Tool Tut

Rakes and Combs

Traditionally, rakes for marbling have teeth that are widely spaced and combs have teeth that are narrowly spaced.  For each size tray that you marble in, a new set of tools to fit needs to be constructed.  Here is an easy way to make combs and rakes for all of your marbling projects.

Need:

Plastic lengths:    These are actually corner bead for drywall, but with conveniently placed holes perfect for marbling tools! 

The corner bead is available at big box home improvement stores in the drywall aisle.  It comes in 8,’  10′ & 12′ sections. 

Hint:  bring a pair of scissors to cut the lengths to get them into your vehicle!

Picks:   These are brush hair roller plastic picks available in packs of 100 at beauty supply stores.   

Scissors:    Kitchen shears or decent scissors.  Lesser scissors have been broken!

Pliers:    Optional.  If your hand strength is not good,  the pliers will be helpful.

You want pairs of rakes to go in both directions of your tray–  horizontally and vertically. 

Rakes need some “wiggle” room to complete some marbling moves.  If not the correct length, the plastic can be trimmed with scissors.

You want a pair of combs to go in both directions of the tray, also.  Combs should fit snugly inside the tray with hardly any “wiggle” room.

Cut four pairs of the white plastic lengths–  one long and one short to fit vertically & horizontally in your marbling tray. 

Any decent pair of scissors will should cut through the plastic drywall bead fairly easily.  

Start at an end & push a pick down through the coordinating top hole next to the bend and pull out through the bottom hole.  Use  pliers if necessary to help pull the pick through the holes.

Then:

Count 5 holes and repeat the process on the 6^th hole.  Repeat all across both plastic lengths.  These are your wide rakes.

Choose a second pair of future rakes.  Repeat the process with only 3 holes between picks.  These are your medium rakes.

Choose a third pair and repeat the process with only 2 holes between picks.  You now have a small rake pair.

Select a fourth pair and repeat the process picking every hole.  These are your combs.

The last plastic length will wait for another time!

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