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| Tips, Techniques, and Questions -- Technical questions or tips |
2007-06-19, 11:17am
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Oct 05, 2005
Location: Cary, NC
Posts: 296
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What's your favorite bead release?
I presently use some of the flame dry stuff, and that is fine for smaller to average sized beads, but when I want to make a real honker of a bead the bead release always ends up breaking. What's your favorite bead release, and if you make really large beads, does it hold up well without giving you too many plant stakes?
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2007-06-19, 11:45am
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thinking4myself
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Join Date: Feb 18, 2006
Location: WayBeyondGivingAShitAboutUnimportantStuff
Posts: 4,807
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I'd like to hear what everyone uses, too  I make big beads, and there's nothing I hate worse than bead release that cracks after I've used up two 20" rods of glass and anywhere from 30-45 minutes to melt that base glob so I can start sculpting. If it happens when I'm almost done, that's one thing-- just hold my breath and try to finish up without the cracked release breaking any further. The bead release that has worked so far for me is Super Blue Sludge. I can't say it never breaks, but when it does it's probably when I've thinned it too much. Also, I finally learned to put down as wide a footprint as I think I'm going to need as soon as possible. It's harder to keep everything warm, but it also seems to keep me from drying and flaking the uncovered bead release before I get to that area of the mandrel. Hope that made some sense.
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2007-06-19, 12:05pm
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Jan 07, 2007
Location: High Point, NC
Posts: 1,402
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I am very much a newbie, but I love Foster Fire! Just get a bottle last week and no flaking or stuck beads!
I wish I had found it sooner.
Beth
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2007-06-19, 12:17pm
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Entropy increasing....
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Join Date: Nov 12, 2005
Location: In a box of paints
Posts: 25,098
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I got some Foster Fire heavy duty and I love it. I had to thin it a bit, but so far I'm liking it better than the Bucket o'mud.
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"I am an artist… I am here to live out loud." Emile Zola
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2007-06-19, 12:21pm
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Dec 07, 2006
Location: Scappoose, OR
Posts: 1,445
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I mix my BOM with some Sludge Plus and my cracking and flaking problems have almost disappeared. Tried the Foster Fire but still got a fair amount of flaking but I think I just need to thin it some.
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Angela Kane
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-One of a kind boro frit blends!
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2007-06-19, 12:24pm
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Senior Member
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Join Date: May 08, 2007
Location: South Florida
Posts: 380
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I  Foster Fire!
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Summer
HH w/bulk Mapp since May'07!
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2007-06-19, 12:37pm
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Senior Member
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Join Date: May 27, 2007
Location: Vienna, Austria, Europe
Posts: 400
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BOM here - i love it! I used Foster Fire heavy duty before, which was nice, but BOM works even better for me.
verena
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Verena
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Fritblends in COE 104:
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2007-06-19, 12:52pm
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Irish Eyes A Smiling
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Join Date: Jun 11, 2005
Location: Menomonie, WI
Posts: 1,627
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I've been using BOM & Super Sludge combination.....very little breaking and no flaking....but I'm having a TERRIBLE time getting my beads off....even have to have DH do some of them....suggestions?
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Lynn
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2007-06-19, 12:56pm
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Entropy increasing....
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Join Date: Nov 12, 2005
Location: In a box of paints
Posts: 25,098
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The beads come off so easy with the Foster Fire. I just wet them and twist.
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"I am an artist… I am here to live out loud." Emile Zola
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2007-06-19, 1:18pm
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Shine your bright side!
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Join Date: Sep 30, 2005
Location: Central FL - down on the farm
Posts: 3,780
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I use BOM and the new Foster Fire Smooth and Tuff.
The FFST is better when using bead presses I think.
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BonnieR
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Website!
"When you discover your mission, you will feel its demand. It will fill you with enthusiasm and a burning desire to get to work on it." - W. Clement Stone
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2007-06-19, 4:07pm
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The Crazy One
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Join Date: Jun 05, 2005
Location: Lococabana, OR
Posts: 7,008
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FPI fusion baby! I can dip it and a month later it never let's me down! This stuff works with ounceS of glass for a base bead and I sculpt on that. I'll bend mandrels and it rarely gives way. When it occaionally does I use a Booger bridge and finish it up.
