Easy Optic Mold Instructions

Lorraine Chandler · #1 2008-12-18, 10:20am

Hi, I have had requests for my optic mold instructions and so decided to post a no pic tutorial. Its easy to make.
Supplies needed:

Small bock of hardwood like oak or cherry. I got mine at Home Depot. My wood piece is about 4-5 inches across.

Large Pliers and a leather glove and safety goggles or glasses.

Mandrels. Stainless steel, any diameter you want.

Dremel tool or power drill with a small drill bit about the same size as the mandrels. ( NOT BIGGER OR THE MANDRELS WILL BE LOOSE)

Small can of vegetables

One small coin your choice

Workbench or piece of wood to work on so you do not drill through to your nice kitchen table.

Wire cutters

Sand paper or a dremel with a small sanding drum on it.

1. Put a coin the size you want your optic mold to be in the middle of the wood. I used a dime for mine. Draw a circle around it. Then make dots where you want the mandrels to go. I chose 5.

2. Drill a test hole ( in a different piece of wood) and see if one of your mandrels will push halfway into it with great difficulty. That is what you want and later on you will use the glove and pliers to force and work it the rest of the way into the hole. Shopping for the right drill bit size is the hard part.

3. If the test hole is nice and tight drill all of your holes and you can drill them about 1 inch deep.

4. Take a can of vegetables or? and lay a mandrel on the workbench..then lay the can on its side on the end of the mandrel, and pull the mandrel up and around the can to get a nice bend in it. ( look at my picture )

The mandrels have been cut to about 3 and 1/4 inches in the pic. Don't cut yours yet though.

Bend all of the mandrels until you get them all pretty much the same. They should look kinda like a rounded boomerang.

5. When you get the mandrels into the shape you want them then go ahead and use your glove with the pliers to really push those mandrels all the way into the holes..1 inch worths. Mark the mandrel with a sharpie and make sure they get pushed in right up to that mark.

I used the glove because after the first one my hand hurt as I really crank on the mandrels to get them in. Grasp the mandrel close to the wood so you do not bend it out of shape. Try and push straight down in tiny little increments.

You do not want to push and bend on the mandrels after they are in the holes because that will loosen them up and make your mold useless if they start pulling out with your hot bundle of glass attached.

6. Once they are all secure in their holes then twist them into position..they should flare out nicely and be very difficult to twist around. You may have to use the pliers to swing them into their outward positions. Once they are flared like you want them, use the wire cutters and cut them to about 3-4 inches.

7. Then sand the sharp ends and your done.

The real secret is to make the holes very very tight. This way you do not use glue. You do not need to wet the wood...it's gonna scorch no matter what. But you can if you want to.

Also you can use thicker mandrels ( be harder to bend) and anywhere from 3 to 8 or more mandrels depending on how complex of a glass bundle you want to pull.

Let me know if this works for you? of if I left something out or if you have any questions.

Hugs
Lorraine
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twiggyinaz · #2 2008-12-18, 10:56am

Awesome tutorial!

I am digging out the tools right now, thank you so very very much!

Lorraine Chandler · #3 2008-12-18, 11:24am

Twiggy, ( and anyone else too) please let me know how it turns out and how easy or difficult it was?

Have fun with it, and I would love to see the twisties or canes made from it. Oh and pictures of your optic mold when its done!

Happy Happy Holidays!
Lorraine

lampworker1 · #4 2008-12-18, 12:09pm

Thanks so much. I saw your original post and wondered how you did it. Thanks for sharing!!

Heather/Ericaceae · #5 2008-12-18, 12:36pm

Great instructions! I tried this a while ago with nails and softwood, and of course it was a disaster. These steps make a lot more sense! I have a micro optic mold taght I won in an LE raffle and it's great but so so tiny... I wanna go bigger!

Thanks again for the tut!

Lorraine Chandler · #6 2008-12-18, 12:43pm

You are so welcome Heather. Now you can easily make your own any size you want. and very thriftily too. ( is that a word?)

Lorraine

Beadbug · #7 2008-12-18, 1:38pm

Thanks so much for sharing, I saw your post in the tips n tricks and was going to pm you for the instructions. It is wonderful sharing folks like you who make LE wonderful!

Lorraine Chandler · #8 2008-12-18, 1:50pm

Aawwww Shucks.

My pleasure!

BugNerd · #9 2008-12-18, 2:12pm

I have no idea what this is for

Mind explaining how to use it?

Caty · #10 2008-12-18, 2:25pm

Doesn't the wood catch on fire??

Lorraine Chandler · #11 2008-12-18, 2:48pm

This should answer the last two posts. Scroll down about halfway to see the beautiful cherrywood molds. I realize this is on a much grander scale but as you can see wood molds have been used for just about forever.

Ricky, I use the mold to get me to a specific starting point in making twisties, cane, murrini etc. quicker and it is much neater than I can do freehand. My gathers are pretty sloppy if I try to do them freehand. Its pretty simple, get a gather on the end of a mandrel or your glass rod and then push it down into the mold, pull it up and then add stripes of a different color in the ready made grooves or lots of different colors. Then pull into canes or twisties.
Lorraine

http://users.ticnet.com/mikefirth/corning.htm

infinitecharms · #12 2008-12-18, 10:42pm

Do you need to soak the wood in water like you have to with the cherry wood molds?

Lorraine Chandler · #13 2008-12-18, 11:32pm

I haven't been able to get into the garage to test mine out..WHINE!!!

It is too cold out there...... I would think that if you soaked it that it should be okay as long as it wasn't wet...the glass might shatter if it were??.

So maybe a soak and drying out period first? I am gonna just try it dry and see what happens.

