Like many people who work with Polymer, I eagerly was awaiting this publication by the very talented Mr Diffendaffer. I was not disappointed.
This book seeks to take many artists outside of the normal practices of hand rolling and creating beads, by using small lathes and mandrels to form and shape a huge variety of beads.
Starting with the obligatory Essential Tools section, - ho hum I here you say...not so, I guarantee that you will find items here that you either don't have, or had not considered using even if you had them. I have dapping blocks that I use for metalwork, but had relied on plastic moulds to create shape, I had not considered using my dapping block before!
The pictures are excellent, hard pressed to make a mistake in the projects and he is very clear in his intructions. Of course he covers Mica Shift, one of the techniques he is well known for. I enjoyed all the sections, from the Pearlized Mica Clay Beads through to Textured Beads, Lathe-Turned, Recursvice molded Beads, Hollow Form and Mandrel Formed Beads.
This lovely book finishes with a stunning gallery of the "masters" - Dustin,Fago,Toops,Dever,Wallin Malinow and Cormier are a sample. Thank you for producing a "different" book on this wonderful medium.