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Tips, Techniques, and Questions -- Technical questions or tips |
2015-05-13, 3:25pm
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Apr 17, 2009
Location: Back in Tucson for good
Posts: 354
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how do people sort beads by size?
By eye?
With a tool?
I often spend time sorting by eye using a mandrel. I start by going from largest to smallest and then using the biggest as the center of a graduated string by removing them from the mandrel and putting them on either side of the biggest bead, alternating sides as I go.
Anyone got a better method?
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2015-05-13, 5:54pm
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Phill
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Join Date: Mar 21, 2009
Location: Winnebago, MN
Posts: 2,489
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Looks like you have a handle on it.
Other ideas that jump to mind would be two straight edges in parallel, well one would wind up canted once the sorting starts.
The other idea is calipers but I would be using them more when the glass was still hot before it went into the kiln to know if I needed to add more glass to approach uniformity while attempting to make sets.
They use two almost parallel rods and roll things on top until they drop down in industrial sorting. Might be the quickest way to get rough sizing out of the way in a hurry for larger quantities.
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2015-05-13, 7:12pm
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Corgi Cult Member
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Join Date: Jan 10, 2006
Location: Central Illinois
Posts: 3,723
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I do it like you do. I've tried using a digital caliper, but by eye seems to be faster for me.
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Kathy
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2015-05-13, 7:57pm
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Feb 02, 2010
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Betsy, I do it exactly as you described, but I use metal calipers while I'm making beads like Phill suggested, if I really want exactly matching sizes. I've also made marks on my graphite marver that I can hold a hot bead up to if I'm doing a series of the same size so I can get the length correct before I start decorating.
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ESC
Soft glass on a Minor/concentrator since 1996
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2015-05-13, 8:48pm
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Aug 14, 2013
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"Dissents speak to a future age. It's not simply to say, 'My colleagues are wrong and I would do it this way.' But the greatest dissents do become court opinions and gradually over time their views become the dominant view. So that's the dissenter's hope: that they are writing not for today but for tomorrow." -R.B. Ginsburg.
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2015-05-13, 9:42pm
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Phill
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Join Date: Mar 21, 2009
Location: Winnebago, MN
Posts: 2,489
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I have seen some videos with one inch grids chalked on the workbench below the torch flame to use as a visual reference.
ETA: Oh Robert, I like that last set. Fits my budget but if I were doing production work the metal ones in first set would be a wise investment.
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The Zombie Apocalypse is Upon Us.
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2015-05-13, 10:05pm
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Apr 17, 2009
Location: Back in Tucson for good
Posts: 354
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It's nice to hear I'm not alone in my sorting process.
And those graduated discs - I'll be saving my pennies.
My original dream tool is a flat piece of wood that has a graduated channel carved into it with ruler marks on it too.
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2015-05-14, 2:02am
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member
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Join Date: Nov 24, 2006
Posts: 524
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Eyeballing them on a mandrel like you do is the fastest and easiest method for me, although I misjudge them sometimes because the heated ones look bigger than the cooler ones. After they come out of the kiln, digital calipers show that some I was not sure about are only a millimeter apart. That is usually close enough for me.
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2015-05-14, 2:06am
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Alaska Boro
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Join Date: Dec 10, 2009
Location: Anchorage, Alaska
Posts: 1,065
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Sounds like you are sorting beads after they are made. On this end use a digital caliper and list on the website each bead as to OD, hole size and thickness. One could also make a simple go no-go gauge for sizing.
Also when making beads, the donut beadroller by cg beads works well for gauging size as the bead is being made. And could be used after the fact also if so desired.
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