How Do You Make Raku Beads?
A quick, dynamic way to fire clay beads is to raku fire them. A raku firing consists of making beads from raku clay, drying them and bisque firing them. Afterward you paint them with raku glazes and put them back in the kiln, where they are heated up to 1700 degrees F. The fired beads are pulled from the hot kiln and plunged into organic matter, which reacts with the glazes to create beautiful iridescent colors or smoky grays and blacks. Take a ball of raku clay and roll out a coil 3/8-inch in diameter. Raku clay is ceramic clay with a high amount of sand and grog in it. This creates a very durable clay body that can take the shock of being pulled out of a hot kiln and plunged into organic matter. Cut the coil into 3/8-inch sections. Roll each individual section into a ball. Take a bamboo skewer, dip the pointed tip in water and push it halfway into the center of the bead. Pull the skewer back out, dip the tip in water again. Rotate the bead 180 degrees and insert the point of the skew
