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

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  #1  
Old 2011-07-23, 12:02pm
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Default Tremor adaptation

Making beads is very difficult on most days due to a purposeful tremor that has developed in my hands, its slight, but interrupts bead making forcing me to quit most days.

What does anyone suggest for this issue?
I was thinking Creation Station, or the other thing with wings... I just don't know.

I tried a funny design but it didn't work and was pitiful looking. Cut the top part off a pair of crutches, stuck it in a wood 2x4, angled them and tried it, unsuccessfully. Besides that it looked like a hospital rehab station or something, YUK!

There has to be a solution to rest the side part of my hand and my wrist.
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  #2  
Old 2011-07-23, 12:49pm
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I have one from Arrow Springs. http://www.arrowsprings.com/index.html It works better for me than the Creation Station.
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  #3  
Old 2011-07-23, 12:50pm
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Have you ever tried a Smircich tail stock holder? The tool is a short brass rod with a wooden handle and at the end of the rod on the side it's hollowed out to rest the other end of your mandrel so you can rotate. I rest both elbows on my surface, and when I use the tool I can get steady rotation to round up beads easily because I am able to keep the mandrel level. I believe Arrow Springs and Frantz both have it, and it's about $8, I think. I don't make a single bead without it! I'm right handed so I use the tool in my left hand and turn mandrels with the right.
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  #4  
Old 2011-07-23, 1:19pm
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I use the tail stock holder Lisi mentioned to stabilize the mandrel (I won't work without it) and for finer work I use my creation station to stabilize my hands, it helps me a great deal. I have tremors too, I feel your pain. It's so freakin' frustrating to try to do dots/stringer on a bad day. I've also learned no coffee until *after* I'm through LW for the day in the morning. That alone almost kills me.
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  #5  
Old 2011-07-23, 1:21pm
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Default tremor

Thanks for those two recommedations.
My problem is not with twirling the mandrel, for some reason that works just fine. The problem I have is when I'm using stringer to decorate details.

I call it my stringer tremor, P.I.T.A.


What do you think?
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  #6  
Old 2011-07-23, 2:35pm
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In the demo that aired the other day, Gianni Tosso was using two wooden blocks, (pieces of 2x4's?) mounted upright, broad flat side perpendicular to the edge of the bench, with rounded over edges on top. It looked wonderfully simple
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  #7  
Old 2011-07-23, 6:08pm
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Just ordered a Creation Station from Delphi Glass, used a coupon from www.retailmenot.com and got $10 off, which basically pays for shipping.

I am eager for it to arrive!
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  #8  
Old 2011-07-23, 6:22pm
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I can't remember who but someone had the creative idea of wrapping a roll of toidy paper in aluminum foil. Guess it was the right height... Really, I'm reaching for straws here. My hands are shaky so I use the Smircich idea on my graphite marver. I drilled the hole in the corner myself!

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  #9  
Old 2011-07-23, 6:52pm
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I get those pesky shakes too...usually it's the last dot. This may sound wierd, but I now chew gum while I torch. When my hand starts, I focus on the gum chewing, on the left side, since that's the side that shakes...seems to relax everything. I also use the Creation Station.

Michelle
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  #10  
Old 2011-07-23, 7:05pm
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well, I'm on a hot head but I rigged up something that holds my mandrel while I spin it. Basicallyl it's a tall can,I think a coffe can would work, weighted, with two small vice grips clamped to it up side down.
The vise grips are about 2 inches apart, the handles form the place that my mandrel rests, while I spin it. I sit at an L shaped bench so my left elbow rests on part of the desk.
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  #11  
Old 2011-07-23, 7:08pm
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eessh sorry, I just reread your post, and you state it's not the hand that spins the mandrel that's the problem.. I think if you can rig up some kind of support it would help..
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  #12  
Old 2011-07-23, 7:50pm
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Default Tremors

I use these that I made;

