RE; Jim Moore Retro Tool

[Nicker]

Originally Posted by lori 2

O.K. I guess I was confused

What I have is the JIM MOORE tool.
I was interchanging the two names.
Now as I re-read the thread for the 3rd time, I see the confusion.
I have been so spacey lately, no excuse, just me..., (oh the joys of my 50's, it is such an adventure in humility)
Anyhow I think I need better tubing. I will hit the hardware store today.

I also might mention I am going to try using my cut-off blade in my dremel for cutting. I don't seem to be doing so well with my tube cutter.

Lori 2

Tube cutter suck IMO, get a mini chop saw from Harbor Freight they work great.

[Kalera]

I agree about the tube cutters... I started out using one and although they give you a perfectly parallel cut, they compress the tubing too much IMO, creating the need for a lot of additional filing. The little chop saw is about $17 and saves quite a bit of tedious labor, as well as cutting the teeny tubing that doesn't work with tubing cutters (and which I can never cut straight with a jewelers saw!)

[Laurie L]

Which mini saw ??? I searched HF site and came up with nothing for @$17

[wolfotter]

mini cut off saw..... usually $25.00 unless they happen to be on sale

Andrea

[Torcha]

I got one last week at the Harbor freight in town. It was around 25 bucks. Perfect for tubing and doesn't take up too much space in the studio.

[Kalera]

I bought mine in the store, in must have been on sale... but it's still a good deal at $25!

[Laurie L]

Oki doki....know which one it is now. LOL. Thanks everyone !

[theglasszone]

Just a quick tip to all you (us!) Harbor Freight buyers...

If you can find your item on the internet (and chances are the "in store" price is higher), take a print-out of the item with you to the store when you go to purchase. I have had no difficulty batting my eyelashes and asking the manager if he will "honor" the lower internet price! Works every time (And fellas, it may just work for you, too!!!)

~De

[Magicfire]

Are you lining beads with bigger holes than 3/16"?

I ordered the Jim Moore bead liner and they told me that the plastic die is only for use with the med. and large dies. The small die that it comes with is supposed to cut into the plastic die, damaging it. But I think the small die is the right size for the bulk buy tubing I bought...I measured it carefully and checked with the specs on the website to be sure.

I am making beads on 3/16" mandrels for the Pandora/Biagi bracelets.

I just hope I figured correctly!

-Patti

Originally Posted by Hayley

With copper tubing, it usually has a thicker wall, it's better to anneal the metal first. To anneal, just hold the cut tubing with a tweezer (one with thicker tips) and heat it in your torch until it just glows red, quench it in water.

I file the tubing - using a coarser file then a finer one to clean it up. It usually takes no more than 30 seconds.

I got the Jim Moore press last week and cored about 20 beads and only had one casualty - one with a bump on the hole. I love the plastic flaring die for the final press - much better than using the metal one all the way.

Hope this helps.

[pittypat]

I have been trying all day to cut copper tubing with my mini pipe cutter. HELPPPPPP!!!!
All I can do is bend it! Are any of you using it and how? It cut the SS fine.
Thanks, pat

[char]

Debur inside of tube with a file before using tool this will take off the rough edges

[char]

Copper tubing is a little harder to cut which will take a little longer than silver,place the tube in the cutter and tighten cutter( not to tight )run the cutter around a couple of times to get a score as you start getting deeper cuts tighten cutter.

[wolfotter]

Originally Posted by Magicfire

Are you lining beads with bigger holes than 3/16"?

I ordered the Jim Moore bead liner and they told me that the plastic die is only for use with the med. and large dies. The small die that it comes with is supposed to cut into the plastic die, damaging it. But I think the small die is the right size for the bulk buy tubing I bought...I measured it carefully and checked with the specs on the website to be sure.

I am making beads on 3/16" mandrels for the Pandora/Biagi bracelets.

I just hope I figured correctly!