Anyone else?

Lorraine

Byrdbeads · #14 2008-12-19, 12:01am

Shouldnt shatter the glass I would think, at the glass school they use the molds dripping wet and keep them in water when they are not actually using them.

Robyn

JuneauBrat · #15 2008-12-19, 12:57am

My husband makes and uses his own cherry wood molds all the time for marble making. He pulls the molds right out of the water to start the shaping and re-dips the molds each time he goes in for another shaping...over and over again. The wet molds never have and I expect never will effect the glass and cause it to break. He stores them in the bucket of water when he's not using them as well.
He adds a little bit of bleach to the water as well to keep the water from molding/mildewing (is that a word)???
I'm not sure though that you would want to keep this base with the mandrels soaking in water...rust and or corrosion might be an issue and the holes might do "weird" things being that the mandels are not secured into the wood.
I would think the $60 for an optic mold still might be the best way to go. The cherry wood molds have to be replaced every so ofter because the size keeps increasing from burning out the hole.
I make a glob on the end of a mandrel, turn it into a drum then spot heat your 5 or 6 sides and cut into them with a knife. Then add your fat stringers into the trench you have cut in...be sure to push the fat stringer into the trench. Heat and resmooth the drum. Then you twist and pull it down.
I didn't mean to rain on your wonderful idea...just not sure it's worth the work for the amount of time it takes to make it and the length of time before it burns out.
Have fun though...we all need less expensive ways to do our "thing"...

Bye for now,

Sue

Bright-eyed Beads · #16 2008-12-19, 2:43am

You can also use brass for the prongs of your optic molds, available from hobby store. I glue mine into the top of 1/2 inch bolt for a handle (with drilled holes of course). Just use heat resistant epoxy glue and don't let the glass touch the glue at all...scrap away any excess once dry with a craft knife. The one I use was called JB Weld and it is heat resistant to 600 degrees Celsius. I use garden hose to insulate the handle,

Cheers

Jenny

ginkgoglass · #17 2008-12-19, 5:55am

Lorraine, you could sell these!

Cherine Perrin · #18 2008-12-19, 6:29am

Thanks so much for the awesome tut. I can't wait to try this!

Lorraine Chandler · #19 2008-12-19, 11:12am

Thank-you Cherine and your very welcome!

Thanks you guys for the water answers..I guess the hot glass evaporates the water into steam before it even touches it? I was hoping the stainless wouldn't rust? I suppose we could try brass?

Sue thanks for all of the tips...I always try to do handy dandy things first because ..well....$60.00 is like $600 to me. I just do not have it.

Well, if they hold up for a year they would be worth it to me...That's a lot of twisties and canes..LOL

Lana, Thanks so much for that vote of confidence. I think they would have to be tweeked somewhat and all of the bugs scrunched outta'em first.

Merry Christmas
Lorraine

jeepinwelch · #20 2008-12-19, 9:20pm

I'm going to have to make myself one of these. Thanks for the instructions! I think my resulting cane will be much neater and more consistant than it is now with the cut the gather with a knife method. No matter how hard I try it never ends up as even as I would like.

squid · #21 2008-12-19, 9:24pm

the wood will swell when it is soaked and that should tighten the holes on the mandrels and make them even tighter in place. brilliant

Lorraine Chandler · #22 2008-12-20, 1:24pm

I can't wait for pictures...and I guess the use of our handmade optic molds and time will tell if this turns out to a good idea or??

If the weather would only warm up 10 more degrees here....

I could get out in the studio and try mine out.

Happy and Prosperous 2009 to ALL
Lorraine

lampworker1 · #23 2008-12-26, 8:26pm

Hi, I bought the oak today and hopefully I will be able to make mine this week!! Thanks once again.

Lorraine Chandler · #24 2008-12-28, 10:46am

Terrific, we want pictures.

I can't wait for the pictures..hehe

It looks like I will be able to torch this week if the wind doesn't come up so I may have some pics too.
Lorraine

Ruth Nichols · #25 2009-01-02, 2:51pm

Hi Lorraine! What about using a piece of graphite for the base if one did not want to use wood? Just curious.... Sorry if this has been asked already.

Lorraine Chandler · #26 2009-01-02, 8:53pm

Hi Ruth, No one has asked that.

I have seen some for sale fairly inexpensive on ARTCO? I think with a graphite base.

I did the tutorial based on what most women would have handy around the house and using bent mandrels so it would be quick, easy and cheap to make.

The only graphite I have is already in tool form and that I wouldn't want to mess up..LOL

That is a very good idea though for anyone that does have graphite laying around and wants to make a better quality mold than mine.

I also would be happier with the graphite so I didn't worry about the scorching part

I think Sundance glass has chunks of graphite for sale...Hmmmm

Lorraine

Sundance Glass · #27 2009-01-07, 12:06pm

We do currently have Graphite slabs (Approximately 19 lbs is a slab to us) for 49 dollars. You can call and ask about options for it, or just look at our specials page to see it, it's somewhat near the bottom.

http://www.sundanceglass.com/special.htm

Ruth Nichols · #28 2009-01-07, 12:35pm

never mind.. it works now.

Daria · #29 2009-01-09, 3:46pm

This is super cool. Thank you for posting this!

Lorraine Chandler · #30 2009-01-09, 6:34pm

You are very welcome Daria.

I have been waiting for a nice warm day to get in the garage ( my studio) and take pics using it. Today was the day I thought! But the wind whipped up and I couldn't torch after all..DRATS!

I torch with the big roll up door all the way open and if my windchimes are dancing around I know its too windy. My windchime was doing the Watusi all day today!!

Maybe tomorrow I hope to get to pics.

Lorraine