Using Dip-n-Go Sludge Ultra™ Mandrel Release

Dip-n-Go Sludge Ultra™ mandrel release gives superior holding strength to the tugging and twisting rigors of even the most aggressive beadmaker, yet the bead easily twists off when it cools, when it is applied and heated properly. It can also be flame dried directly after dipping.

Over decades, Sludge mandrel release has evolved to become better and better, until finally becoming the ULTIMATE mandrel release. Hence the name: Dip-n-Go Sludge Ultra™.

 Coating the Mandrel

To coat the mandrel evenly, we recommend the following procedures: shake the tightly sealed mandrel release container until thoroughly mixed. Hold the end of the mandrel loosely between your finger and thumb. Dip the mandrel into the release and then pull it out. Holding the mandrel this way helps ensure that it will go straight in and straight out and make a round coating. If the mandrel is withdrawn at an angle, the coating may have a ridge down its length. For a thicker coating, the action of dipping the mandrel quickly causes the release to coat thicker. To coat the mandrel even thicker, quickly and continuously dip the mandrel in and out several times. The more you repeat a fast dip, the thicker the coating. This is better than dipping, drying and then dipping again. For a thinner coating, lifting the mandrel slowly from the mandrel release applies a thinner coat. A mandrel with a very thin coating is harder to remove from the bead if the mandrel is bent.

Optionally, you can also turn the mandrel around and gently tap the end opposite the dipped end on the table surface. This gives the coating a very nice, smooth surface. Repeat tapping will make the coating run down the mandrel, making the coating thinner and thinner.

Turn the mandrel back around and vertically place it in a holder to dry for later use or proceed to flame drying. A container filled with sand works well as well as a board with holes.

 

The most important part of using Dip-n-Go Sludge Ultra™ is how you heat it.

The greatest feature of Dip-n-Go Sludge Ultra™ is, when heated properly, and kept hot, it is very strong during the rigors of making a bead and it becomes very weak when it becomes cool, enabling the bead to easily be removed.

There are two types of water in mandrel releases. free water and bound water. Free water is what you see. It is what air dries or is driven off when you first put a freshly dipped mandrel in the flame. The second type of water is bound water. Driving off the bound water is what causes the mandrel release to become weak after it cools, and only after it cools.

 

Drying the mandrel release

Adjust the flame to be gentle and slightly reduced (lacking in oxygen). Near the end of the flame, move the mandrel, where the coating is, slowly back and forth while rotating, until the free water is driven out. The mandrel release should look light gray. Remove the mandrel from the flame and adjust it to a proper neutral flame to proceed. At this point, you have two directions to go.

 

Method 1

The first is to immediately apply glass to the mandrel release for a strong bond that will also be a fairly strong bond after it has cooled and you are removing the glass. This might be good for you while making cabochons, which can sometimes be difficult to keep the mandrel release hot all the time.

 

Method 2

The second, and usually preferred method, is to heat up the area that glass will be applied to, to a dull red for about half a second. This will drive out the bound water. However, if the mandrel release is allowed to cool too much, it will become weak. Therefore, it is extremely important you do exactly this: heat up the mandrel release to drive off the free water, heat up the glass that will be applied to the mandrel to the point that it is ready to apply, THEN heat up the mandrel release to a dull red temperature, for a half second, where the glass will go and immediately apply the glass. Following this procedure is what prevents the mandrel release from becoming weak before we want it to. Not heating the mandrel release outside the area where the glass is to a dull red helps prevent it from coming off while working, because it remains strong. Proper beadmaking techniques will always keep the mandrel release hot enough, under the glass, to remain strong while you are working. While it takes a bit to write all of this out, in reality, this procedure only takes moments and quickly becomes routine.

 

Tips and Trouble Shooting

If you are making a very long bead, perhaps two or three inches long, you may find it difficult to keep the entire bead properly hot. Typically, what happens is that while you are heating one end of the bead in the flame the other end is getting too cool. Of course, the mandrel release is also getting too cool. Besides the bead possibly breaking from uneven heat stress, you might find that the mandrel release has also cooled so much and that it may give way while you are still working. To remedy this problem, only heat the mandrel release to dull red for a half second where it will be in the central part of the long bead. Near the bead holes where the mandrel release never became red hot, the mandrel release will be strong while hot and stay fairly strong even if it gets too cool. This procedure will make the bead only slightly harder to remove from the mandrel, but will ensure success.

 

 If a bead is difficult to remove form the mandrel, you most likely did not get the coating hot enough or you chipped the mandrel release and the glass stuck directly to the steel mandrel.

 

If the bead spins off while you are making it, you probably did get the mandrel red hot, but then it became too cool before applying glass to it or you allowed the glass to get cooler than it should, which would make the mandrel release also get too cool.

 

If bubbles appear in the glass near the mandrel release, the mandrel release was probably not dried thoroughly.

 

Another great thing about Dip-n-Go Sludge Ultra™!

It does not get old even if it becomes completely dry. Water, stirring and vigorous shaking will reconstitute it.

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