Barrels...

[Gail Kops]

OK...this is perhaps an easy question to answer.
I have not made barrel beads...the ones that are tapered ever so slightly and then squared off at the ends (meaning the bead hole has a flat surface).

Do you make a fat tube and then roll it in a marvering tool, or how does one get that perfect fat taper?

[lldesigns]

My technique is to make a tube bead and then wind more glass around the middle. I hit the edge where the new wind of glass meets the base with the flame and melt it smooth. I do this on both sides and then do some marvering as needed to make a nice taper. The ends are marvered as well to get them flat after I make sure they have nice even puckers.

[Elleth]

Here is a link to some youtube videos (it was posted in another thread) that may help you. She is doing more then just shaping a bead, but I think it will give you a good visual on how it's done.
I hope this helps!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txJxl...x=0&playnext=1

[Gail Kops]

Thanks alot for your help - I did watch the video - it is a good one! Will give the suggestions a try.

[Jody Lee]

I have an osibin lentil shaper and it helps make great barrels.

[Sherry]

I use the 7/8 inch lentil shaper to make barrels. It's a Cattwalk tool, so I can use the top part really easily. The profile is perfect, and it's got two depth options.

[pierces*designs]

Originally Posted by Jodywieler

I have an osibin lentil shaper and it helps make great barrels.

How do you use it? I have one and wonder if I use it wrong.

[beadlvr]

I used the Straight-Sided Lentil to make these.

[lenora]

I've been using the top of my Cattwalk puffy pillow press, and it works great!

[Toni Lutman]

Originally Posted by pierces*designs

How do you use it? I have one and wonder if I use it wrong.

I use the Osibin Formers. (They're about half way down the page). Not the Lentil Press, but the formers that come in 4 different sizes. Each one can make a huge variety of sizes barrels. The key to these is to hold it with the narrow part of the curve facing you and pick the appropriate spot on the marver and SPIN the mandrel in that spot. DON'T roll it back and forth. Spin it.

I use these formers on just about everything I make, even if it won't end up as a barrel. Once you get the hang of it, it helps balance the glass very quickly. Then I can do whatever I want with it.

Here's the instructions directly from Kim Osibin.

The Osibin Forming Series – The Osibin Former

For many years now I have watched my students struggle with shaping their beads. After many visits to Venice, Italy where beadmakers primarily use metal presses to shape each and every bead, I realized beadmakers in the U.S. could benefit from a new series of shaping tools. I came home with many ideas, but did not want tools that were essentially molds, instead I was working towards a multi-task tool which would allow the beadmaker much more flexibility.

The Osibin Former
Now available in four sizes, (small, medium, large and extra large), this graphite shaping tool superbly assists the glass beadmaker in making any round/oval shaped bead. Each side of this two-sided shaping paddle has one half of an oval shape cut into it. The oval starts as a narrow and shallow curve, and as it widens out it gets deeper. The curve of the oval is different on each side. This tool is so flexible that it can make very small or very large shapes, all faster and better than using a traditional flat paddle. This tool has cut my beadmaking time in half!

There are several ways to use the tool. The idea is to allow you to shape any round/oval bead in a curved depression instead of on a flat paddle, which can be difficult to say the least. When you try to make a round/oval bead working on a flat paddle, you actually create infinitesimal tiny flat facets on the surface of the bead. If instead, you work within a curved depression you are working with the form you are trying to create.

1) The simplest way to use the tool is to marver your bead with the mandrel perpendicular to the depression. Find one spot that is close the length of the wrap of glass and roll, staying in just that one spot. This will create a bead with perfect tapered ends and a fatter belly. Working in this way you can make several different sized beads on each side of the tool. So, the original Osibin Former makes large to extra large beads, while the new smaller version makes small to medium sized beads. For multiple layered beads you can start by working at the narrower end of the depression, and move to the wider area as you add more glass, so the shape will be perfect at each stage of the bead. Angle the bead a bit as you redefine each end and you can create more gracefully tapered ends. This may take a bit of practice to get the same, but with a bit of time you will easily get the hang of it.

2) Work within the depression, at various angles, in some cases one half of the bead at a time, with either the mandrel/tapered end towards the open end of the paddle, or at the opposite end, depending on size and desired shape. You will need to experiment with the paddle to get the hang of it. Using the tool in this manner you can make any size and shape round/oval/teardrop/tapered bead.

3) By pressing the bead in the depression one half at a time after shaping you can create various tabular and amphora shaped beads. I use the tool in this manner to make my Aotearoa River Stone beads.

[Hourglassbeads]

The Val Cox marver is my favorite for a nice olive shape. It's pretty too

[nana]

Toni,
Thanks for these instructions.
I know I filed them somewhere.... but couldn't find them
nana

[bgurden]

the val cox marver makes it easy!