Brass has gotten pretty expensive, so I bought a couple of old brass door push plates off Ebay. Made a nice marver for large beads with one by adding extruded aluminum on the bottom for feet. The plates came with six holes already there, and I used those to attach the 90 degree angle stock to the bottom to make a nice stable base a good 1/2" off the table. It cools the glass faster than my graphite, so I really like using it for silver glass, too.
The second plate I cut in half, put a store-bought aluminum handle on the back and added brass screws and nuts to each corner from the rough back toward the smooth front to the depth of the bead I wanted. It makes a great press for larger beads. The results are extremely even, and if I wanted, I could change the screws to a different length to get a thicker or thinner bead. Total costs was about $30, and I couldn't find 1/8" brass plate stock for anywhere near that.
Toni
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