How to Shape Glass Beads in Glass Bead Making

There are two basic ways to shape glass beads. You can use gravity to move the molten glass into the shape that you want or by using a marver. A marver is a flat, heat proof surface that is usually made out of graphite, aluminum or steel.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Bead torch
• Steel mandrels
• Glass rods
• Marver

Shaping With Gravity

1. Begin by making your basic bead. You want to have the molten glass on the mandrel before you being to shape the bead.

2. Continuously turn the mandrel. Molten glass is like thick molasses and it will move as you turn it. If you stop moving the mandrel is will follow gravity toward the floor.

3. Rotate the mandrel evenly with the floor to get a bead that is round.

4. Tilt the mandrel so that it is in a more vertical position and the molten glass will begin to move down the floor. This will give you a bead that is teardrop shaped.

5. Repeat Steps 2 through 4 until the bead is the shape that you want it.

Shaping With a Marver

6. Begin to shape a bead with a marver by winding a basic bead onto a mandrel. You want the glass to be molten before you being to press it to the marver.

7. Hold your marver in one hand and the mandrel with you molten bead in the other.

8. Quickly the bead to the marver. If you want to flatten the bead just press downward. You can also roll the bead along the marver to make it more cylindrical. Just remember to do this quickly. The marver will cool down the area of the bead that you press it to. This will create stress in the glass and can make the glass crack if it cools too much.

9. Flash the bead to heat up the glass again. This means to heat the surface of the bead briefly in the flame and then remove it from the flame and repeat. The movement from the flame to the air will allow the cooled surface of the bead to warm up slowly. If you just place the bead in the flame, the heat will cause more stress on the area of the bead that was cooled on the marver and can cause the glass to crack.

Tips & Warnings

• Both of these techniques take practice to master. Don't expect perfect results the first time. It will take a few times to know how the glass will reaction to changes in how you move the mandrel and reaction to the cool down and heating up with the use of the marver.
• Fix mistakes by simply reheating the glass until it molten again and then rotating the mandrel in the opposite direction to remove the shape and get a round bead again.