I got this one and the Charmcaster from Shimmer Hollow! First is this one. Again, I’m not affiliated with the brand in any way, I just love taking things apart.
It makes a pretty good glass bead (2 coats of EDM Empty Within, magnetized for one minute each, no top coat) but I have a few thoughts.
The magnets are actually visible, which was nice because it meant I didn’t really have to break it to have a look at them. This is their ‘Velvet’ magnet puck, which they advised was good for glass bead. I don’t disagree, it worked pretty well.
However. The screw that holds the puck is a little too long, which means that the gear on top (which you are spinning) tends to wobble and want to come out. This means that the puck can spin slower or even come to a stop as you’re trying to spin it. I wasn’t able to get it to spin for more than a second or two, largely because there is a LOT of internal friction (it’s all plastic on plastic).
I can’t say anything about how long this would or wouldn’t hold up, but the interchangeable puck is an interesting idea. It means you can get lots of looks with one base, as long as you have a couple of the pucks. The one I got also does velvet nails, but we’re looking for a glass bead tool, not a velvet one.
It’s also louder than the 5d one, probably because of the larger surface area of plastic on plastic. The top gear also has a lot of spikes, which make it easier to grip and spin, but does hurt when you spin it (which is pretty constantly). The magnets are bar magnets, but they’re not very big (about the same thickness as the cherryhill spinner). I suspect they were glued in.
If I had to rate it out of 10, I’d give it a 4. Does the job, could be better, but works ok. Tomorrow is the Shimmer Hollow one, and I have another one from SJ 3Designs coming in still.
by JillianBth
3 Comments
aaaaa i was just checking to see if you had updated this series and you just posted!
really looking forward to the shimmerhollow one and if you end up making a rating tierlist or something for all the different contraptions. i tried the cherry hill one and was pretty disappointed by the friction despite really liking the idea of the hole design to center the bead. i eagerly await to see if you have any favorites (fingers crossed it’s one with bearings)!
Neat to see a review of this! I wonder if it’d be any better with their extension doohicky, since that one is more slide-up-and-down than just spinning the wheel by hand. Or if there’s any way beyond something like wd40 to decrease the friction?
They have some different tools that are meant to help secure the puck. I haven’t tested mine enough yet to see if I have a problem with the screw length, but I’ll get the add ons and test then when I can