glass. I can't do those specific tasks well at all with my right hand.

[glasskat2010]

Originally Posted by sweetiedog

I was feeling a bit clunky and discombobulated at the torch a couple weeks ago so I went back to my PTF book and re-read it from cover to cover as a refresher. The line that stood out the most was about keeping your mandrel in the same hand at all times. I thought, gee, I wonder if I do that? I didn't even know.

So I paid real close attention to my next few torching sessions and realized I have this habit of winding the glass onto the mandrel or decorating the base bead, and then switching hands over to my dominant hand (right) to burn it in and round it out and marver or press. I kept going back and forth. Apply glass. Switch hands to do everything else. Over and over again. (Apparently my left hand is a mostly useless appendage - it is with most things).

I didn't even realize I was doing it. So these last few torching sessions I've been making a real conscious effort to keep my mandrel in the left hand at all times. It is hard. I pretty much have to train my left hand from scratch on what to do, but I can see it being a productivity improvement since I am not spending so much time moving the mandrel back and forth.

Thought it would be interesting to see what everyone else does. Is it just a newbie mistake that I am switching hands, or is that a perfectly normal and acceptable torching style? Do people dip MoM just to alleviate that need so they can use both hands equally? Is there some other way of doing things that I am missing entirely?

Thanks for sharing!

It's perfectly normal to switch hands. I don't make beads, but I switch hands all the time. It just depends on what I'm doing. If I'm putting on color, I put the item in my left hand and put the color on with my right hand. If I'm melting stuff in, I use my right hand. It just all depends on what I'm doing.
Hope this helps.

Happy torching!
Glasskat2010

[2tumblingdragonz]

I prefer dipping in the middle but I don't have armrests being at a round table for now so I went back to end dipping.

I am actually starting to keep the mandrel in my left hand more and more. I am right handed but pretty ambi; I ride horses lefty....my nickname in my cowboy days was Lefty.

But I switch as I get tired and I still add glass with my right hand, I just tend to leave the mandrel in the left.

namaste
Rowyn

[Llama Girl]

I'm a switcher - applying the glass: mandrel in my left hand. Heating the bead/using heat to shape: mandrel in right hand. I don't know that I would be able to keep the mandrel in my left hand the whole time.

[gemsinbloom]

MOM here too. I have tried to do the end of the mandrel just for fun a few weeks ago and it feels so awkward to me now. I saw a huge change in my work when I went to mom. I love it!

[minnie1971]

My first beadmaking class with with Kate Fowle Meleny...she always teaches you to put your kiln wash in the middle of the mandrel.
That way you can flip from side to side...so much easier to decorate a bead this way.
I have had criticisms from other bead teachers telling me that I should be making my beads on the end of the mandrel...I've tried...does not work as well at all!

[Diane Woodall]

Minnie, That is too bad you were criticized for making beads the way that works best for you. I teach all of my beginning students to make beads in the MOM first, but tell them that if they want to switch to the end, that is fine too. There is no right way and wrong was as long as the end result is beautiful beads.

[Anne Londez]

I mainly switch when I am making bead beads that get heavy on my right hand (I work left handed). Sometimes, also mostly when working big, the pattern tends to sag ever so slightly towards the front. Changing hands means reversing the rotation and that helps correcting the problem.

[DeevaaS]

If you don't mind me asking, what is the technique for putting the bead release on the middle of the mandrel? I am not picturing how this would be done without a lot of waste of bead release.

[Diane Woodall]

Actually very easy. Just fill a little container with bead release, lay your mandrel in it, rotate as you bring it out, tap it once on the table and it's done. If you are interested in an article about working in the middle of the mandrel, I wrote one for the first issue of my magazine, the Soda Lime Times. You can get it for free by clicking on my signature below and the article explains the pros and cons of making beads in the middle. I think there are a lot more pros...but I'm biased.

[DeevaaS]

Thanks, Diane! This is very helpful!