MAKING A FINE ROUND BEAD

     A fine round bead is narrow from side to side, with indentations—dimples—at the mandrel holes. These dimples may seem like a small detail, but their importance cannot be overstated. A bead without dimples is not a fine bead! A bead without dimples has a right angle at the mandrel hole; if we look closely we find that the edge of the mandrel holes are not at all even. There may be small spurs of glass that are sharp enough to cut. If we examine the work of fifty beginning students, we would find many beads that would simply cut the string on which they’re strung. A simple remedy would be to use a diamond file and remove the sharpness, but this is not really improving the bead much, due to the fact that you now have a small filed spot on the side of your bead, and you still don’t have dimples. A bead with dimples has less of an angle at the hole and is less likely to damage the string.

     The secret to fine dimples is to be found in the very first thing you do when you apply hot glass to the mandrel. The beginning student is usually taught to melt a ball on the end of the glass rod first, then to lay it on the mandrel and start warping it around the mandrel. WRONG! If you lay a ball of glass on the mandrel, you’ll already have a problem by the time you complete one revolution.

     I’ll explain. That ball of glass will spread out approximately ¼ of an inch, and by the time you get around to the place where you started, the glass coming off the feed rod will only be an 1/8 of an inch wide. This one move is the cause of many problems. As you apply glass, you may try to overcome the unevenness of the original application and cause the bead to become wider on the mandrel. The wider the footprint of the glass, the larger the diameter of the bead will have to be in order to form indentations (dimples). If, at this point, you don’t apply enough glass to this wide start, you’ll have to paddle the bead in order to create indentations. After you apply your design, and especially if you melt it in too fast and loosen the glass all the way to the core, you again will have to paddle the dimples back into place. This extra paddling will most likely distort your design and limit your chances of producing a fine bead.

     Here is my method of making a fine round bead. When you begin to apply glass remember this phrase: TOUCH A MOVING MANDREL. You only have to touch the hot glass to the moving mandrel and turn slowly. Do not let the hot glass touch a stationary mandrel ant then start turning. By only touching the hot glass to a moving mandrel, you ensure that the hot glass you apply is narrow and consistent in size. Continue applying glass for three or four revolutions and burn off.

     Next, melt these few windings down. If your start was narrow, you will have a fine little bead with dimples! Surface tension has pulled the glass into a nice round shape and the narrow start has provided dimples.

     The next step is to make a disk. Touch the hot glass to the rotating small bead and begin to wrap a disk. It is important to keep this disk even. You should try to stay close to the disk with your feed rod and lay the hot glass on flat, like winding up a belt or a roll of tape, rather than like a rope. The number of revolutions determines the diameter of the bead. Remember to keep the disk below the bottom edge of the flame with the feed rod through the flame; this will keep the disk stiff and allow you to press against the disk and get a wide application and allow you to wrap enough glass to make a large bead.

     After you’ve made the disk, you need to melt it down into a bead. This sounds simple enough; however, there are important steps along the way that will insure a good result. The first thing to remember is to apply heat only to the top edge of the disk while it is rotated just below the flame. Do not bring the entire disk into the flame. This will wilt the disk and cause it to become floppy too soon while it is still too tall. As you apply heat to the edge you need to develop a yellow heat glow. The disk will begin to swell at the edge due to surface tension. At this point the disk will begin to look like a wheel (i.e., it will have a hub, a narrow area and a swollen outside diameter). As you pass through the transition from disk into bead, the glass will bulge out along the mandrel and form natural dimples! You now have a fine round bead.

     What has just happened here? The disk bulged and collapsed due to the principle of surface tension. The dimples formed due to the narrowness of the footprint of glass on the mandrel.

     As you proceed with the application of your design, you should melt the design elements down slowly, before the entire bead is loosened. When the design is 90% flattened, only then should you loosen the entire bead to allow surface tension to round up your bead. Each time you loosen the bead all the way to the core the bead will spread a little more. Repeated loosening to the core can cause your design to slip AND will erase your hard-won dimples!

     Have fun with your hot glass and stay on center! Smircich

[Home] [Beads For Sale] [Vessels For Sale] [Classes] [Videos & Books] [Smircich Tools] [Technical Articles] [Round Bead] [Combed & Raised] [About Black] [Anise White] [Separation Line] [Giant Bead] [Hollow Bead] [Black Lace] [Contact Info]