BeaDreamer! (Patent Pending)

Instructions for use

Before using your new tool, please read and follow all of the safety precautions and instructions below to help ensure the best performance and longest life of your tool, and a safe and enjoyable experience.

Always wear protective safety eye wear and clothing.

Always inspect Beadreamer for damage, bent shaft, burrs or debris adhering to shaft or collet before chucking it, or using it. Fully chuck the bit, then pull out about 1/16 - 1/8 inch. It should not “bottom out.”.

Never use a bent,damaged, or misaligned tool. Operating such a tool at any speed can be dangerous, and may result in severe injury. There is always risk with any tool at any speed, but you can minimize it.

Be safe, and prolong the life of your tool! The rated maximum speed for Beadreamer is 20,000 RPM. Operation at speeds higher than this may cause excessive vibration, damage the bit and / or rotary tool, and increase risk of injury. 8000 RPM or below, or even down to the very low RPM of cordless drills (600 – 1200) will give excellent results and is recommended. In a couple of seconds cleaning time, you can spin your bit 40,000 times, or 4,000 times, with essentially the same results , but your expensive bit will experience much less wear and tear at the lower speed. The Dremel Mini Mite is an excellent tool for your Beadreamer at 6500 RPM. If you use a larger Dremel, always use LOW SPEEDS.
Beadreamer should always be used with plenty of water lubrication. Using it dry will greatly degrade performance, drastically shorten the life of the tool, and increase the chance of binding, and injury. Use of a nonabrasive bead release is recommended. (See Section on Bead Release.)
Use a battery operated tool rather than a line operated one, to reduce the risk of electrical shock when working around water.
Never leave the tool in water. Electrochemical interaction of the nickel bonded diamond surface, the steel shaft and the aluminum collet will cause corrosion and damage if left wet.

Description and mode of operation

This tool operates differently from other tools such as points and files, which you may have used in the past. The proper motion is straight in and straight out. The guide section of the reamer is precisely the size of the uncleaned hole, so it guides the bit true as the cutting progresses. The diameter of the finishing section is slightly larger, just enough to remove the bead release plus approximately .001 to .003 in. of glass, leaving a clean, smooth surface, typically in a single pass. To give you a feel for these small dimensions, a piece of typing paper is .005 (5/1000) inch thick. The flutes (flat area on the finishing section of the 3/32 tool ) help to allow the water to flush the grindings away during the operation, which would otherwise cause binding, and build up between the glass and the diamond surface, preventing efficient cutting. The 1/16 is not fluted.

Reaming procedure

Insert the shaft into the chuck or collet of your rotary tool. Tighten it, and turn the tool on low speed. Carefully watch the tip of the tool. You should see it spinning perfectly true, with no circular wobbling, called "runout". If it looks blurry, then skip to the section on alignment below. Excessive runout must be eliminated for proper and safe operation. Check it again at medium speed as well.

Keep bit and bead wet, under water. Start the tool at low speed. Insert the guide tip into the bead. Start the diamond section slowly and gently into the bead. Don't force the tool to progress faster than it is cutting, or it may bind in the hole, spinning the bead. You will feel the tool advance at its own rate with just a slight push.

With fluted versions (3/32 and 5/64,) simply continue until all the way through.

With unfluted versions, (1/16:) On long marvered beads, like bicones, it's advisable to go in from one end a short way, (1/8 inch or so) initially. Then turn the bead around and finish the cut from the other end. This is not absolutely necessary, but prevents the very real possibility of chipping the back end out due to the very large forces generated by unflushed fines as the bit exits the back edge of the bead. You will feel this force build up every 1/8 inch or so, preventing further advance. You need to push in about 1/8 inch, retract slightly, push again, retract, until through. With smaller round beads, you can do it all in one direction, but be gentle. Be sure you're cutting as fast as you're pushing it through. When the front of the cutting portion advances fully through the bead, you'll feel a sudden slight drop in resistance. You're done at this point. There is normally no need to wiggle, or ream up and down the shaft. You will only reduce the quality of the perfect hole you've just made! Rinse the bead and bit and inspect the hole. It should be perfectly clean, smooth, straight, and cylindrical. If not, see the Troubleshooting and bead release sections below.

Troubleshooting

If there are any specks of bead release in the hole, the bead release was grainy when applied, which causes pitting in the glass. They are below the surface of the normal sized hole. Another thing you may see is a line or patch of bead release on one side of the hole. The best way to prevent these problems is when you dip your mandrels. In general, you want your bead release coating on the mandrel as thin, symmetrical, and smooth as practical, so the tool gets it all in one shot. If you find any of the above spots of bead release remaining in the hole, your release is still too thick or uneven and / or grainy for the tool to operate at optimum efficiency. It is the diameter of your dipped mandrel that ultimately determines the hole size, and allows one shot cleaning. The method outlined below will ensure this happens very close to 100% of the time.

Bead Release

There are many good abrasive and nonabrasive releases. They're are all great for their intended purpose. Aluminum Hydroxide, or Alumina Hydrate, (kiln wash) turns to aluminum oxide in the torch at 400 deg. F. It is a hard grinding compound. Many release brands contain this material. If you really like yours, use it, but just be aware that the Beadreamer is a fine finishing tool. I know some people use these compounds with their tool, and don't have complaints. They may shorten tool life, but it is still acceptable to them, so I leave it to you to decide. Always use plenty of water lubrication. Bur Life from Rio Grande may help as well.

Any non-abrasive bead release is best. I get excellent results with Sludge Plus (Arrow Springs) watered down considerably, until it is as thin as cream. You want a coating that is thinner than the Diamond coating on the reamer after firing. Draw the mandrels out slowly, about one second for a three inch dip. If thin enough, it will not form a bulb or thicken at the end of the mandrel. You can flame dry it at the back of the flame, no problem, just hold it in the back to let it dry without boiling before firing it. Sludge Plus is very strong in the torch when thinned this way. Beads will come off the mandrel fairly easily, too.

Alignment

If misalignment is present, either the collet or chuck is worn, the bit is misaligned in the collet, there is dirt or corrosion either in or behind the collet, or underneath the collet nut (cap,) the tool is bent, the shaft of the rotary tool is bent, or the bearing of the rotary tool is worn out. Determine the source of the problem before proceeding, replacing the collet if necessary with a new one. Try turning the bit in the collet ¼ turn. Often, turning the collet in the shaft ¼ turn helps even more, since slight eccentricity in the collet and rotary shaft can either cancel, or add, as the collet is turned in its socket. Avoid over or under tightening the collet or chuck. Be sure you have the right size collet. The 3/32 has 3 rings on the collet tube. The 1/16 has 2 rings. The 1/8 has none. Mini Mites ship with a 1/8 only, so you'll need to buy a 3/32. A 1/8 may seem OK on the 3/32 bit, but it may not center correctly, and will probably slip eventually. If you are unable to correct the situation with a new BeaDreamer after trying all of the above, check the rotary tool with another bit you know to be straight. The bit may have been damaged in shipment or manufacture. Please contact the seller for help or instructions to return it for repair or replacement within the warranty period.