The individual arms swivel ab]nd the pointed mandrel slides up and is held by the button in the left leg.
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  #13  
Old 2011-07-23, 8:38pm
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I have essential tremors and detail work is especially difficult when the tremors are bad, so I have a Creation Station...made all the difference in my beadmaking world. Also avoiding caffeine is very important and stress...if I'm having a stressful day I may as well forget lampworking because not only will my hands shake, but they'll also jerk for no reason...maddening !
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  #14  
Old 2011-08-19, 9:20pm
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this is exactly why I cant do any type of detailed beads, after the thousands ive invested in frit beads, perhaps it would be a good investment, ya think?
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  #15  
Old 2011-08-19, 11:59pm
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Creation station - works beautifully
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  #16  
Old 2011-08-20, 12:13am
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Great thread guys- thank you. I've gotten really bad tremors and haven't been able to make beads in 4 months they are so bad. It's a matter of even holding the mandrel to lay down the glass that I can't even do.

I've got a creation station and that doesn't work at all for me. That item from arrow springs looks very interesting. Thank you for posting that!
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  #17  
Old 2011-08-20, 7:32am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by karrina310 View Post
Great thread guys- thank you. I've gotten really bad tremors and haven't been able to make beads in 4 months they are so bad. It's a matter of even holding the mandrel to lay down the glass that I can't even do.

I've got a creation station and that doesn't work at all for me. That item from arrow springs looks very interesting. Thank you for posting that!
Karrina, I'm so sorry. FWIW, I take B Complex vitamins at the advice of a neurologist I consulted and it does seem to help me somewhat. I think there are other meds as well although I haven't reached a need level yet requiring me to explore that. Have you seen a neurologist to see if you can get some relief?
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  #18  
Old 2011-08-20, 8:24am
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Once you get your Creation Station, it may take a bit of adjustment to find the best position for the handles. I keep mine just tight enough that they hold when I rest my arms/hands on them, but loose enough that I can adjust the handles as needed. I adjust often depending on what I am making. My hands are not very steady and the more intensely I concentrate on a certain spot, the more they tend to shake. The Creation Station has been an amazing tool for me! Once you are accustomed to using and adjusting it, adjustments are done almost automatically without interrupting the bead making process.

Oh, don't forget the handles don't need to be in the bicycle position. You can rotate them 180 degrees which brings them closer to the torch and allows more hand support. When you find your sweet spot, you'll know it!
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  #19  
Old 2011-08-20, 9:34am
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I get the shakes sometimes, too. I have one of the Smircich things, and it works to steady a bead in the flame, but obviously it takes away your free hand. Looking at Arrow Springs page, the "Brad Pearson Mandrel Support" looks like it may be perfect for what you are looking for to steady the mandrel end (in addition to something to rest your hand on).
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  #20  
Old 2011-08-20, 10:26am
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I'm on meds that make my hands tremble and sometimes jerk. When that happens and I fuck up a bead, I try to regard it as an opportunity to come up with a new design. Some of my coolest beads have come from this.
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  #21  
Old 2011-08-31, 6:36am
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This cool, I had no idea that the support had gone into production. My hands shake a little and a support like this is what allows me to do precise dot placement with minimal strain.

Brad Pearson
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  #22  
Old 2011-08-31, 7:06am
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I have a real problem with tremors too, I can't put a rod on a bead to do a twist without steadying both hands, what I normally do is put the heel of my right hand (holding the rod/stringer) on the propane knob on my cricket & lay the end of my mandrel & bead on the torch mounted marver & twist that way. But I have all but given up on stringers & dots, it would be nice to find something that would allow me to have hands that don't shake like a 90 year olds!
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Old 2012-10-08, 4:09pm
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I'm confused... I'm so trying to understand this but my blonde is getting in the way.

Quote:
Originally Posted by cheng076 View Post
I use these that I made;

The individual arms swivel ab]nd the pointed mandrel slides up and is held by the button in the left leg.
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Old 2012-10-08, 4:18pm
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The TP with foil was my idea, and it works great with small torches.

If you have something to brace your wrists against and only move your fingers when doing detail work, your precision really sharpens up.

