Mandrels
From Furnace to Flame: A Journey In Glass
Wound beads are made by winding the class onto a mandrel. The first mandrels I used, I bought, but now I make most of my mandrels from tigrod. I cut them to length with a cut of wheel. I use stainless steel for mandrels. I did experiment with steel mandrels but they became pitted and seemed to not let go of the bead when the time comes. I have also made a Norse style tapered mandrel from an old screw driver. The size of the mandrel or position on the taper determine the perforation size of the bead.
Before the glass is wound onto the mandrel, it is coated with clay called bead release to prevent the glass from joining with the steel. At the moment, I have been using store bought bead release, though, in the past I have made my own.
When my mandrels end their usefulness, they get made into pins, hair sticks, and hat pins. I try hard to not produce more waste than I have to.
