Making Glass Beads
This is just meant to be a brief overview. Please read additional information about glass bead making before proceeding on your own. Please be very careful since molten glass is very hot and can shatter and burn.
Some Necessary and Some Useful Items
Glass -
Moretti soft glass rods are what this class covers
Mandrels - Stainless steel rods on
which the glass beads are formed
Kiln Wash - Bead Release - Allows the
bead to separate from the mandrel
Heat Proof Surface - A metal table or a metal pad that can be attached to your table
Torch - Hot Head torch head and MAPP
gas (brazing fuel)
L Bracket, Large Hose Clamp and C Clamp
- To hold torch
Fire Starter - Striker
Fire Extinguisher
Pipe Cleaners - To clean out the inside
of the hole
Well Ventilated Area - But not windy or
the torch flame may go out or move too much
Kiln or Vermiculite blankets or
Pearlite and crockpot - allows for the slow cooling of the bead.
Carbon
Monoxide Detector
Non Flammable Floor
Didymium Glasses - Allows you to see
the hot glass better and protects you from flying glass chips
Marver - For shaping the bead
Pliers - For shaping the bead
Metal Pick - For shaping the bead
Vice Grips - For helping to remove the
bead from the mandrel
Kitchen Rubber Gripper - For helping to
remove the bead from the mandrel
Bead Scrapers - To clean out the inside
of the hole
Hot Plate
Other interesting Steel, graphite,
ceramic or other heat resistant tools.
There are
different types of glass. What this
class covers is Moretti soft glass. Bullseye
is also a soft glass, but works at a slightly higher temperature and is not
compatible with Moretti. If you use
glass that is not compatible, your bead will explode at some point due to the
different coefficients of expansion. Moretti
and Bullseye glass rods can be found in several online glass stores.
You may also be able to order them through your local stained glass
supply store.
Stainless
Steel mandrels come in several different sizes. I like to use the 3/32” diameter ones because they fit on
my woven wire chains, but mandrels come smaller and larger.
They can be bought from bead making supply stores or welding supply
stores sell stainless steel rods in 36” lengths that can be cut to 12” or
so. The ends should be smooth and
tapered to allow for the easier release of the bead.
The
mandrel needs to be coated with bead release.
The bead release is a protective barrier between the mandrel and the bead
and is necessary because glass can stick permanently to steel.
The bead release that I use is kiln shelf wash mixed in a 2 to 1 ratio
with water.
The best
method I have found so far to coat the mandrel with bead release is to mix the
bead release in the small bottle that dishwasher rinse aid comes in.
The mandrel is dipped through the small hole in the top and removed while
a gentle pressure is applied to the bottle.
Usually a nice even coat of bead release is applied.
The bead release needs to be thick enough to protect the bead and mandrel
and thin enough to not crack while working the bead.
There should be no uncovered spots.
There are
different types of bead release. The
type I use should be air dried and not put into the flame while it is wet.
It can be air dried or dried with a blow drier.
The color changes when it is dry. Other
types can be dried in the torch flame before you make your bead.
Dip
several mandrels at a time because you won’t want to stop in the middle of
beadmaking to dip and dry more. Put them into a wood block with holes drilled in it or a cup
filled with sand to keep them upright and separated.
I use MAPP
gas and a HotHead torch for beadmaking. This
is an inexpensive and portable setup only requiring a small 1 pound tank ($9)
and a torch head ($40). A better
setup that will allow you to work with hard glass such as Pyrex requires a much
more expensive torch ($450), a tank of propane ($25), a tank of oxygen ($80) and
the hoses and regulators to hook them together ($180).
This second system gets hotter and you can adjust the mix of the gas for
different results, but costs quite a bit more.
I am only going to discuss using MAPP gas.
Small gas bottles will get very cold with use.
I can work for 30 to 60 minutes before the canister gets so cold that gas
will not come out any longer. You
can put the tank in warm water to bring the temperature up (but be careful
because the torch head is VERY hot), have a second system ready to go, or call
it a day.
Working
with glass is hot. Your glass and
tools will be hot. It is necessary
to have a heat proof surface to work on. Mine
is a sheet of metal covering insulation and was designed to protect your kitchen
counter from hot pots and was obtained through a glass store.
Put a
large hose clamp around the tank of MAPP gas and an L bracket.
Make sure the knob on the torch head is turned off (righty tighty, lefty
loosey) and carefully screw it on to the gas bottle.
Don’t force it because you will ruin the threads of both items. If either develops a leak, it should be replaced.
Adjust the position of the L bracket so that it is under the torch so
that it can be clamped to a table with the torch pointing directly away from
you. Use a C clamp to hold the L
bracket to table. I also insert my heat proof surface under the C Clamp at this
point. Adjust the angle of the
torch and bottle from front to back. This may require pulling the whole thing apart and using
tools or simply bending a little. Make
sure you are comfortable with the height of your table, the height of your chair
and the angle of your torch. You
could work for an hour before your tank ices up and not notice the passing of
time or the cramps until you are through.
