How to Blow Glass Beads

What most people think of as blown glass beads are actually created in a process called lampworking or flameworking, but are more commonly referred to as being blown glass. In glass lampworking, glass rods are melted and worked over an intense heat source. But to work a small item like a bead, the heat source is scaled down from a large kiln to a compact torch flame. As opposed to the large equipment needed for glass blowing larger items like vases and bowls, an area for bead making can be set up in a home workshop.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Glass rod, soft
• Metal rod mandrel
• Bead release
• Propane torch
• Flint striker or wooden stick matches
• Fiber blanket
• Tinted safety glasses
• Fire-resistant work bench
• Shallow bowl of water

1. Coat 3 inches of one end of the metal mandrel with bead release by quickly dipping and removing the rod from the jar of slurry-consistency release. Allow the release to dry before using.

2. Set up your work area, securing your torch to your workbench, as you will need both hands for working the glass into a bead.

3. Turn on the propane gas tank a small amount. Carefully use a flint striker or a match to light the gas. Slowly open the gas valve to increase the flame size until it is about 4 inches long. Put on your safety glasses.

4. 
    
   Heating glass over the torch

   Hold the glass rod in your dominant hand and the mandrel in the other. Slowly heat the glass rod and the coated end of the mandrel at the edge of the flame. Move the top 1/2 inch of the glass into the flame, and heat until a slightly glowing ball forms at the end of the rod. Bring both the glass and the mandrel to the edge of the flame. Hold the mandrel parallel to the ground. Allow the molten glass to droop on to the coated end of the mandrel, then turn the mandrel slowly in one direction. The glass will be drawn around the mandrel. Keep the thickness of glass uniform while you turn. Allow the glass to spiral onto itself, overlapping where you started. Pull the glass away, heating the edge between the new formation on the mandrel and the glass rod so that the glass rod separates away.

5. 
    
   Working glass over the torch

   Continue to turn the mandrel, heating the wrapped glass. Heat until the glass glows slightly. Use gravity to naturally shape the glass into a doughnut-shaped bead. Remove from the heat, and keep rotating the bead just until it is no longer glowing with heat.

6. Place the hot bead gently between two layers of fiber blanket. Leave the bead in the blanket insulation for at least an hour so that it cools slowly. If the glass cools too quickly, it will shatter. Turn off your torch when you are done.

7. Remove the bead from the mandrel only after it has cooled completely. Put the bead and mandrel in water. The bead release will soften and break away, allowing you to remove it from the mandrel.

Tips & Warnings

• Starter kits with a selection of glass and basic tools can be ordered through online retailers if a glass supply store is not located nearby. Additional tools are helpful in creating more advanced shapes and surface techniques. Use a propane and oxygen torch instead of propane alone for higher heat output, which makes working glass easier and allows you to work hard glass (like Pyrex). Torch heads specially made for lampworking sit easily on your workbench and may include an attached graphite pad. For larger and production work, an annealing kiln keeps finished glass work at a steady temperature, then cools the glass evenly for stability and decreased breakage. Keep an aloe plant in your workshop for quick treatment of skin burns.
• Always keep a fire extinguisher nearby. Wear heavy cotton clothing and/or a protective apron while working with glass, as hot shards of glass can break away and land on you. Wear closed-toe shoes. Make sure that all of the glass that you use is either the same brand or of compatible coefficient of expansion (COE), as incompatible glass is unstable when mixed and will shatter.

References

• An Introduction to Lampworking
• Beadworx.com

Resources

• The Flow Magazine