Main Menu

Mandrels for boro

Started by ajda, August 31, 2013, 03:32:32 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

ajda

Any suggestions/tips about best mandrels for boro beadmaking? Has anyone used the "Almost Indestructible Mandrels" from Auralens?
Alan
www.ajdalampwork.etsy.com

Redhotsal

No, but would be interested in the answer - also - what bead release do people use? I manage to just about get away with Fusion but I think there's probably a more suitable one out there.

garishglobes

Whenever I've made boro beads, I've used Fusion. And ordinary mandrels, nothing fancy. The really thin ones can burn through so it can be sensible to go for slightly thicker ones - I use 2mm, generally.

ajda

I like to work with thin mandrels - except when doing big-hole beads - which is why I'm wondering about the "indestructibles". I make quite a lot on 1.6 but with boro have to be very careful not to fry them.
Alan
www.ajdalampwork.etsy.com

ajda

I also use Fusion - no problems generally with bead release, just mandrels. I've read that the answer is to work boro beads on the edge of the flame to keep the mandrels out of the worst of it, but sometimes you really want to blast the glass in the full flame... Even 5mm mandrels made from 316 stainless can't survive too much of that - I haven't actually burned one right through yet, but pic shows how much they suffer!
Alan
www.ajdalampwork.etsy.com

Pat from Canvey

Arrow Springs have started to do Tungsten mandrels for which you don't use bead release. It's quite a procedure if you read their blurb.
http://www.arrowsprings.com/  Would they be of any use? Apparently the melting point is 3422 deg centigrade.

ajda

Thanks, Pat - could be worth a try... $10 for a single 1/16" mandrel seems a lot, but maybe you'd save that on bead release over time! I guess you'd save time on bead-hole cleaning too, but I'm not sure I like the idea of removing each bead with a punty as you go along... It's a very interesting concept, though - I'll write and ask them about using these with boro and report back here.
Alan
www.ajdalampwork.etsy.com

Kalorlo

I think they said that those mandrels are *not* suitable for boro. (Someone on LE had the same idea).

ajda

I've not heard back from Arrow Springs yet, though I have been reading some scary stuff about tungsten - not pure tungsten, but some of the materials it is sometimes alloyed with which can give off toxic fumes in the flame... but that's another matter. In the meantime here are a few 1.6mm mandrel casualties. I reckon I'm misjudging the mandrel temperature in perhaps one in 20 cases (small beads, thin mandrels). There's no warning - they melt through very suddenly and drop onto my worktop... lucky it's not combustible...
Alan
www.ajdalampwork.etsy.com

Kalorlo

Yeah, if you're buying tungsten from a welding supplier, you want the green tip electrodes (pure tungsten) and *definitely* not the purple!

This thread was where I saw it: http://www.lampworketc.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4383581 "I'm pretty sure that Beau said that Boro heat was too high  (at his presentation at the Gathering)."

So second hand info at the moment.

ajda

Thanks for that. I'm calculating how many 316 or 316L Stainless Steel welding rods I can get through for the price of one tungsten-tipped mandrel and it doesn't really add up - even if it were suitable for boro. So I've pretty much ruled out that option anyway.

I am still wondering about the "almost indestructible" ones from Aura Lens, but have a couple of concerns. One is the shipping - if I bought enough and sold some of them on, they might work out reasonable value... Anyone else interested in having some of these if the price was right? The other concern I have is about Mike Aurelius of Aura Lens - not had any dealings with him other than a couple of email enquiries, but I've read some bad stuff on Lampwork Etc about exceptionally long delays and poor customer service... Does anyone over here have any experience of dealing with him?
Alan
www.ajdalampwork.etsy.com

ajda

I have just posted some info about my recent research into the best materials for mandrels. I am also hoping to sell some on, which is why I have put it in the section "Glass, tools and equipment supplies etc" - but it's a natural follow-on from this topic, so I'm trying to link it here...

http://www.frit-happens.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=42781.0
Alan
www.ajdalampwork.etsy.com