Once
the torch is set up as you choose, arrange your tools around you.
I am right handed and have my mandrels on my left and glass rods on my
right. The rod rest (keeps hot glass rods from rolling around) is
directly in front, my marvers (used for shaping the bead) are between the torch
and the glass, and pliers and other tools are all over the place – they are
never where I want them anyway. The
Vermiculite blankets (for cooling the beads) are furthest away in the back right
corner. Didymium
glasses should be on.
When you
are ready, turn the torch head on just until you hear the his of the gas then
light the torch from bottom. It is
safest to use a striker, but I can’t get the hang of it so I use a Bic Sure
Start (I think this is the only child proof large lighter).
This is NOT the recommended way of doing it - Use a striker.
Adjust the
torch flame until it is about 4 inches long and not making excessive noise.
Warm the
glass rod slowly in the fire by passing it through the flame several times, then
rotate the glass near the end of the flame so that it is heated evenly all the
way around. Bring it in closer to
the working area and continue rotating and heating.
You must warm the glass slowly or it may shatter.
If you start with a rod with a smooth end this is less likely to happen. This will take about 1 – 3 minutes depending on the glass,
the flame and the temperature the rod was to start with. Some people use a hot plate to pre heat their rods.
I have tried it and for me the benefit does not outweigh the bother.
Once the
end of the rod is glowing, the tip of the glass will either ball up or stretch
out depending upon the angle of your hand.
You want to hold your hand lower than the tip of the rod so that the
glass will ball up.
Double
check the mandrel to make sure the bead release covers it and is not cracked.
With your left hand pass the mandrel through the flame to warm it up.
Hold it in the flame and rotate it to get it evenly hot.
It doesn’t take as long to warm up the mandrel and it does not need to
be glowing. Keep rotating the glass
rod in the flame as well. Have the
glass closer to the torch than the mandrel.
Once the
glass rod and the mandrel are hot enough, stop rotating them and touch the tip
of the glass rod to the mandrel about 1 - 2 inches from the tip of the mandrel.
(Some people like to work in the middle of the mandrel - your choice)
Hold the glass rod still and rotate the mandrel away from you until you
come back to your starting place. If
there is still hot glass and you want a larger bead you can keep winding on
glass until you run out.
When you
are done winding the glass, heat what you want to be the end and it will melt
through then wind up the tail. Rotate
the bead in the flame to keep the temperature even.
You can now put down the glass rod.
If you didn’t get enough hot glass the first time around, or if you
want to make two matching beads side by side on the same mandrel, you can re
heat the glass rod in the flame while rotating the mandrel with the partial bead
in the flame also. Once the end is
glowing you can again touch the glass to
the partial bead and rotate as before. It
is better to add glass on top of glass if you want a round bead. If you want a long bead you can add glass next to glass.
Once you
are done adding glass you can put the glass rod down and go back to working with
one hand. It will be easier for the
next bead if you round out the end of the glass rod at this point.
Rotate the
bead in the flame as you did with the glass rod so that the heat will be even
all the way through. If your bead is too hot it will droop. If your bead is not rounding out properly, you can use a
marver to even out the sides and ends.
When the bead is the shape you want it to be let it cool for a moment then put it between two pieces of Vermiculite blanket (from the bead supply store) or in a crockpot of Pearlite (from the garden supply store) or in a kiln. The Kiln is the best choice because you can anneal the bead to relieve stress that has built up in the glass. The other methods just allow the bead to cool slowly. I have only recently gotten a kiln. I have used Vermiculite blankets for years with no adverse effects. If you don’t use a kiln to anneal your beads, you should make them smaller than ½”.
Once the
bead has cooled to room temperature (probably 20 minutes or so in Vermiculite
blankets, longer in a hot crock pot, hours if you are using a kiln) soak the
mandrel and bead in warm water. This
will begin to dissolve the bead release and allow the bead to come off the
mandrel. It is almost never that
easy. I usually have to hold the
mandrel with vice grips and hold the bead with a kitchen grabbie then twist and
pull. This will usually work.
Sometimes for really stuck beads freezing helps, sometimes banging on the
bead with another pair of pliers works, but this is likely to chip or break your
bead. If the glass is touching the
metal through a hole in the bead release, it may never come off.
Once the
bead is off put it back into the warm water to let the bead release in the
center become soft. Use “bead
scrapers” to get most of the bead release out of the center hole then run a
pipe cleaner through the hole. If
there is still bead release left the beads can be soaked and scraped any number
of times. Sometimes all of it will
not come out
If there
are any rough spots on the ends you can use powdered pumice (from a ceramic
store) on a cork to polish them.
Enjoy!
Baroness
Betha of Bedford - Helene2@bellatlantic.net
Class Handouts
Making Glass Beads - Shaping Glass Beads - Coloring Glass Beads