Guide to glass beads and the process of making them.

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GLASS BEAD MAKING

Glass is an ideal material to be used in a fancy jewelry such as the one that we market as its beads can come in a myriad of colors and shapes. This variety allows for effortless creation of numerous designs that are both elegant and unique.

The process of making them is relatively straightforward even though an individual involved in making glass beads needs both considerable material handling skills and a very vivid imagination. When those two traits come together perfectly, the end result of the glass making process is a creation that's unique and beautiful enough to be rightfully classified as a work of art.

Even though glass beads were apparently made in Egypt as early as 3100 BC, little was known about the process of glass making until relatively recently. The knowledge was usually guarded very closely within the family that was involved in the glass making business. All that changed in the 17th century when such knowledge increasingly started to become of public domain nature.

Today, the glass making process still revolves around the same principles as it did centuries ago. The artisans still use the heat to mold the glass into desired shapes, and then add various substances to the glass to alter its look and color. However, the process is much less cumbersome today due to abundant supply of affordable tools.

Supplies needed to produce glass beads include the glass itself, source of heat (these days it's the torch and its related accessories), stainless steel rods (also known as mandrels), mandrel release coating, and other tools and accessories.

The glass used to produce beads used in our jewelry is typically soft glass (the most common type to begin with), which is chosen because of its ability to expand easily when heated.

Dichroic glass is increasingly being used as well despite the fact that it is much more difficult to work compared to regular soft glass. This high-tech glass is created by fusing regular glass with layered semi-reflective metals such as aluminum and titanium. Its special property of exhibiting different colors when viewed from two different directions found a very receptive audience in the beading community.

Pyrex glass, the other type of common glass, is much harder to mold, and it is not generally used in glass bead production.

Before it's transformed into beads of various shapes, the glass comes from the factory in a form of a thin rod. One can say it almost looks like heat shrink tubing in size and shape. Glass is typically chosen based on Coefficient of Expansion, which is a measure of glass elasticity. Higher number indicates glass that's more elastic and easier to work with.

A simple bead making process begins by applying the mandrel release coating onto the mandrel itself. As the name implies, application of this coating allows for easy separation of the bead from the mandrel once the molding process is finalized.

Once the mandrel release coating is dry, one can begin heating the glass with the torch. When exposed to such heat, the glass rod starts to change color and its shape. It becomes soft and malleable. It is at this point that the stainless steel rod (mandrel) gets inserted into the hot glass. The shape of the bead is formed by constantly winding the glass around the steel rod.

One can get really creative during this stage of the process, and create very fancy looking beads by pressing or rolling them. Pliers and tweezers may also be used to put finishing touches on them.

Adding small bits of glass of various colors creates those cute colored spots while adding silver or gold foil results in bead's additional luster. When satisfied with the shape at hand, the artisan shuts off the torch, and lets the newly created glass bead cool and harden.

Once everything is cool enough to be handled, the mandrel containing the bead gets inserted into the water so that the mandrel release coating can get loose. If glass was exposed to the right temperature during the creation process, the artist should at this point be able to effortlessly remove the bead from the mandrel.

Now the glass beads should be ready to be used in jewelry design. Once the artist has enough of them on hand, he or she can transform them into a stylish necklace or bracelet by connecting them with a string or sterling silver wire.