mistake of the day

flame n fuse · March 15, 2015, 06:00:29 PM

I decided to add some stainless steel shot to my tumbling mix of old beads and silicon carbide. Now my beads have small pieces of shot stuck in the mandrel holes.

GaysieMay · March 15, 2015, 06:16:10 PM

What a pain, I've had to coax it out of tumbled Viking weave! Good luck. X

ajda · March 16, 2015, 11:11:06 AM

I did something similar a few years ago - was tumbling some silver/glass bead earrings and put in a handful of loose beads to see how they'd clean up. I never did get the shot out of most of them - tried heating/cooling, prodding, prising... broke several before I gave up... If you ever find a solution, please let me know!

Pat from Canvey · March 16, 2015, 11:39:47 AM

I've been fortunate in that when it happened to me, one hole was still clear. I was able to poke a mandrel through to dislodge the shot.

JKC · March 27, 2015, 06:58:50 AM

I accidentally dropped a bead in with my silver, tried magnets to get the shot out, not strong enough, really liked the bead too.

What was the shot for ? We're you trying to speed up the process? I have a mix that works really quickly.

Janet

Margram · March 27, 2015, 01:08:14 PM

I used physics with a similar problem - after tumbling I had a round bead jammed in the hole of a large disc bead. So warmed the disc with hot water and held the round bead on an ice pack. It worked, but with hindsight I think the ice pack alone would have been just as effective!

flame n fuse · March 27, 2015, 02:59:39 PM

Quote from: JKC on March 27, 2015, 06:58:50 AM
I accidentally dropped a bead in with my silver, tried magnets to get the shot out, not strong enough, really liked the bead too.

What was the shot for ? We're you trying to speed up the process? I have a mix that works really quickly.

Janet

Hi Janet, I was experimenting. I've been using size 800 silicon carbide grit, together with a lot of rubbish beads to help tumble my 'good' beads, and it gives a nice silky finish, but I hoped that some shot would help to get into the crevices in beads which were getting missed. Unfortunately the shot found the bead holes too! - should have realised this.
Good idea about the ice pack, Margram.
Julia

JKC · March 27, 2015, 05:41:49 PM

Hi Julie

I use a couple of small pieces of sea glass, grit and green polishing cones(you can get them at jewellery stores like bairds, they are fairly cheap and you get a huge bag. if there are any crevices that are annoying me(sometimes I like the shiny bits) I rub another piece of glass on those bits. The beads feel velvety and it is very fast.

Janet

flame n fuse · March 27, 2015, 06:54:33 PM

Thanks for the tips Janet, I'll have to try them.
Julia

Dietmar · December 14, 2019, 05:23:46 PM

I've seen hollow beads, tumbled in a bed of short pices of stainless steel wire. The beads were frosted nicely. But the holes "swallowed" several of these wires per bead. The removal of those wires was a pain in the ... (your imagination). Most of those beads kept the wires forever.

If there are particles of shot stuck in beadholes, try an ultrasonic cleaning bath. The ultrasound wiggles much more than any other tool. Between the shot and the hole there are additional particles of your abrasive. They are the "ones" that clog the gap between shot and bead. With those vibrations the whole material gets in motion and the abrasive might move out or break into smaller particles.

Dietmar