I’ve been thinking for the last little while that i need a bigger  press so on impulse i ordered this crunch-style press.  It finally arrived last week and wow, is it ever HUGE!!!  I have absolutely no idea what on earth i’m going to do with it, it just seemed like the right approximate size for whatever direction my creative muse is heading next…

Now, I’m not usually a fan of bead presses (I own quite a few and find most too restrictive) but this is the third Cattwalk crunch i’ve purchased –  i find this particular style of bead press is flexible enough to work with my rather free form style of beadmaking.  The crunches allow me to press a bead into an overall curve with nicely tapered sides that i can then convert to whatever shape or size appeals to me.  It would be hard to duplicate that shape with the flame alone…

I bet it would take at least three of four rods (if not more) to completely fill this beast…  When i finally get around to making a bead, it’s going to be a whopper!