Things You'll Need:
- Bead-making kiln
- Minor burner torch with mounted graphite plate
- Propane tank
- Oxygen tank
- Mandrels (12-inch steel rods coated with bead release)
- Glass rods (your choice of colors)
- Graphite paddle
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Step 1
Preheat your bead-making kiln to 940 degrees Fahrenheit. If your bead-making kiln comes equipped with a digital controller it is easy to set your kiln to stay at a steady 940 degrees while you work. Once you have preheated the kiln, turn on your propane and gas tanks and adjust the pressures to allow you to work using more oxygen than propane.
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Step 2
Put on your Rose Didymium safety glasses. These glasses not only serve to keep sparks and stray shards of glass away from your eyes, but the lenses made of Rose Didymium allow you to see the glass you are working with in the midst of your torch flame. If you were not wearing the Rose Didymium glasses while lampworking you would only be able to see a bright orange flame.
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Step 3
Turn on your minor burner torch. Switch on the propane flame first, followed by the oxygen flame. Once the two flames are both on, the torch flame will narrow and intensify.
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Step 4
Heat your mandrel and glass rod in the flame. Hold the mandrel in your left hand and heat it by passing it in and out of the middle of the flame horizontally. At the same time, hold the glass rod in your right hand and heat it by poking the tip of the glass rod in and out of the tip of the torch flame.
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Step 5
Hold the heated mandrel above the torch flame and carefully wind the glass rod around the mandrel. Use the graphite paddle and mounted graphite plate to help you shape the molten glass into a barrel or sphere shape. Repeat this step using other colors of glass rods to add layers of color to your lampwork bead.
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Step 6
Dip your bead in and out of the tip of the torch flame to begin cooling it down. After awhile, turn off the oxygen tank and let your bead continue to cool down in the propane-only flame.
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Step 7
Put your lampwork beads in your bead-making kiln to anneal. Set your bead-working kiln to its anneal setting and put the beads and mandrels in the kiln to cool. Annealing is a very important part of the lampwork bead-making process. Annealing allows your beads to cool down slowly so that the molecular bonds can reform. Beads that are not subjected to an annealing process often suffer stress cracks.
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Step 8
Soak your mandrels and beads in water. This allows the bead release mixture to dissolve and loosen, allowing you to remove your beads from the mandrel. Once the beads have soaked and been removed from the mandrel, they are ready to be featured in your latest unique jewelry design.