It air or flame dry, which is great when I find myself outta the dipped dudes. I've tried other releases and keep comming back to this old standard.
Your mileage may vary. Weather conditions effect bead releases so find what works your your area. I live near the beach in So. CA and found this to be the best for the torture I put my glass through.
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loco
Still crazy after all these years...
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2007-06-19, 4:50pm
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da General
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Join Date: Oct 05, 2006
Location: San Francisco
Posts: 13,002
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I use Sludge for average size beads, Sludge Plus for Boro. Foster Fire for long beads (only up to 3 1/2") and Kragg Mudd for transparent beads.
I guess I have commitment issues! 
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Hayley
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2007-06-19, 5:51pm
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Jun 23, 2005
Location: Up and down I-95
Posts: 4,390
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I mix any of the Sludges with any white release (no graphite). BOM, thick kilnwash, whatever. I can't use straight BOM. It's too humid here or something. Makes a nice mix though.
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Rebecca
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2007-06-19, 6:00pm
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thinking4myself
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Join Date: Feb 18, 2006
Location: WayBeyondGivingAShitAboutUnimportantStuff
Posts: 4,807
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Loco, what in the heck is a Booger bridge?? I'm trying to decide if it's some sort of hollow across the flaking release if you're just starting a bead and don't want to give it up?
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2007-06-20, 5:31am
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Mar 07, 2006
Location: Southwestern NH
Posts: 791
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FPI Fusion 104 and boro - never fails for me. Love it. I'm in the northeast - humid & hot or darn cold sometimes ... it always works ... air dry ...flame dry mostly because I like to dip and work... and the mandrels can hang out for days before I get to work with them. No difference... can make lots of little beads on one mandrel - or - one big honker... very dependable.
Sals
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Phantom + 10LPM Regalia + propane
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2007-06-20, 6:09am
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Glass my new Obsession
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Join Date: Apr 14, 2006
Location: Eugene Oregon
Posts: 2,296
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I am loving the Fosterfire Smooth n Tuff!It works beautifully for me even here in humid ole Missouri! BOM is also a favorite but it is too humid here to use it right now.
Tina
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2007-06-21, 9:03am
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The Venerable Bead
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Join Date: Jul 22, 2005
Location: Rhode Island
Posts: 1,951
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I'm a convert I was mixing Fusion with foster fire boro but I switched over to sludge plus and I have been mixing the foster fire with that and I love it.
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Paula AKA The Venerable Bead
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"I believe in pink, I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles."
— Audrey Hepburn
flaming away on a betta, natural gas, and 2 M-20's
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2007-06-21, 10:53am
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Aug 12, 2006
Location: Benton Arkansas USA
Posts: 2,167
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Foster fire. Works great for me.
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2007-06-21, 10:58am
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make beads not war
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Join Date: Feb 20, 2006
Location: St. Louis
Posts: 9,153
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Definite convert to Foster Fire Smooth and Tuff. That stuff just will not break and you can simply twist beads off the mandrel.
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Melissa ~[/size]cheers to my glassy buds
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(too many snarktini's)
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2007-06-21, 7:09pm
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Dangerous Woman
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Join Date: Nov 21, 2005
Location: Southcentral PA
Posts: 5,018
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The Smooth and Tuff is WONDERFUL!!!!!! I can take the beads off without even soaking them and the beads clean out like a dream!
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Nancy
May your torch burn brightly and your oxy never run out. - Karen Hardy
On a Cheetah with a hurricane Still have my Lynx as a back up.
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2007-06-21, 8:08pm
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Sorry for party rockin'
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Join Date: Oct 06, 2005
Location: Lewisville, TX
Posts: 3,456
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Sludge Plus and Fusion
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Ginny
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2007-06-28, 12:56pm
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Jer. 29:11, Prov.10:19
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Join Date: Jun 29, 2005
Posts: 487
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I mix the sludge with fusion, love it!!
I do not love fosterfire, it always causes bubbles in my glass, nothing seems to change that.
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