Mashers, is there really a difference?

[Eileen]

I see such a variety of mashers, and I think I need to get a pair, but which style? Right now I just use my marver, press down on it to flatten the side, or ice tongs if I am ok with a little curve.

Do you have a favorite type? Have you tried the parallel ones, and if so, is there a large difference?

[LyndaJ]

Depends what you want them to do and how big you work.

I use the little ones, ~1" on 8" tweezers for mostly sculptural, and some small murrini/twisties

I have another small set 1" pad on plier bases, but I don't really use those.

I have a larger pair, that are parallel with a 2" (I think) pad that I use often, for larger gathers, making square beads, etc. I got them from Kris here at LE a year or two ago. I LOVE them.

I used to have a pair of the parallel BBQ style mashers, but I don't really work that big, and they're really heavy for me.

[Mountain Snail]

I have the big bbq mashers from arrow springs and the mini mashers. I only use the mini mashers for opening my kiln door when it is too hot to touch.

[Eileen]

Hmmm, thank you both, I need to keep looking at masher pictures & picturing the size and my normal glass size, etc. I think.

[LyndaJ]

I don't really use mashers for final bead shaping though. I use Cattwalk's crunch presses for bead squishing.

I've also seen lots of posts from people using something called (I think) a tabulator. It accommodates different sizes creating flat even squishing.

[Eileen]

I was thinking more of just general keeping it in line stuff. I watched the live feed of making a murrini today, and he used his to keep it in shape as he was working. Looked like it worked well.

[nancyinvermont]

I just love the one called Totally Parallel Masher (TP Masher) It really is totally parallel and the way it's made, with the cross-pieces that operate the mashing mechanism, makes it so easy to use. Love, love!

Nancy

[PerfectDeb]

I got those ones in the ad there <- the jumbo mashers and the flat ones

http://www.gracefulcustoms.com/

I love the curved ones

[neagle]

I bought the TP mashers and had to return them-they were not totally parallel and one side of the bead would be fatter than the other. I thought they were too expensive not to work correctly. YMMV. I finally settled on Coon Valley mashers-I always have success with it and love it.

[nancyinvermont]

Oh, Nina, that's too bad your TP masher didn't work properly. Maybe i was just lucky, then, with mine. I thought it was such a good idea, in theory. But you're right, it was a pricey tool.

Nancy

[Angie09]

I have the TP masher and LOVE it! I would certainly be bummed if it wasn't parallel though ... hence the name TP = Totally Parallel! Mine were from Arrow Springs a couple of years ago though so maybe the new ones are as good??

[neagle]

Hi Nancy and Angie,
I was totally bummed! I'm not sure if I got one that was a "lemon", because I heard from many people that it was great.

Anyway, I ended up with the Coon Valley masher, which works really well for me. Also, I have a 2" plate plier masher also.

I'm glad the TP mashers worked for you guys.

[Lisi]

Oh yes...there is a difference! For me, the handhelds will never get the evenly flattened beads like I can get with the Coon Valley masher. I put mine on top of a can so I can see better at eye level when I do the mashing. You can find him on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Bead-Press-4-Mas...item23122d3743

This tool is aluminum so that's lighter than the one I have, which would be good. Mine is brass and I bought it years ago.

[Angie09]

Originally Posted by Lisi

Oh yes...there is a difference! For me, the handhelds will never get the evenly flattened beads like I can get with the Coon Valley masher.

Lisi ... can you explain why please.

[Lisi]

Originally Posted by Angie09

Lisi ... can you explain why please.

Well, being human, it'a all too easy to move just a little in the wrong direction and mash unevenly. With the masher on a level surface and the pins that hold the upper half perfectly straight, I get them evenly flattened about 95% of the time. If I don't it's because I wasn't watching to make sure the mandrel was horizontal along with a smooth follow to the pressing down.

It depends on the user. Maybe some people have hands that don't shake as much as mine do. It is just what works best for me, and I threw the suggestion out there for others that don't like their handheld masher results.

[RyanTheNumberImp]

You can make almost any shape in glass given enough patience, even without tools.

I find that most mashers work well enough, if they don't close parallel you can mash from several directions to even it out. After fire polishing you are never going to get a 100% flat surface anyways. The marver is always available for flattening as well.

I would never say no to more tools, but would consider a stump shaper or tweezers before mashers.

[Lisi]

Mashers that don't close parallel drive me batty. If I have to press the beads more than once it heightens my chance of permanently marring the surface. Not with all glass but quite a few of them and especially the beads with frit. Some types of glass and frit will mess up with the first press, so those I won't make pressed beads with again. Firepolishing does not get the tiny pits out most of the time.

If it's a type of glass and/or frit that doesn't pit too badly once pressed or marvered, I will etch these beads and then that completely covers up the tiny surface flaws. I mean....no bead is perfect, but several years ago I did have a customer send back beads that had the tiniest little pits (bubbles) in the frit surface near the holes. I've been paranoid about those little bitty pits ever since, so I don't sell beads that have them. Paranoid yes, even though she was a wacko buyer that constantly sends beads back for refunds which is what several other bead sellers (LE members) told me about her. lol

Truthfully, 99.9% of all customers are not going to care if a handmade lampwork bead has a very tiny little surface pit or bubble or two. But if any of mine have more than just a couple of those teeny tiny flaws and I can't etch them, I save them for the wonky bin.

[GlassGalore]

I use the aluminum Coon Valley masher almost exclusively now. The tong-style ones I have do not close parallel so one side of the bead is thicker than the other, and reheating to remash in the opposite direction just never quite works out right. The CV masher makes a beautiful, flat press every time and can be adjusted to different thicknesses with the included spacers or home-grown adjustments of your choice. (i.e. washers etc...)

[flaming_fools]

Originally Posted by PerfectDeb

I got those ones in the ad there <- the jumbo mashers and the flat ones

http://www.gracefulcustoms.com/

I love the curved ones

Have to go with Deb here - we use the "roll about" jumbo all the time. is so much easier to use than any of the presses we have. a very graceful curve to the resulting bead, and not just a flat surface.

[neagle]

Originally Posted by GlassGalore

I use the aluminum Coon Valley masher almost exclusively now. The tong-style ones I have do not close parallel so one side of the bead is thicker than the other, and reheating to remash in the opposite direction just never quite works out right. The CV masher makes a beautiful, flat press every time and can be adjusted to different thicknesses with the included spacers or home-grown adjustments of your choice. (i.e. washers etc...)

This. Only mine is brass, but it doesn't make a difference. It mashes PERFECTLY. Every time.

[Eileen]

Thank you all for the suggestions. I try to space out my supply purchases, but I've now got some great ideas for the next time I whip out that credit card to get some.