Bead release, what do you suggest?

[Nammie]

I'm sure this has been asked before and I've a feeling I'm going to get a myriad of answers but here goes. ..

...I bought Tuffnells bead release when I first started playing with glass and it's all I've ever used. I'm really quite happy with it but I'm struggling to get nice clean beads.  Particularly in transparent glass. I enlisted my parents' help in cleaning over 400 beads last weekend and we discussed this at length :-) The conclusion we reached was that the bead release was a bit grainy so the 'grains' became embedded in the glass and impossible to clean out without grinding the glass away.
Am I mad? Does anyone else have this problem? Never having used anything else it's hard to compare so any thoughts on nice clean bead holes would be very welcome.

[Blue Box Studio]

Tuffnell's Tuffy bead release leaves cleaner holes - but I'm not getting on well with it unless I leave the mandrels to air dry and only use it for a round bead - I'm finding it cracks when in a press - but getting your beads off the mandrels is a dream.  So I'm using the usual Fusion stuff for anything with a press or if I've none flame dried, Tuffy for the round beads (it also evaporates far quicker, with 2 pots open I can compare).  Not tired the others.

[SilverGems89]

get yourself an electric hand whisk and give it a really good mixing, you should find it becomes smoother (also less effort than shaking!)

[tinker]

Sometimes its not the bead release, especially if you are cleaning with a dremel because I find these grind at the surface too much because you can't get a slow enough setting - sometimes its not bead release, its an uneven surface. The new tuffy release does also tend to feather into the glass, making it very difficult to scrape out.

Some of this can be overcome by lining the inside of the hole with some clear nail varnish or a bit of wax, but I tend to find you need a fair bit of elbow grease to get the hole clean first.

[Nammie]

OK, so perhaps buying a different bead release is not going to solve my unsightly bead hole issues, darn! I have to say I'm pretty happy with the tuffnell version apart from that but then, I've not tried anything else. I can use it with presses although I do get a few failures. I'd just put those down to inept user. Bead rollers are a different matter, I end up with it all breaking off and sticking to the bead. But it only does that to the well shaped ones, wonky disasters come out perfectly clean!

[tinker]

You might find you get much less breakages with Fusion, which is still my favourite. Tuffy breaks for me on rollers too - its saving grace is the ease of getting the beads off the mandrel and the ease of cleaning, but Fusion is the best bead release to my mind.

[Pat from Canvey]

The only time I don't use the Tuffy bead release is on cabochon mandrels as it cracks as it dries on them. I try to make sure the Tuffy is well heated on the bare mandrel before applying any glass. If I try to rush it, the release breaks.

[Nammie]

You saved my sanity Pat, I thought I was just cabochonly challenged! I did find cooking the mandrel well before use helped a bit. I could sit and watch the bead release peel off as it dried on the new ones I bought at Flame off. My 2nd hand ones are much happier to stay coated.

I think I'm going to have to invest in a tub of something, if only just to see what's different.

[fionaess]

I meant to comment on the new powder release from tuffnells   I've used it extensively for both soft and boro and had no problems with either. I've flamed dried and air dried and again no problems. I would agree with pat tho, you have to make sure its hot before applying glass. It also is easy to remove beads from the mandrels, with both soft and boro

[Nicknack]

I just had a couple of nice beads ruined because the Tuffy release broke in the press and what was left between the break and the bead came back and coated the bead end with nasty white crud. I tried to pick it off the second one, and it took half the bead with it.  These would have been focals for the bead swap.  I think in future I'll only use that release for small non-pressed/rolled beads, and keep to Fusion for anything that matters.  To be fair, it had been on the mandrels for a week or three, but that doesn't seem to make a difference with Fusion.

Nick