Ive bought the big hole mandrel from martin ;D
but how the heck do you get the glass on it, it took me absolutley ages to get a reasonable round on it
then i couldnt shape it properly any tips on using this mandrel?
I've not used mine yet, but I had similar issues when I started using 5mm mandrels. I found it helped if I scored two lines into the bead release all the way round, just slightly wider than I wanted the glass to be. That way I could keep straighter as i laid the initial footprint.
For shaping I found gravity was a bit of a no go, so I got used to looking at the shape very carefully and adding small dots of glass until I was happy with the shape.
Really should try my ring mandrels, I guess ;D
I'm pretty bad at it, but I found that if you use the full thickness of a (thinnish rod), and don't let it get into a ball, but melt it on bit by bit without stretching it, at least you get a consistent thickness all the way round. I had trouble with the hothead keeping it hot all the way round though!
Good luck!
Thanks Ladies it is hard work never realised how hard though :-\
Try using a piece of 18mm stainless steel tube then. ;D ;D
I'll post a picture sometime. Forgot I had one.
(http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1426/5604171/11160190/332328265.jpg)
how do u do it pat? its so neat ???
Practice, practice and yes more practice. I've found that my dots get better because I now rest the tip of the mandrel against the torch each time I want to add a dot. If I don't, my hands shake too much.