Make Handmade Glass Beads

The technique and technology of making home made glass beads is considered as one of the oldest creative hobbies of humans.  Egyptian faience beads are glass-like beads which come from a sort of clay bead that has a self-forming vitreous coating.  They are perhaps the earliest beads found from the ancient Egyptians.  In some cultures, glass objects were reserved for royalty and owning a glass object was closely related to owning other luxurious objects. 

What are glass beads anyway?  Glass beads are beads made of glass.  They’re sometimes called lamp work beads.  This type of bead can be poured into moulds, cut and polished as pretend gemstones, and can be stretched and pulled into any shape you need.  These beads can be easy or ornamental depending on the artist’s preference.  Different kinds of glass and colors are used and played with to create the desired look.  Before you start to make your own beads and finish up with a bowl full of different types of beads all mixed up, take some time to learn How to Organize Your Beading Stuffs. 

The first thing to do before using the torch and other dangerous tools for glass bead making is learn some Safety Tips in Jewelry Making.  These tools can be awfully dangerous not only to you, but to others around you.  When creating glass beads, you have to melt a narrow rod of glass employing a torch.  The molten glass is wound around a mandrel which is a thin length of chrome steel.  The space where the mandrel is placed becomes the hole of the bead.  Holding and turning the mandrel in different positions allows gravity to help form the bead.  There are explicit tools needed for pushing and pulling glass beads to form different sorts of shapes. 

Working with a lamp to form glass beads isn’t easy, but patience and practice will help on the way.  You have got to remember that you are working with glass and a torch ; you’ll have to learn the different levels of heat that are required for the glass to flow. 

The beads are pulled out from the flame to chill ; they’re left out in the open air which means that while the outside of the bead is rapidly cooling, it is still very hot inside.  The uneven temperature resulting from this method will probably cause a bead to break as the beads often cool too quickly.  

Kiln annealing is a technique by which both the inside and outside temperature can be closely controlled.  The bead is placed in a high temperature kiln to be sure that all the glass is uniformly heated.  After several hours, the beads can now be put out at room temperature for cooling.  But it is critical to be sure the glass beads you purchase are all kiln hardened.  For small glass beads, you may also try cooling them within layers of insulation.  This method is not like the hardening process but it has proved to be effective for small amounts of glass.  Most products and tools come with a set, so always follow the Beading Instructions an Important Tool for Beading if you want to learn and get it right.