How Do You Make Lampwork Beads?
Lampwork beads have nothing to do with actual lamps as we know them today. These are handmade glass beads made with glass rods and the heat of a torch. It takes many hours of practice to be able to turn out truly excellent beads, and students of this art are advised to read several books on lampworking to gain new ideas and techniques. Students should also be prepared to spend about $100 or more on necessary supplies. It would also be useful to read several books on the art as well as online forums on the subject. The process itself is not too difficult. How to Make Lampwork Beads Step 1 Put on the rose didymium glasses. Coat the mandrel with bead release. Heat the kiln. Light the torch and flash the mandrel in the torch flame by moving the mandrel in and out of the flame several times to heat it. Step 2 jQuery(document).ready(function(){ jQuery(‘#jsArticleStep2 span.image a:first’).attr(‘href’,’http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto/Articles/4869215/149294_Full.jpg’); }); Whimsical Lamp
Making lampwork beads is actually a form of ‘glassblowing’, though in this case there is no actual working of the glass by ‘blowing’. As it is unlikely that you will have the tools to get started just lying around the garage, so here is a list of what you will need to acquire to get started: * Torch and gas hoses * Fuel tank(s) (either MAPP gas or propane/oxygen set- this choice will depend on your torch) * Kiln or annealing oven * Mandrels * Bead release * Glass rod * Shaping tools (graphite and brass implements work best as they will not melt) * Long nose pliers (for stringer work) The process is simple in theory; one simply heats the glass rod at the edges of the torch flame, and slowly works towards the center of the flame until the glass is nearly molten and applies it to a mandrel (this is a long, steel rod) that has been treated with bead release (otherwise the bead would be permanently melted to the mandrel upon cooling). The mandrel is rotated to collect evenly distribute glas
