Got my EMS today!

[playswithfire104]

I just got my EMS today. I have to work. so I won't get to try it out till tomorrow - hopefully.

So other than PPP are there any tips a person using an EMS for the 1st time should know? I understand there is a learning curve and I'm OK with that. I also got the rolling marver - can't wait to make looooooooooong beads!

[Jane P]

I received mine just before Christmas, and have only had a couple of sessions with it. I am having trouble getting an even footprint - when I melt a gather and go to apply it to the mandrel, it goes on in one big lump, and then just goes around and around in a lump. I suspect that I may need to slow down the initial spin even more. I'll think I'll go and look at the DVD again.

[Dia-T]

To get an even distribution, just barely touch your gather to the mandrel then pull away a bit. The mandrel will then pull the glass onto itself in an even string. You will have a tall thin bead but as it melts down it will spread out.

I am hoping my ems arrives soon, I so want to play with it. My Hubby ordered me one in November and thought it would be here for Christmas.
Dia

[LyndaJ]

1) keep the cord away from your flame!!
2) Yep, touch lightly work, but if your initial footprint ends up uneven, you can do what Smircich does, where, as the hot glass spins, you drag the rod back through the glass that's on the mandrel to even it up. I've seen this technique on one of his videos, and it REALLY helps. Plus it's a little faster than the melt down method (I tend to be impatient )
3) keep as much of the brass sleeve inside the body of the EMS, don't yank too hard off to one side while inserting/removing the mandrels from the sleeve or you'll bend them. I've bent LOTS of sleeves. And I haven't found a way to un-bend them. I've tried rolling them under a heavy pan, which has been reported to work with bent mandrels, and it doesn't work. So now, I just keep as much of the sleeve "protected" as possible to prevent bending. I've also bent a couple by pushing too hard on the mandrel while applying glass. Like I said, I can be a bit impatient

[Darlene Balkcum]

What's an EMS?

[lldesigns]

Electric Mandrel Spinner.

[Lara]

I'm trying to think of tip but I think it will work best for me to describe how I use it.

I generally use it to make spacers. I get a gather the size of the bead I want to make. This gather is nice and soupy. I touch it to the mandrel barely and then move the mandrel out of the flame as it is turning (away from me). I slowly lift the rod out of the flame as it is finishing moving to the mandrel until there is just a bit of glass remaining and cut it with the flame.

Use pliers to take the mandrel out of the sleeve as it maybe really hot - OUCH.
Make sure the pliers have a large tip, too small and the bead may pivit and burn your hand. - SUPER DUPER OUCH WITH A THIRD DEGREE BURN <- really, I can't not stress this enough, stupid Lara!

I find the faster speed to work better for me.

If a littl out of shape (ie one side higher than the other) gently roll the bead on a marver, then heat again. I think that he shows this in the video.

[Jane P]

Thanks so much everyone for those tips. I am sooo nervous when I use this new toy that I'm not thinking very clearly. That makes sense to pull the rod away a bit.

Lara, my husband ground a groove into a pair of pliers on both top and bottom that corresponds with the mandrel, so that is where I grab it and it doesn't "swing" around.

[playswithfire104]

Thanks so much everyone. Lynda you sound like the voice of experience. I'll report back tomorrow about how I do.

[Lara]

Originally Posted by Jane P

Lara, my husband ground a groove into a pair of pliers on both top and bottom that corresponds with the mandrel, so that is where I grab it and it doesn't "swing" around.

Very good idea.

[playswithfire104]

What would you use to make the groove? A regular file?

[Jane P]

Originally Posted by playswithfire104

What would you use to make the groove? A regular file?

I just asked him (and I never would have guessed). He clamped them together and held them in a vise then drilled down the center with a drill. That way the two groves are in the same place and not off_set to each other. Hope that makes sense.

[playswithfire104]

Originally Posted by Jane P

I just asked him (and I never would have guessed). He clamped them together and held them in a vise then drilled down the center with a drill. That way the two groves are in the same place and not off_set to each other. Hope that makes sense.

I never would have guessed either! Thanks.

[betsymn]

I get too impatient most times to wrap the glass on and melt and let gravity pull it into shape. I use a graphite tool to push the glass into shape; takes me back to my pottery days on the wheel, push and center. This works well for my layered beads because I center my base and then put the layers on, but with silvered ivory where you're melting until you get a design you like, you have to stop the ems and use the graphite tool to push it into a centered shape, then turn the ems back on and gently heat and use the graphite to center it.

My ems has been starting to get sluggish, and I'm panicking because I use it for all of my on mandrel beads. I would be lost without it.

[LyndaJ]

It may just need a new battery. It slows down as the battery starts to die.

[playswithfire104]

Well I was FINALLY able to sit down with my EMS and play. The first thing I learned is......................Drum roll please..................EVERY one of my mandrels are bent.

Well maybe not every one but every one I tried. I guess I've got to cut some fresh mandrels. In the DVD that comes with it he uses really short mandrels. I wonder if length has anything to do with a wobble. It sure does spin pretty fast too. I know the speed can be adjusted. When I have my really straight mandrels ready I'll give it another go.

[Dia-T]

Mine arrived today! Of course DH told me about it as we were on the way out the door to a NYE party. So of corse I had to bring it with and play with it here.