Hope you find something that works for you!
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  #25  
Old 2012-10-08, 4:33pm
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I use the arm rest from Arrow Springs and have found it gives me more forearm and wrist support than the Creation Station. It's shown near the bottom of the Arrow Springs home page. I couldn't figure out how to embed a picture in my post.
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  #26  
Old 2012-10-08, 4:40pm
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I was trying to figure out Cheng's creation, I didn't understand it.

I did purchase a Creation Station, which helps a lot. Its not my mandrel holding hand, its the decorating hand that gets jerky when I want it to do something in particular. My friend says I seem to hold my breath when I decorate, which makes things worse. Its a benign purposeful tremor, meaning when you want to put that lovely goldstone stringer along a certain area, at the last second your hand holding the goldstone jerks away.

I had found this situation to be too much to deal with and have only made beads a few times this year. (yea the entire year, sucks) Staring at the studio torch... that's what I've been doing. Its on my enclosed back patio and the only way to let the dog out in the yard, so I see it numerous times a day.

The Creation Station helps a lot, but it has to be a nice calm day, good sleep, I never drink coffee or have soda, and sometimes I can sit for hours and other days I just quit within a half hour. Depressing. Could be worse.

Ilene
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  #27  
Old 2012-10-08, 6:44pm
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Try using a light weight on the back of your hands or your wrists (depending on which muscles are giving you gyp, hand, arm, fingers, etc)...like attaching an a 1/8th of a pound or so to the back of fingerless gloves, or light wrist weights. Sometimes a little extra weight will reduce the shaking.

It's something we occupational therapists do in feeding therapy; add some weight to spoons and forks to reduce the shaking for some folk. Might work for you too! Worth a shot anyway, and cheaper than a Creation Station (although I totally covet one!).

Alli
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  #28  
Old 2012-10-08, 6:54pm
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Allicat!
Awesome idea! I can't wait to try it with the Creation Station I already have.

Even without the tremor, the Creation Station takes all the pressure off the shoulder/neck area that has to hold up your arms. Once I had gotten the CS, I could work for 6+ hours! Love it.

I'll let you know how the weighted gloves goes. I have the fingerless wrist/arm burn protector sleeves which have saved my skin numerous times from that flame! Can't wait to try it.

Thank you so much,
Ilene
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  #29  
Old 2012-10-08, 7:33pm
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Trey Cornette makes a little stand that helps also I missed out on a class with him due to using steroids for asthma. I went to a demo he did at our local glass shop Blue Moon and told me I should have come to the class any way as he had a tool he produced. He said he has worked with a few people that had difficulties with shaking.
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  #30  
Old 2012-10-09, 9:53am
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Icre8art,

I'll try to explain the arm rests to you. I suffer from arthritis in my shoulders and one of them is artificial so holding a gather up for long times is tedious and tireing. I also have a bit of the shakes.

The arm rests clamp to the bench and the horizontal bar keeps them stable and provides a place to mount my marver as I prefer it to stay level with the bench and not change angles as when a marver is torch mounted. The two horizontal arms of the thing have short tubes welded on at 90 deg. that insert into the upright tubes allowing them to swivel so that I can position them at any angle to the flame. There are stops on the arms so they will not swivel into the flame. I also have a couple of verticle extensions so that I can raise the level at which the arms swivel which I often use when imploding a marble. The pointy brass thing on the left upright is a brass marver/tapered reamer that I use for curling ribbons of glass for underwater fern shapes. It has other uses. It also is in the way if mounted up in a useful convenient position so I mounted it on a sliding tube that slips over the upright. When I want to use it I just slide it up the tube and it locks in position via the 'button' sticking out of the tube. Depress the button and it slides back down out of the way.

I made the original arm rests from a set of bicycle handle bars and these have evolved. I'm now on set number 6 or 7. I have added extensions to the horizontal arms since the pic was taken because I needed to work further out in the flame.

I made these to take some of the weight off my shoulders and support my hands but they have also helped a great deal with the shakes and tremors since I can support my hands and get them close to the flame area as I work.

Wish I had a way to make a Utube vid of them but alas I'm a computer clutz and although I know my smartphone will do movies I have no idea how to do it or get it from the phone to the computer. LOL I can't even figure out how to download an app on this thing.

PJ
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