Since I'm a sucker for anything from Tiffany House, I went ahead and bought the electric bead cleaner. I had noticed my hands getting very sore during epic bead-cleaning sessions and I thought it would be time for a little help. I also assumed this reamer would be more user-friendly for this specific application, cleaning beads.
It turns out I was absolutely correct in my assumption! This is a tool that I used very, very briefly before I realized I could no longer live without it.
Here's a picture of it in the box:
And out of the box:
It comes with the reamer, adapter and cord, an insert and four diamond bits.
There is plenty good to say about this baby! First of all, it has a touch-sensitive motor, so if your fingers slip and grasp the end or if the end gets stuck in a bead, the motor will stop turning. This prevents injury from a spinning reamer and from flying beads. If nothing else, this feature alone makes it worth getting -- the safety factor cannot be overstated here.
I also loved the adjustable speeds on the adapter:
This allows you to adjust the setting from gentle to high-powered. Mine is set at 7.5 which is about in the middle and which gives PLENTY of torque to get those bead holes cleaned!
The polarity switch adjusts the direction of the spin, which is a consideration. This is the only drawback to this tool; if it spins one way you get fine splatters all over your shirt and if it spins the other way you get fine splatters all over your family. Wear an apron when you use this tool.
The only difficulty I encountered was trying to change the inserts and the heads. Here is what you do: Press the silver button on the side of the reamer and turn the metal collar by hand (the collar is where the ends are inserted) until you feel the button click.
Here my thumb is covering the button (yeah, I know, I know) and I have to use my other hand to operate the camera rather than grasp the metal collar, but hopefully this photo gives you a rough idea of what I mean. The metal button is visible in the next two pictures.
So, you've pressed the button, turned the collar and heard the click. While still pressing the button, unscrew the collar and remove:
Next, you pull out the insert (and there's that metal button):
Put in the new insert, put in your tip of choice, and screw the collar back on, holding that metal button again:
Once the collar feels tightly screwed on, you're good to go!
You won't have to do this very often. I found one insert seems to work for most of the heads.
Remember to USE WATER AT ALL TIMES while using this tool. Soak your beads in a bucket of water and dip the diamond bit into the water, NOT the whole tool. Lift out slightly and ream. If you have a lot of bead release or a large hole, you can ream it under the water as well; just don't get anything but the bit wet. The tool can handle splatters but not full immersion.
This tool is a must-have if you are a beadmaker. I like the safety aspect of the stoppable motor as well as the adjustable speed.
Happy cleaning!
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