-Patti

Hi Patti,
The plastic die will work with the 3/16" mandrels, it is not meant to be used for anything smaller than that, for example a bead made on a 3/32" mandrel with silver caps riveted onto the bead. You would hammer that tubing down. The hammering with the caps is very easy!

Hope this helps!
Andrea

[pittypat]

Thanks, Char, I finally took my time and cut it perfectly!! Reread the directions, duhhh.
Thanks again, pat

[Andrew]

Originally Posted by Nicker

Tube cutter suck IMO, get a mini chop saw from Harbor Freight they work great.

I agree about the tube cutters... I started out using one and although they give you a perfectly parallel cut, they compress the tubing too much IMO, creating the need for a lot of additional filing. The little chop saw is about $17 and saves quite a bit of tedious labor, as well as cutting the teeny tubing that doesn't work with tubing cutters (and which I can never cut straight with a jewelers saw!)

It depends on how you use them i suppose. In 25 years ive never found one to do any damage or change the diameter of a tube unless i myself was the cause by trying to cut the tube to fast. Should tighten the screw no more than a quarter of a turn per full revolution of the cutter on the tube. Even with the cheap one i use ( five dollars ) i never have any problems. The nice rothenberger one is even better but will also give me problems if i try to cut to much each turn.

Lol now that ive seen the Mini chop saw im going to get one. Why cant Australia have a harborfreight its just not fair

MM been trying to word it so i dont offend people but i suppose it will offend someone what ever i do so .

Regards
Andrew

[natty]

hello,

i am living in France and would like to buy the Jim Moore bead tool. I was not able to find it in the listed stores of his website
can you help?

thanks a lot

[squid]

The bead press is the top item on this page:
http://toolsforglass.com/store/bead.html

[natty]

thanks,
i was not smart enough to see the shoping cart

buuuuuuuuuut again after i placed my order, (OK so far) i canot send it because i canot find a button like "send"
idea? or am i blind?

thanks again for your help
sorry

[Miss Kate]

scroll down to the bottom of the page and push "checkout"

[Hayley]

Originally Posted by Magicfire

Are you lining beads with bigger holes than 3/16"?

I ordered the Jim Moore bead liner and they told me that the plastic die is only for use with the med. and large dies. The small die that it comes with is supposed to cut into the plastic die, damaging it. But I think the small die is the right size for the bulk buy tubing I bought...I measured it carefully and checked with the specs on the website to be sure.

Patti - I use both 3/16" and 1/4" tubings and yes the plastic die does get roughed up a bit but it doesn't deter its performance. I figure that if it gets too badly marked, I can lightly sand it smooth again with fine grit sandpaper. So far, so good.

ETA: do NOT sand . . . just send it back to Jim! (see Andrea's post below)

[natty]

UPS Message: No UPS Delivery services are available for this shipping address.

yeah thanks

this is what i get above my order after knocking the "checkout" button

as i am international and like they say, they have to check the shipping costs -USPS - it seems that his webshop is not connected in that case to send them my email
:

thanks for looking anyway.

would maybe some of you be so kind to drop them a line under "contact" because the same: as i cannot fill the field "ZIP" it's not possible to send the contact email!!!!!

ahhhhh technic!!

[Miss Kate]

Natty - send me a pm with your email addy, and your shipping addy, & I'll email him for you!

[natty]

Kate - you have post.

again thanks a lot for your help. so kind of you

[wolfotter]

Originally Posted by Hayley

Patti - I use both 3/16" and 1/4" tubings and yes the plastic die does get roughed up a bit but it doesn't deter its performance. I figure that if it gets too badly marked, I can lightly sand it smooth again with fine grit sandpaper. So far, so good.

Hi Hayley!
Jim will resurface the plastic dies for $10! They will take a lot of abuse before you need to resurface them!

Andrea

[Magicfire]

Thanks for the input on the plastic die! I'm sure I'll order the medium die at some point, and then I'll get the plastic die too.

