Sunday, March 19, 2017

Testing 1,2... Support Spindle Bowls, Diz or Worry Stone Beads????

   Well, I had an idea. But I don't know if it was a good idea, or one of those ones I should have ignored. Ha, too late, I already got involved. But I have questions and plenty of them! All of these are also beads, so they can be worn or hung when not in use.

   Are either of these styles good for a support spindle bowl? I showed them to some spinning friends and they seemed to like the smaller, deeper indentation that's in the wee fishie~ it's about 3/8 in. in diameter; the tip of my pinkie fits it perfectly. That's a little easier for me to do, so that would be a good thing. The larger indentations tend to have concentric circle impressions inside them- chill marks from the cool tool touching the warm glass. Does that make them a 'no' for support spindles? I have seen a couple of folks making similar pieces; I wonder what they're using to indent the glass!

   Also, they all need to be on a no skid surface. And they are on the small side- about 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 inches. The spindles spin on the fish particularly nicely, but when you actually attempt to use them as support spindle bowls, will they stay in place or not? Boy do I need a tester!

   Does it make sense to add a wee diz to them, or is the diz bit too smooth to work? The diz holes are about 1/4 inch- is that a sensible size?

   If nothing else, they are great to use as worry stones!

2 comments:

Sue C said...

I was searching for a glass or ceramic spindle bowl online this evening and came across your blog post. Your fish immediately caught my eye! It is adorable.

To answer a couple of your questions, the size of the depression can be somewhat variable, as long as the spindle the spinner wants to use is able to spin freely in the depression. Including the size for the depression in the item description would help a spinner decide if the bowl would work for them. In my experience, don't think the concentric circles you described in the larger depressions would be a problem for most spinners, as the weight of the spindle will naturally make it move to the center of the depression. A 1/4" inch diz hole is about the largest I would want, because that size hole will actually let a LOT of fiber through, I rarely use a diz with a hole bigger than 1/16" (but that's just me). Another consideration is that I have often been told (and find it to be true) that the best dizes are concave on one side. And also the edges of the hole must be very smooth, even rounded, so they do not snag the fiber.

As far as the bottom surface, the glass spindle bowl I purchased a few years ago has little rubber feet glued to the bottom, as well as arriving with a small, cut to fit, piece of rubber shelf liner in the package. It works great for several of my "slippy" bowls and I now carry a piece in each of my spindle cases, just in case.

I love your idea of making them as beads that could be worn. i would wear it gladly and really enjoy it.

glassbead, isinglass design said...

Oh, Sue~ thank you so much for this info! I have a tester lined up, but haven't been able to meet with her yet.