1mm Mandrel

I wondered if it might be possible to make beads on a smaller mandrel and when I was visiting my friend Sally Carver she had already used some 1mm mandrels and offered to get some for me.

My first attempt was a bit tricky as I found the end of the mandrel to be a bit bendy. So I came up with the bright idea of cutting the mandrel down and attaching it to a 2mm mandrel. The question was how. My OH came up the idea of using a electrical connector, so this was born:

It works quite well and the brass connector seems to survive the kiln process fine.

I didn't have much time to do any torching last night so I didn't put the kiln on and just made some spacers.