Thanks!
-Patti

[Hayley]

Originally Posted by wolfotter

Hi Hayley!
Jim will resurface the plastic dies for $10! They will take a lot of abuse before you need to resurface them!

Andrea

Andrea, thanks for the info . . . I actually just spoke with Jim yesterday and he told me the same thing!

[bgurden]

i have the mini chop saw and it will not cut thru the tubing. i have a 6 inch chop saw and it likes to melt the tubing. i cant win! any advice?

[bgurden]

i finally figured out what worked best for me to cut the tubing. i use a jewelers saw and a tube holder that i bought from rio grande for about 40 dollars. its in the 2008 catalog there is an expensive one and a cheap one. i bought the one with the red handle! it was cheaper! you can hold the tube holder or put it in a clamp. i put it in a clamp. i use a standard jewelers saw and the standard saw blades from rio. dont forget to use bur when sawing. its a wax and prevents the saw blades from breaking. when i am done with the tube i use the dremel and a sander bit and debur the burs that are still present.
when i used the tube cutter it crimped my silver tube. when i used the chop saw it flattened and deformed one area on the tube.
it doesnt take very long to saw the small silver tubes manually.

if you want to buy copper tubing, try amazon.com it is being sold by smalltools. they are also selling brass and stainless steel. i like amazon so i dont have to put my credit card out there.

[KristiB]

Originally Posted by bgurden

i have the mini chop saw and it will not cut thru the tubing. i have a 6 inch chop saw and it likes to melt the tubing. i cant win! any advice?

Wow! really? I haven't had any trouble with it. I did notice the last time I used it, it was starting to bog down when cutting, but I figured it was just time to change the blade. Was kind of tubing were you cutting? I haven't used it with copper or aluminum, but I know people who have. It would be interesting to know. Did you get it from harbor Freight or somewhere else?

Originally Posted by bgurden

i finally figured out what worked best for me to cut the tubing. i use a jewelers saw and a tube holder that i bought from rio grande for about 40 dollars. its in the 2008 catalog there is an expensive one and a cheap one. i bought the one with the red handle! it was cheaper! you can hold the tube holder or put it in a clamp. i put it in a clamp. i use a standard jewelers saw and the standard saw blades from rio. dont forget to use bur when sawing. its a wax and prevents the saw blades from breaking. when i am done with the tube i use the dremel and a sander bit and debur the burs that are still present.
when i used the tube cutter it crimped my silver tube. when i used the chop saw it flattened and deformed one area on the tube.
it doesnt take very long to saw the small silver tubes manually.

if you want to buy copper tubing, try amazon.com it is being sold by smalltools. they are also selling brass and stainless steel. i like amazon so i dont have to put my credit card out there.

you are better than me!! OMG.. you should see the first one I tried to cut! It was so crooked it was pathetic. Of course I had never used a jewelers saw before either.

I have used a tube cutter successfully. I think Andrew had it right when he said you just turn it in very small increments, like only a quarter of a turn at a time. If you don't, then it will start to crush the tube. I stopped using the tube cutter (if I recall correctly) becuase it made the end a bit "funky" it sort of had a line on it from the tube cutter. Could have been just the one I was using, but I haven't used it since I got the mini chop saw.

Question: Is the chop saw bending the tubing from the blade when you start cutting or from the clamp you put it in to hold it??

[bgurden]

i think that its getting so hot that the tubing is melting a bit. i even tried to freeze the tubing. i read somewhere to cap the tubing and put water in and freeze it but that is too much work for me. so much easier to use the jewelers saw. keep turning the tube as you cut. the sawblade bogs down as you go deeper into the tube and if you rotate and cut you wont need to. i actually learn to cut tubing when i was taking a metalsmithing class. we were cutting tubing, soldering to a silver base and using the tubing to hold gemstones. its really a pretty technique. i just tried something mechanical ie chopsaw because i thought it would be faster.