Help please

jillywat · April 22, 2013, 11:15:03 AM

Hi all
I purchased a beadroller at flame off. It's the type that has a few different shapes on.
Now I have it home I have no idea how to use it

How do you gage how much glass to put on the mandrel?
I have had a couple of gos but either I have too much glass on it or
when I roll the bead in the slots the glass does not turn evenly and I get
a very off centre lump of glass.
Please help
Thanks

flame n fuse · April 22, 2013, 11:39:55 AM

also look at the free tutorials at http://www.zooziis.com/zooziistutorials.aspx

cbeadies · April 22, 2013, 04:05:51 PM

I found some of the videos on the CGbeadroller site useful too.

http://www.cgbeads.com/beads_videos.html

Steampunkglass · April 23, 2013, 05:13:08 PM

Have you tried filling the mould with a bit of blu-tak, then taking it off and making it into a ball and popping that onto an undipped mandrel? That way you get a visual guide to how much glass you need on the mandrel.

Also works with plasticine, but make sure it's all out and clean before you re-use the mould. If that technique works for you, you can always use fimo and bake it so you have a permanant 'sizer'

jillywat · April 26, 2013, 09:32:49 PM

Thanks

Really good ideas I shall give them a try.
Jill

CarolB · April 26, 2013, 10:30:51 PM

Oh making a mould is a great idea

Ant · April 26, 2013, 11:13:28 PM

It's also about not having the glass too hot. If you try to roll the bead with the glass too hot it will completely squish out of shape. Julie (Lush) showed me how to use them and her advice was not to roll but just to press the bead into the roller, remove, rotate the bead a bit and then re-press, continuing like that whilst the glass is still workable. You can also remove some glass with tweezers if you've got too much on the mandrel. It definitely is a question of practice though. I made a couple of sets of about 40 plain colour beads for some necklaces that someone commissioned me to make and that REALLY improved my bead roller skills. Even now though, I still have some off days ..............

DragonArtGlass · April 27, 2013, 07:42:31 AM

Hi,
I bought myself a roller recently too, and have been struggling a bit with it, so I've found that the tips here have been very helpful. Thank you peeps! Now its 'just' practice practice practice (again)

thanks

Rascal · April 27, 2013, 09:34:58 AM

Really great advice here, Julie also helped me with the same technique Ant has mentioned, Julie is fab at teaching, and I've also found the mould idea helps as well. Then it is practice, practice and more practice. The other day I made a set of beads to turn into a necklace and they all came out, it is brilliant feeling when you get a good day using the roller.