Graphite Murrini Molds?

[DesertDreamer]

Has anyone used the graphite murrini molds (like the ones Artco sells) and can give me a product review? I want to make some 8-pointed stars. Any hints or comments about them? Also, while I'm at it, any comments about the 4-in-1 molds?

Thanks much!

[chrissij]

I have several of the graphite tools by Weaver Industries (Ruth) that I purchased on eBay. I have one of the 4-in-1 molds, but I've not really used that one much. The eight grooved one I use quite a bit for vine cane and murrini. It's easy peasy. When you bring the glass outta' the mold it looks like a gear. Very defined. If you look in my feedback on etsy you'll see some of the finished product using the mold, and if you look in the "constructive criticism" part of the gallery for my thread asking how much and where, you'll see a bit more.

[tonips]

My 4 in 1 stars mold is great. I make twisted and straight cane, and the five point star makes great starfish murrini for my aquarium beads.

[ArtcoInc]

Originally Posted by chrissij

I have several of the graphite tools by Weaver Industries (Ruth) that I purchased on eBay ...

Just in case anyone was confused:

Ruth (KetchikanSculptor here on LE) is the designer of the tools.

Weaver Industries is the machine shop that actually makes the graphite molds. I am a distributor for Weaver. Weaver also sells directly on eBay.

Malcolm

[glasshouse]

The 4 in 1 was a little small for me. I prefer optic molds to have at least 1-2" of depth since I hate pulling cane.
This way I can make a larger gather and pull twice as much. Maybe you could have them make it deeper for you.

[ArtcoInc]

I have been working with Weaver to make some larger optic molds. At the risk of hijacking this thread, if people can tell me the sizes of molds you'd like, we can see what we can do. Almost anything can be made .... but the cost to make just one mold is usually high. If there's a concensius of what people want, we can develop a line that fit's your needs.

Malcolm

[Katie Gee]

Karen, I have and use the 4 in 1 mold as well. And like everyone else so far, I just love it. Now when I make Murrini, I marathon it (all day long - 6 to 8 hours). Because of this, the only problem I have had with the graphite mold is sometimes it gets too warm and will "hold" onto the glass a little bit. You just have to let it cool down every now and then. But other than that, it's wonderful !!!

[RyanTheNumberImp]

The only reservation I have about the graphite mold is that the edges are round as opposed to sharp.

This definitely makes them easier to manufacture; however, getting equally sized sharp points around an entire gather is the hard part, if you only want the indentations thirty seconds with a knife works fine.

If you are going for a stereotypical star shape then you will need to play around with tools to fix it up, if you are going for encased/vine cane this is fine.

[lillianw]

Pardon my lack of imagination here, but how do we use these optic molds that have the prongs? I can't picture how to use this. I know they come with a tutorial but I'd like to either see the tutorial first or understand in general how they work. Anyone who can help? Thanks!