how much do you rely on presses?

[dunkster]

i am aiming this one mainly towards the more experienced out there.

I Have been, for a while, assuming that presses are used for the more beginner/intermediate levels in lampwork to perhaps compensate for their lack of ability to form the shape required by freehand methods.

i have seen some amazing quality of work. (especially lush lampwork at chepstow rock and bead show) and consider it craftsmanship at its best and somewhere that i would love to get to in the future. but how much of the process of shaping and sizing of the beads do you guys form with the use of all the presses out there?

are there one or two essential ones  that i need to get and start using in my everyday lampworking? or is the recommendation to continue improving my skills by freehand methods only? (except for marvers and paddles that is)

[Black Heart Beads]

Personally I only have a crunch, it is simple to use and I find it a handy bit of kit. However some presses need more skill to use well, requiring an ability to get an exact amount of glass on the mandrel to get a good shape with puckered ends. Like with most things PPP is needed.

The more experienced you are the more you can do with them. Take a look at http://www.frit-happens.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=19485.msg336125#msg336125 I haven't got the tutoral but it looks like she uses presses in making her armadillo beads.

I don't make many sets and enjoy sculptural work so haven't felt the need to have a collection of presses. Which is lucky as they can be quite expensive.

[Kaz]

It's actually almost the opposite - you need to get really good at making donut beads and hand/gravity shaped beads in order to make great beads using a press. It takes a lot of practice to get presses right - so you have the right amount of glass and neat ends. When you use presses a lot (as I do!) you have to make sure you also do a lot of handshaped beads so you don't lose the knack. For someone starting out, the best press is a lentil one.
Kazx

[Trudi]

yep - when I was starting out I thought a press would be the answer to my problems      . But I agree, it takes skill to be able to get your footprint right, the right size and centered . and you also need to learn how to use each one. With different shapes they need a slightly different approach! And then there's more skill involved when you make the beads with patterns etc.

For a beginner, I would suggest a press that has more defined edges would be best to start with - ie a straight sided lentil or tab press. Perhpaps if you know someone close by you could try one out?

Hope that helps.

[garishglobes]

I'd agree too, it does take time to actually be able to use the presses well, particularly the more complex shapes.
I don't have many presses, I much prefer marvers. For me, rolling to get the shape just works better (where it is possible to do this)! I have a crunch and a lentil press but all the rounds, ovals, bicones etc... I'd do with the marver.

[dinah46]

Wot they all sed

I think the presses and other shapers are all just tools to achieve the look you want.  There is no magic tool that will do it all for you and the presses are only as good as the person using them.  Horses for courses.

I have phases of only hand shaping and then I suddenly think one particular press is the one I can't live without

[sarah t]

getting the shape right is only half the battle ...and i love my presses especially the lentels ...i think as a newbi the pleasure and incentive i got from getting two beads consistant in size and shape was a eureka moment for me

[Yellow friend]

I have a couple of presses but 99% of the time prefer to use a marver.  I think it takes more skill than you think to use them but also depends on the kind of beads you make. 

[Lush!]

Thank you for the lovely compliment, Dunkster 

I agree with what the others have said - using presses well takes a considerable amount of expertise and precision, but I find them invaluable for giving consistent shapes and sizes.

[♥♥Tan♥♥]

Not much of a press person at all, but when I do rediscover them I do love them. The only problem is you do have to be exact each time because there is nothing as obvious as a mis pressed bead.

[Helen G]

Agree with the others, a press is not the easy option.
There is a surprising amount that can be done without presses, as I learnt from Sally Carver, but I personally couldn't be without my lentil press. I lalso use just the top half of my marble press regularly as a marver since Lorna Prime showed me how 

[Les]

There really is no substitute for learning the basics and learning them well

[Redhotsal]

Heh thanks Helen 

I used to be very anti-press, but that was because I kept seeing a lot of badly pressed beads. I also used to think that presses were just an easy option. I couldn't (still can't) see why people would want to churn out lots of beads which all look the same. Okay - they're handy for a set of matching beads, and to be frank - as a professional bead maker they're invaluable to me as I would struggle to hand make a really large lentil consistently time after time, but I think there is so much fun to be had by hand shaping your work.

It is horses for courses I agree, that it's all down to what you want to do - do you want to make string after string of identical beads? If so, use a press. If you want to make one off creations that you'll never repeat again then don't use a press. If you want to make lots of unique and individual beads with a similar shape (bit like Sarah Horniks' work, for example) then use something like a Crunch press to suggest a shape after you have created your bead. Don't forget that presses will limit you to a particular size, most of the time.

I also agree with earlier comments - presses are not always easy to use. I reckon if you see them as a tool to steer you towards a desired shape it's better than trying to use them as a one-step mould to a perfect shape. Hope that makes sense?

Lentil presses are a good all round starter as this shape is tricky to achieve by hand, I also like crunch presses as they are easy to use and give a good result. I would avoid some of the more esoteric shapes as they are often difficult to use and have limited appeal.

[Krysia@No98]

I have presses and I do use them a lot.  I have a few presses that I have a love hate relationship with, hate using it but love the end result.

The best thing I have found for the press is a pair of tweezers so when I put too much glass on I can take it off.

I had a bit of a ta do with some one on FB the other day about presses, he sees them as the easy option and they so are not.  Neither are bead roles for that matter, but they can be very satisfying.

If you decided to get a press think about a shape that you can do lots with (can you add glass on to make it a different shape or into a critter of some sort?) and one that you like.  Remember that if you don't like it they do tend to hold most of their value so you can either swap it or sell it here.  Presses don't tend to stay around for long.  Happy squishing.

[ScarletLeonard]

I agree with the sentiment of learn to hand shape beads first.

I didn't get my first press until after a year of making beads, my first tool was a graceful customs masher which is a little like a crunch press because it is domed both sides rather than flat. It makes nice thin shapes that can easily be added to with decoration. My first press was a lentil press, then I got a bead roller (I'm a fan of the bead roller because even though now I don't physically use it to roll the basic shapes it's great for making sure the beads are the same size, the rest of my bead rollers are fancy shapes which would be a bit of a challenge to get consistent for making sets.)
I also have a heart press because try as I might I can't make a nice heart with the mandrel running top to bottom. So I press and decorate, though that does require me to build the heart the same way I would if I was handshaping it takes out the oops bits I get if I do it purely by hand. (though like the rollers I expect it to get there eventually.