The technique and technology of making hand-crafted glass beads is regarded as one of the oldest creative pastimes of humans.  Egyptian faience beads are glass-like beads which come from a type 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 associated with owning other luxurious objects. 

What are glass beads anyway?  Glass beads are beads made from glass.  They’re occasionally 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 straightforward or ornamental depending on the artist’s preference.  Different sorts of glass and colors are used and played with to create the required look.  Before you start to make your own beads and end up with a bowl full of different sorts of beads all mixed up, take a while to find out How to Organize Your Beading Stuffs. 

The very 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 extremely deadly not only to you, but to others around you.  When making glass beads, you have to melt a narrow rod of glass using 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 make glass beads isn’t particularly easy, but patience and practice will help on the way.  You’ve got to remember that you are working with glass and a torch ; you will have to learn the different levels of heat that are necessary 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 exterior of the bead is quickly cooling, it is still really hot within.  The uneven temperature coming from this technique will most likely cause a bead to break as the beads sometimes cool too fast.  

Kiln hardening is a method by which both the inside and outside temperature can be closely regulated.  The bead is placed in a high temperature kiln to make sure that all the glass is evenly heated.  After a couple of hours, the beads can now be put out at 70 degrees for cooling.  But it is important to make certain that 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 different from the hardening process but it has proved to be effective for small quantities 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.

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