Does the bellflower press do beads? SUCCESS!!!!

Enchanted Cobwebs · February 20, 2014, 07:18:23 PM

I have been drooling over the carlo dona bellflower press so much that I will be selling some of my rollers soon to fund one. I think I have only ever seen photos of bellflowers on wire stems. So, does it make beads too? I will probably still go for one as love making flower beads but just wondered...

JKC · February 20, 2014, 07:22:06 PM

They don't make beads, although some people have plopped glass in without a wire, flicked it out and then added the to other beads. Janet
I bought two, sold them, bought two more.

Gordon · February 20, 2014, 10:41:20 PM

Like this

Enchanted Cobwebs · February 21, 2014, 06:53:41 AM

Thank you both for replies and the demo is very helpful. I will go ahead and buy one and play around with it!

Shirley · February 21, 2014, 07:31:51 AM

'tis a nice thing

JKC · February 21, 2014, 12:17:33 PM

I bought my second ones here, they are cheaper than the first ones I bought gunnar_haag on ebay, he has some other cool stuff. Janet

Pat from Canvey · February 21, 2014, 01:20:59 PM

I tried searching for gunnar_haag on Ebay and it came up with nothing that seemed relevant.Do you have a link?

Fiona · February 21, 2014, 03:03:15 PM

Here you go Pat...
http://stores.ebay.de/farbglas-werkzeug

Beadbug · February 21, 2014, 04:39:26 PM

Coooooor, he does have some rather good stuff, better get saving.

Enchanted Cobwebs · March 01, 2014, 09:48:53 AM

Quote from: Pat from Canvey on February 21, 2014, 01:20:59 PM
I tried searching for gunnar_haag on Ebay and it came up with nothing that seemed relevant.Do you have a link?

Thanks for the link, I ordered one from them and it arrived yesterday. I will try dipping wire in bead release then removing it like a mandrel and drill through the closed bit to see if that works, really determined to make beds with this! Have made some rather nice but very wonky headpins so far, think I'm holding it at an angle when I press so it needs a bit of work!

JaySpangles · March 01, 2014, 10:25:29 AM

I have a CD heart press and my DH successfully drilled out the mandrel space to make it a bit bigger. I was nervous about altering such an expensive item but it worked a treat. You could possibly do the same with your bellflower press to allow you to use slightly heavier wires as mandrels without compromising it for thinner wires. I use 1mm tig wire as mandrels for my tiny hearts.

Pat from Canvey · March 01, 2014, 01:05:49 PM

Quote from: Enchanted Cobwebs on March 01, 2014, 09:48:53 AM
Thanks for the link, I ordered one from them and it arrived yesterday. I will try dipping wire in bead release then removing it like a mandrel and drill through the closed bit to see if that works, really determined to make beds with this! Have made some rather nice but very wonky headpins so far, think I'm holding it at an angle when I press so it needs a bit of work!

I'm not understanding why you are dipping the wire in bead release. When I've made bellflowers, I've just put a blob of molten glass on the end of a 1mm piece of copper wire, slipped the wire through the slot to rest the glass in the cup of the press and closed the press. You only then need to trim the wire and make a loop so that the bellflower hangs from a bracelet. Do you want to attach something else to the centre of the flower? You can use the same wire technique to make leaves, (blob on end of wire, press with leaf press) or blob on end of wire, attach petals to make a flower. This is the sort of thing I'm thinking about,

Enchanted Cobwebs · March 01, 2014, 01:55:15 PM

I was hoping to make stamens with wire and crystals to sit inside hence needing a hole

Jayspangles - thats a good idea, will give it a go if the mini wire 'mandrels' dont work

Pat - love your flowers, fab!

Pat from Canvey · March 01, 2014, 03:06:40 PM

Quote from: Enchanted Cobwebs on March 01, 2014, 01:55:15 PM
I was hoping to make stamens with wire and crystals to sit inside hence needing a hole

Can you get around this by putting a small blob of glass onto another piece/pieces of thin wire and tucking that blob into the cup of the bellflower? You can then thread a crystal onto the central wire. I've not tried it but it may prove to be easier than drilling into the bellflower. I'll try it tonight when the kiln finishes it's current session. I've done this before but didn't use the bellflower press,

I seem to recall that it was made from the rounds of glass on the end of a blow pipe mandrel. The rounds were not closed as you would if you were making a hollow bead or bauble.

Enchanted Cobwebs · March 01, 2014, 05:45:58 PM

Quote from: Pat from Canvey on March 01, 2014, 03:06:40 PM
Quote from: Enchanted Cobwebs on March 01, 2014, 01:55:15 PM
I was hoping to make stamens with wire and crystals to sit inside hence needing a hole

Can you get around this by putting a small blob of glass onto another piece/pieces of thin wire and tucking that blob into the cup of the bellflower? You can then thread a crystal onto the central wire. I've not tried it but it may prove to be easier than drilling into the bellflower. I'll try it tonight when the kiln finishes it's current session. I've done this before but didn't use the bellflower press,
I seem to recall that it was made from the rounds of glass on the end of a blow pipe mandrel. The rounds were not closed as you would if you were making a hollow bead or bauble.

Ooh thats an idea!
Been playing with the mini wire mandrel idea, in the kiln now. Think I can see the tip of it ever so close to the surface so hopefully when I remove the wire mandrel and start reaming it will only be a tiny bit to drill through. Market tomorrow so wont have time to play in the morning....