I was wondering, when you're done making the bead, and you remove it from the mandrel, can you make another bead on the mandrel (in the same spot) without having to redip it in bead release? Kaolin is a nonrenewable resource, so if I can reuse it as much as I can before I have to wash it off, if possible, that would be great!
Hi Kayli, The bead release turns into concrete when it's in the kiln. When you remove the bead from the mandrel, it flakes off and cracks and is basically unusable. I've actually strained out my used bead release from my cleaning bowl, dried it, ground it into a powder and attempted to reuse it. Didn't work. Just got a crackle-ly mess on my mandrel. Instead of trying to recycle the bead release, I try to use less of it. It's why I dip in the middle of the mandrel and not the whole 1/3 of the mandrel like a lot of people do. I'll even measure the amount of bead release I need based on the size of the bead. For a 1" bead, I'll dip a 2" length of bead release. I have a whole bunch of different size plastic lids in my studio that I fill with bead release and dip my mandrels based on the length of the beads I make. Hope this helps.
thx, this video was really helpful! i am used to boro usually but i want to try beads with soft glass... do you maybe have a tip for a good soft glass supplier?? -greez
Productive video ma’am , I learned a ton from this. Love from India
thank you very helpful video :)
Thank you!!
I was wondering, when you're done making the bead, and you remove it from the mandrel, can you make another bead on the mandrel (in the same spot) without having to redip it in bead release? Kaolin is a nonrenewable resource, so if I can reuse it as much as I can before I have to wash it off, if possible, that would be great!
Hi Kayli,
The bead release turns into concrete when it's in the kiln. When you remove the bead from the mandrel, it flakes off and cracks and is basically unusable. I've actually strained out my used bead release from my cleaning bowl, dried it, ground it into a powder and attempted to reuse it. Didn't work. Just got a crackle-ly mess on my mandrel.
Instead of trying to recycle the bead release, I try to use less of it. It's why I dip in the middle of the mandrel and not the whole 1/3 of the mandrel like a lot of people do. I'll even measure the amount of bead release I need based on the size of the bead. For a 1" bead, I'll dip a 2" length of bead release. I have a whole bunch of different size plastic lids in my studio that I fill with bead release and dip my mandrels based on the length of the beads I make.
Hope this helps.
@@LepoppetGlassBeads Thank you this is very helpful!
thx, this video was really helpful! i am used to boro usually but i want to try beads with soft glass... do you maybe have a tip for a good soft glass supplier?? -greez
I use www.abrimagery.com. Fast shipping and good prices.
Jesus Christ understand why it took 22 minutes