- Lampworking, or making glass beads, is a time-honored craft practiced as a profession and as a hobby. Glass blowers make glass beads using a mandrel, a glass rod and a heat source, such as a propane torch. Part of the bead-making process is preparing the work surfaces of the materials, such as coating the mandrel with a fireproof bead release material and making sure your torch is securely attached to a heatproof surface. The glass blower will also clean the surface of the glass rod with a soft, clean cloth to remove any dust or oils that might contaminate the bead. After putting on safety glasses, the glass blower will light the torch, beginning with a low setting then turning it up after it's lit. You will generally see a glass blower working in a well-ventilated area to avoid any fumes from the propane torch.
- Heating the mandrel in the flame until it's hot is the first step to the actual bead-making process. Next, the glass blower will warm the glass rod slowly, passing it through the flame repeatedly to avoid popping the glass. As the glass rod begins to glow, the glass blower will bring the rod into the hottest part of the flame, rotating it until a glass globule forms. The glass blower then touches the tip of the mandrel to the tip of the glass globule, rotating the mandrel to wind the glass onto it. When the bead is large enough, the glass blower will remove it from the glass rod, but keep it in the flame, rotating it until it is smooth. If the glass blower plans to shape the bead, he will rotate it against a flat heatproof surface, like ceramic or metal, until the glass bead is no longer glowing. He will then place the bead in a cooling fiber blanket or in heated vermiculite until the bead is completely cooled.
- The glass bead should be completely cooled within 30 minutes. The glass blower will then remove the bead from the mandrel using pliers to hold the metal and twist the bead off with his fingers. Cleaning the bead release from the hole of the bead is easiest with a pipe cleaner or a small brush. Wiping the finished glass bead to remove any fingerprints is the final finishing touch. Adding swirls of different colored glass to one bead or dotting the surface to create a spiky bead are just a few ways to individualize glass beads.
