Metal to use for mandrels

Hamilton Taylor · December 19, 2011, 09:22:29 AM

^^Wot she said...

Beansprout · December 19, 2011, 06:38:23 PM

Quote from: Hamilton Taylor on December 18, 2011, 11:10:06 PM
ETA:I would have thought that making ring mandrels and cab mandrels was more expensive than buying them, if you're only doing a couple. Incidentally, don't forget that the larger the mass of metal you have, the more it'll take to get it hot, and the more conductive it'll be. If you try to make a mandrel from a 16mm dia. bar section, it will probably get too hot to hold - unless you weld a skinny (5mm?) handle on to it.

This is why I'm asking for cut-offs, then maybe buy straight from the supplier. Ring Mandrels cost like.. £10 each? A meter length of 16mm bar costs about £20ish, I think you can even get 10cm lengths for £7, and you can get a few 3-4cm cuts out of those, which I'd then weld to a 4-5mm handle. I'd much rather have the hassle than spend the extra money!

Quote from: Redhotsal on December 19, 2011, 08:54:05 AM
If you want to make BHBs and especially if you're working on something like a hothead you'd probably be better off with tubing rather than solid rods. Stainless, of course.

Tubing is 2x or 3x more expensive

And yea, I'll be welding it onto a handle so it shouldn't be too hot

Redhotsal · December 19, 2011, 08:37:21 PM

Yeah - so, it's more expensive.......so you'd rather be sitting waiting for your glass to heat up as the solid lump of metal that's pulling all the heat away from your glass slowly heats up and burns your hands? No contest in my book - pay the extra and buy the tube, I reckon.
If you're trying to heat up a solid bar ring mandrel, and then you want to get your glass to form a nice even ring around that then you must be the sort of person that really appreciates a challenge......!

Redhotsal · December 19, 2011, 08:38:40 PM

Plus, if you don't weld the handle on straight and right in the middle it'll be a royal pain in the arse trying to even up your glass.......

Krysia@No98 · December 19, 2011, 09:34:07 PM

Do you have a kiln? pre heating them a bit in the kiln might save you some time... Mind you on a hot head that is going to be mighty painfully slow...

mizgeorge · December 19, 2011, 10:04:17 PM

Quote from: Redhotsal on December 19, 2011, 08:37:21 PM
Yeah - so, it's more expensive.......so you'd rather be sitting waiting for your glass to heat up as the solid lump of metal that's pulling all the heat away from your glass slowly heats up and burns your hands? No contest in my book - pay the extra and buy the tube, I reckon.
If you're trying to heat up a solid bar ring mandrel, and then you want to get your glass to form a nice even ring around that then you must be the sort of person that really appreciates a challenge......!

Especially on a hothead!

Lush! · December 20, 2011, 09:12:35 AM

Words that would never come out of my mouth (or the mouths of one or two of my pals, they know who they are

) ...

Quote from: Beansprout on December 19, 2011, 06:38:23 PM

I'd much rather have the hassle than spend the extra money!

Good for you, Rebecca!!

jammie · December 20, 2011, 01:49:03 PM

I hate hassle!

I tried to make some threaded mandrels for doing ring tops, not because they are especially expensive but because I kept mangling them and that made it expensive. I've since managed to stop mangling them all now though!
So I looked at welding rods threaded all the way down, quite expensive but still worth it but hard to find in 2.5mm, then tried a plain mandrel in 2.4 with a die set, cost about a tenner to get set up which seemed ok, but just couldn't get the start straight enough to get a good thread going. I had 2 vices but it wouldn't hold the mandrel tight enough and so I would need an expensive vice...say about £30, tried all sorts of ways to hold the mandrel tight, gripping the bottom with vice grips, using a gripping material in between, nope, didn't work. Gave up.
Like I say...I hate hassle!

Pat from Canvey · December 20, 2011, 04:02:13 PM

One of the tubes I use to make very large BHB's is 25.5mm in diameter. I cut off about a three inch lenth, hold in hot fingers and dip in bead release to make the bead. No problem,

KatheL · December 20, 2011, 05:28:34 PM

about metals for mandrels - you can use tungsten welding rods for the very thin stuff, they come in boxes with 10 pcs down to 1 mm thickness, but they are stiff and durable as you will know from your tungsten picks...I have seen them on ebay for about £7 for a box.
In stead of brass you can use bronze, it has a melting temperature at about 1200 C. But it is quite conductive, so make sure to have some sort of isolating handle.
I buy my steel in full length from a steel and iron company (they don't sell to private people, but the local blacksmith helps me out), in full 3 or 6 meter lengths.

Right now I am looking for some 1/16 steel, welding rod or other - something very stiff like spring steel, it is to be used as a wool comb (not being heated). I need at least 6 meters, but in Denmark 2mm is the thinnest I can get in straight rods.
I wonder if anybody here can help? Imperic measure stuff is not normally sold in Denmark.
I have pianowire, but it only comes in rolls, and straighten it out without heating it is beyond me. Am going to try that for mandrels though!

Kathe, Denmark

Beansprout · December 21, 2011, 12:12:18 AM

Quote from: Redhotsal on December 19, 2011, 08:37:21 PM
Yeah - so, it's more expensive.......so you'd rather be sitting waiting for your glass to heat up as the solid lump of metal that's pulling all the heat away from your glass slowly heats up and burns your hands? No contest in my book - pay the extra and buy the tube, I reckon.
If you're trying to heat up a solid bar ring mandrel, and then you want to get your glass to form a nice even ring around that then you must be the sort of person that really appreciates a challenge......!

I'll probably go for the tube then! I'm all about trial and error so I'll try anything that *might* work

I am concerned my HH won't be able to keep up with me so I'll make it a little easier on myself and little old HH. With the welding-on-straight thing, my dad has got all that holdy/keepy-inplace.. stuff.. I'll let him figure that out xD

Thanks Julie!

jammie · December 21, 2011, 12:23:57 AM

Ah thats what I need, a holdy/ keepy- inplace thingy!

Redhotsal · December 21, 2011, 08:52:32 AM

The welding of the handle is actually probably the most crucial part. You want to be able to rotate the handle so that there's no wobble in the tube. If it's not aligned it'll still work but it'll be a pain to center anything. Ideally your tube will have a closed end and you can weld the handle to that. Make sure the tube doesn't flare out in any way, or that you leave any weld marks on the outer wall of the tube as you'll have a hard time getting the final bead off. And don't make the handle too thick as you want it to be easy to turn.