FosterFire Bead Release

jesnbec73 · #1 2024-03-14, 12:36pm

My wife grabbed a tub of this stuff the last time we went to the glass place and I didn't see it until we got home. Not sure what is going on with it, but I stirred it up and if I look at it funny, it cracks on me. I tried flame drying it, and it doesn't seem to matter how slow I take it, it cracks. I made a couple of spacers to see what happens when it does dry and got spinners...
I've got about ten mandrels in the studio that are air drying now that I'm going to see if they do any better but I've got a feeling it's going to be a crap shoot with this stuff. Should I dump it down the sink and try to revive my twenty year old sludge, or is there some magic spell I can wrought on this stuff? Is it just a matter of air drying it? I wanted to get the blue sludge but didn't want to scold her for buying the wrong brand, I think it was the only release they had at the time.

echeveria · #2 2024-03-14, 2:32pm

Robin Foster is a member here, so ask her about it. She can probably help you troubleshoot it. Lots of people use it; it is a good product. Her forum name is FosterFire

jesnbec73 · #3 2024-03-15, 2:14am

Thanks! I sent her a PM this morning. I'm going to be training the wife this summer and want her to have as smooth an experience as possible. It's been a LONG time since I've made beads, but one thing I do remember is that stuck beads are a heart breaker.

KJohn · #4 2024-03-15, 11:21am

So are spinners! I had spinners all day yesterday and finally quit. ugh

You can reconstitute your sludge. I love sludge. I mix mine with various things and sometimes it takes fine tuning, but the key is to really REALLY mix it well. and then tap on the table to get the bubbles out. And dip more mandrels than you need......LOL

SGA · #5 2024-03-16, 8:12pm

Love Fosterfire. It’s one of the consistent products out there. I’ve used several and it doesn’t matter how good they are, if I try to flame dry, and overwork it or abuse it… it cracks.

echeveria · #6 2024-03-16, 9:34pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by SGA

Love Fosterfire. It’s one of the consistent products out there. I’ve used several and it doesn’t matter how good they are, if I try to flame dry, and overwork it or abuse it… it cracks.

Agree! I am not a fan of flame drying.

SGA · #7 2024-03-16, 11:21pm

Since it’s been years since you made beads, is it possible you are lifting or dragging the glass across the release when you’re laying your footprint? If the bead is cool, and your rod is stuck and you pull, it will also break.

jesnbec73 · #8 2024-03-18, 7:22am

I had about ten mandrels, five of which I tried to flame dry really gently, and they cracked before I got to put any glass on them. The other five I let air dry until the next day, and they actually turned out alright. I had one of those that cracked on me while making the bead, not sure what went wrong with that one but the release cracked towards the tip of the mandrel but it didn't get as far as the glass so the bead came off alright.

Looks like air drying is the way to go with this stuff, even the most gentle flame drying seemed to make it extremely brittle and I couldn't flame dry it all without issues. The air dried ones all came off really easy. I was also able to reconstitute the ancient jug of sludge I had, it literally took a couple days to do it, but it flame dried just fine.