Bent mandrels

[!ngridh]

Way back when I started lampworking...someone somewhere said you can't straighten a bent mandrel... Well I saw Thom Gollan (Mr. Flamewerks) do it with two large blocks of graphite ....he heats the mandrel to glowing in the flame and then rolls the mandrel between the two blocks...and voila' it is straight...well ahhhhhh I ah... don't have enough space on my work table to do that...so I tried today...I put the mandrels on the electric burner on my stove and heated them up... I only had one large graphite marver...so I decided to us the bottom of a heavily clad stainless steel dutch oven...it seemed to work...then... instead of using the marver...I picked up the pot...same heavy duty steel bottom...

and I found it worked...(1/16th mandrels) since the two flat surfaces
were unyielding. I haven't tried it with 3/32nds...I rarely use mandrels that thick and the don't often end up getting bent... ( not that I ever ever tug!)

So I thought I might share...I don't think you even have to heat them ...with slight bends...just enough to make them unworkable...
try rolling them between your pots!

[playswithfire104]

Thanks for the tip I'll have to try that.

[nagibeads]

Thank you so much for this tip Ingridh!

[artwhim]

Great idea! Breaks my heart to deem them unusable. Goes against my frugal nature.

[pipojasper]

Super idea! Thanks

[!ngridh]

OK I coated them... and they are all straight...now these had slight bends (the most annoying kind) and were impossible to work, I kept throwing them on my table...

Now I know for a fact that Mr. Flamewerks method of heating them in the flame to glowing and then rolling them between to blocks of graphite works...

I hate to admit that I would have to clear off my work table to find a space to do that... (ok it wouldn't be a bad idea....but it was a deterant)

I was going to put them on top of the electric burner until the glowed... ahhhh well.... it didn't happen. So I tried to roll them against my one graphite paddle with a pot... from there it was easy to go to the dutch oven and the ? 4 quart pot. Both pots have a very thick bottom...copper then steel clad...at least 1/2 and inch.

I coated all of them yesterday and used them without incident...

it was that old Mother of invention... NECESSITY! that or buy more...and I could have but I know that I just kept bending mandrels... not that I tug or anything like that!

I want to emphasize that in the end I didn't heat them at all...these are those annoying little dents somewhere in the middle that cause grief.

[Heather/Ericaceae]

Good timing, Ingrid! My cache of unbent mandrels is dwindling grievously.

[twiggyinaz]

Ingridh,

Way cool (hot) tip! I was just wondering how short I could cut my mandrels and still be able to use them comfortably... to get rid of some of the bends as most of mine are where I grab the mandrel right next to the bead to pull the bead off.

Thanks tons!