Guru Jig
I’ve been following the Mala saga over at RTTC. Now it’s time for me to dive in an attempt my first Mala. I will follow the instructions as closely as I can with one exception – the Guru bead.
I am taking a lesson from my grandfather; “when working with odd shaped pieces of wood or needing to repeat a task many times, use a jig.” I think this is a perfect time to heed my grandfather’s advice – especially in light of the Mala instructions warning …
The guru bead needs to have three holes in it. The third hole at the top is used to channel the Mala cord straight up through to the tassel. It?s difficult to find three-holed beads .. So ? I make my own with the tools available to me.
This is a dangerous way to make a guru bead. There?s probably a much better and safer way to do it. I include this next section only as a record of how I have made them. Don?t let kids do this by themselves.
I think making a Guru bead is a great idea. The dremel or a small drill is the right tool for the job. I just don’t trust myself. Given how small an 8mm or 10mm bead is, I am nervous about holding the bead with the pliers – both for the safety of the bead and of my fingers.
My solution – as of yet untested – is a jig that will hold various sized beads. The jig pictured here has a conical pocket in the center, bisected by a grove. A small wire or strait paperclip is passed through the hole in the bead, then the bead is dropped into the conical pocket with the paperclip resting in the slot.
If all goes as planned, the bead will stay in the conical pocket and the paperclip will prevent it from rotating when the dremel / drill is applied.
The jig is pictured on the left. The paperclip is resting across the top. The picture on the right is a close-up of the conical pocket in the center of the jig. You can see the bisecting slot goes almost to the bottom. The “cone” is large enough to accommodate beads from 6mm up to 20mm.
The jig is a bit crude but my entire workshop is in storage 500 miles away and I only have a few hand tools at my disposal. So I have made do. Also, I should point out that the jig is black for no good reason other than I stumbled across a can of spray paint shortly after completing the jig. I may regret it if the pain ends up transferring to the beads. If this jig were just for my own purposes, I would have left it unfinished.
Update: I appear to be the last stop for the delivery woman and/or the holidays are really taking their toll – UPS arrived at 6:45pm ! (Plus it’s cold out side and the van is all metal. It can’t be much fun. Anyway, the beads arrived so I took two 12mm Old Palmwood beads and set out to test the jig.
The jig works as expected. The dremel – when on high – vibrates the bead a bit so I will likely line the conical pocket with a thin rubber layer. The through-hole in the 12mm bead is unnoticeable larger in diameter than a paperclip. I think the perfect match is the wire handle to a Chinese take-out box. Guess what I’m having for dinner this weekend ? <grin> Here is the jig ready for use and an “action” shot (but the flash froze the action <bummer>). The jig holds the bead so well, it was easy to have a free hand for the camera.
![500x_2009-04-04_162054[1]](http://thesalmonfarm.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/500x_20090404_1620541_thumb.jpg)
I just knew that you would lend some excellent improvements to this project! I am very interested to see how things come out.
When I read your instructions I had the idea for this jig. I just had to bite my tongue until I could scrounge enough tools to make it. I should have some 10mm beads arriving on the 7th and will give it a try and report back.
Yes, I am also waiting with bated breath. (But that could just be the chorizo and black bean soup I made for dinner tonight.)
hmmm. …. black bean soup …. yummy …. OH. Wait. I’m supposed to be writing about the guru Jig.
I like the jig. I will drill the conical pocket a little deeper and if I can find something suitable, I will line it with a thin layer of rubber. It works great “as-is” but I’m a perfectionist (not really but I do like to make good things better.)
Only problem is it is so easy and fun to use, I could end up with way more Guru beads than I will have Malas in need of them.
Such an elegant solution. I think your idea of a deeper hole and a rubber liner is key, exspecialy (which is much different from ESpecially) if the bead is vibrating in the jig. What did you cut the slot for the wire with? Do you think a piece of bicycle inner tube would be a good liner or something thinner?
Very cool. I’ll have to make one now. O’course it’ll take some of the excitement and danger out of Mala making – but it’s probably best in the long run. One can only tempt the Dremel gods so much before mayhem ensues.
You provide the improvements and I’ll do my best to introduce random distractions…
@5 – I think rubber inner tube material will be too thick. However, you idea has me curious if there are bicycle spokes with a small enough gauge to act as the “holder” rod. For the rubber material, I am thinking of cutting up one of those ‘very inexpesive’ rubber jar lid opener chachkies. I’ll have to just look around and see what I find. I’m limited a bit by my options for drilling the conical pocket – I only have one size tool for that job at the moment. If I could make it any size, then the bicycle inner tube material would be perfect.
@6 – what is the man in the third row, second seat from the left, doing ?
back@cha – Why, surfing, of course!
Oh, and you might try a piece of bathing cap for the rubber liner. The cheap ones they sell in drugstores would do the trick. Or would a thick coat of Hard as Nails or shellac work?
Mother has the answer – the material from a house cleaning rubber glove ! I’ll pick up a pair today.
Does anyone know of a source for stone guru/finial beads, e.g., black onyx, etc.? Thank you in advance for your reply.
@11 – check out the following post over at RTTC. It talks about a new Mala. The maker appears to use a variety of beads for spacers, Guru, and tube.
http://returntothecenter.typepad.com/the_center/2008/03/new-mala-arrive.html
Guru bead or mala bead the one has 3 holes in it, you can buy them from http://www.potalagate.com/prayer bead/guru bead
good luck