How do I Make Glass Beads as a First Time Project?

A simple plumber's torch can be used to make glass beads.

Making your own glass beads may seem like an impossibility, but with some basic equipment, you can begin creating your own glass beads by hand. You can even make your own recycled glass beads from broken bottles or other scraps of discarded glass. Glass beads are good material for making jewelry, decorating handbags, making suncatchers and more.

Things You'll Need

• Safety goggles
• Dust mask
• Heat-resistant gloves
• Heat-resistant apron
• 2 small heat-resistant dishes
• Fire extinguisher
• Mandrel
• Bead release clay
• Plumber's propane torch
• Glass shards
• Vermiculite
• Vice
• Tongs

Instructions

1. Collect the materials you need. Scraps of glass from colored bottles make attractive beads. You can save soda bottles for your scraps or buy glass aquarium stones at a pet shop or dollar store. Find vermiculite, a mineral used for the cooling process, and a propane plumber's lamp at hardware stores. The mandrel, a thin metal rod, will need to resist high temperatures without melting. Use a length of welding rod or a bicycle spoke. Bead release is a clay material that you can buy from a craft store or make yourself.

2. Assemble and check your safety gear. Make sure your fire extinguisher is in working order and close to hand. Ensure that your dust mask offers adequate protection and that your safety goggles are of good quality and fit securely. Check that your plumber's lamp is connected correctly.

3. Put on your dust mask, gloves and safety goggles. Place one piece of glass in a vice, and hold the other in the tongs. Turn on the torch. Hold the two pieces of glass next to each other. Hold the flame from the torch on the two pieces of glass until they melt together (this should only take a few seconds). Pull them gently away from each other, using your gloves. Stretch the melted section into a thin line of glass.

4. Mix up the bead release in its own dish. Coat one end of the mandrel in the bead release by dipping it in. Heat the coated end in the plumber's torch until it glows cherry red. Gently wrap the thin stick of glass around the mandrel so that you have a round bead. Smooth the bead by heating it in the torch flame and turning it gently.

5. 

   Large glass beads make eye-catching jewelry.

   Place the vermiculite granules into a dish. Cover the bead completely with the vermiculite by rolling the bead on the end of the mandrel in the vermiculite granules. Allow it to cool. Smaller beads can be air cooled, but the vermiculite slows down the cooling process and makes the beads less likely to shatter. When cool, remove the bead from the mandrel, and clean off the bead release clay by running it under warm water. Your glass bead is now ready to thread.

Tips & Warnings

• If you enjoy making glass beads as a first-time project and want to explore the craft further, look into taking a course on lampwork or glasswork.

• Always take precautions when using naked flames. Ensure that your workplace is free of fire hazards and is well ventilated. Always wear eye protection: glass beads can shatter when cooling, and small fragments of hot glass may be thrown off. Take special care when handling broken glass, as it is very sharp.

References

• Jewelry Crafts Magazine: Jewelry Terminology
• Glass Fusing Made Easy: Bead Release
• Jack of All Trades: Recyled Glass Beads

Resources

• Madeline Bunyan: Lampwork and Jewelry