Tools Of The Trade Part 3 - Meet The Mandrels

It's time to meet the beadmakers friend, the mandrels.  No, I'm not referring to Barbara Mandrel and her sisters from the 70's TV show, but to the steel rods used when making beads.

"How do you get the holes into beads?  Do you drill them out?"

If only had a $1 every time someone asked me this question.  Time to demystify how the holes get into the beads.

While I suppose the glass could be drilled out, that would introduce stress back into the glass and could result in a lot of wasted beads.  The simplest way to the holes into the glass is to make the bead with the hole right there from the start.  Here's where the mandrels come into play.  

As you can see from the picture, the beads are created around the steel rod, so that when the rod is removed, a hole in each bead is already present.  The grayish-white stuff on the mandrels in the picture is called Bead Release, which is a liquid clay-like substance that each rod is dipped into and allowed to dry before the mandrel can be used in the torch.  

If the release is not fully dry before glass is applied, bubbles in the glass can form from the steam leaving the bead release and ruin the bead.  Without having the bead release on the mandrel, the bead would not come off after annealing.

Mandrels come in various sizes from over 1 inch thick (for very large holed beads), down to 1/16th of an inch for very tiny holes.  For beads that require marvering (shaping), I find the 1/16th mandrels are a bit too thin which is why bicones usually have a 3/32nd mandrel hole or larger.

Once the beads come off the mandrels, the bead release inside the beads must be removed.  Since the glass is wrapped onto the mandrels hot, the bead release sticks to the glass.  I use a specially design diamond drill bit to remove bead release and clean the holes so that there is not any release left inside.  

This is especially important for beads made with transparent colors where you can see the hole.

As always, if you have any questions or want to suggest topics, please do not hesitate to contact me either through this blog or on my web site or Etsy store at:

www.LampOfLuxury.com

www.BurningScentsations.Etsy.com

Bead & Button Show Schedule Has Arrived!

IT'S HERE, IT'S HERE!

When I came home for lunch this afternoon to let the dogs out into the yard for their mid-day relief, I was greeted to a plastic covered magazine in my mailbox. I took a quick look at it and discovered that is was the schedule for the Bead and Button show in 2008. Since the show does not occur until June, I was a bit surprised that the schedule for all of the classes was out.

I've only just started going through it tonight after work, but let me tell you, there are a ton of great ones listed. I'm not talking just lampwork classes either. There are classes in seed beads, metalworking, PMC (precious metal clay), polymer clay, fusing, felting, marketing, etc. Just about every bead and jewelry design possibility is in there.

Last year was the first year I attended this week-long event and actually took a couple of classes and stayed in Milwaukee, WI (home of Laverne & Shirley) for the show. It was an amazing time, and I cannot wait to repeat that experience again this year.

For more information on the show, just follow this LINK to their show web site. It's truly a great time and a very inspirational and educational experience.

On-line registration opens on January 15th which is why I was so surprised that the schedule came so early. I wasn't planning on checking for their schedule until the New Year, but I guess there's no time like the present.

If you have any questions or would like to suggest topics, I can be reached through this blog or through my web site or shop at:

http://LampOfLuxury.com/
http://burningscentsations.etsy.com/

Excuse my while I continue to review the class schedule.

See you there!

Holiday Crunch Time - Finding Inspiration

December is a busy month for us all, but for an artist who is also working two jobs (not including my glass business), it's especially problematic.

I haven't had any torch time in the last few weeks which is why I haven't been able to add anything new shop lately since I'm working a full-time day job and a retail job in the evenings and weekends. While I've been re-listing items, I really want to create some new beads and get back onto the torch.

How did this drought occur? Well, I had a couple of shows in November where I was able to sell some of the jewelry stock I have made over the past few months which is great. Getting ready for and doing the shows ate up my torch time for most of that month. Now that December is here, it is time to switch gears a bit and start getting ready for spring since jewelry designers need to make their items now in order to get their stock ready for the upcoming art and craft fairs.

Invariably, when I know a show is coming my inspiration disappears as the pressure rises. Likewise when the seasonal change for lampworking comes before the actual season itself. However, now that I've had my break from lampworking, I'm looking forward to getting back onto my torch tomorrow morning!

I've got a couple of custom orders that I will extend into bead sets for my shop, and I should have more hollow bead sets in bright spring colors also in the next week or so. I haven't made hollow beads since early October, so now it's time for new spring colors.

Anyway, send me happy thoughts tomorrow and hopefully there will be lots of new beads in the coming week!

If you have any questions or would like to suggest topics, I can be reached through this blog or through my web site or shop at:

http://LampOfLuxury.com/
http://burningscentsations.etsy.com/

Have great Day!

Glass COE - Why Can't We All Just Get Along

Not all glass is created equal, which means that it is not all compatible either. While this wouldn't be a big deal if I only ever made beads using one color per bead, but that would be very boring for me and for you!

One of the first things new glass artists learn is that the COE, Coefficent Of Expansion, of the glass colors being used must all be the same. What's that, you say?

I know that sounded like a bunch of boring science-speak, so let me boil it down for you. When glass gets hot is expands. As it cools, it contracts. In order for a glass bead or any other object to survive the annealing and cooling process, the amount that each glass expands and contracts must be the same as all of the other glass in the piece.

If one color expands twice as much as the others, it will expand and contract too much, and the beautiful piece of art will crack and sometimes break apart due to the stress this incompatibility causes.

One minor exception is frit if used sparingly. Many of the frits on the market do not match the COE of the soft glass, but they have a secret that will enable them to be compatible when used on the surface of a bead as decoration. What's their secret? The lead content in the glass enables it to be compatible with glass that has a COE that is close to the frit. It is not so compatible that it can be covered with clear glass, a process known as encasing.

However, a thin layer on the surface of the bead can be used quite successfully as long the frit does not comprise more than five percent of the bead's glass. This is called the 5% Rule in glass circles.

If you have any questions or would like to suggest topics, I can be reached through this blog or through my web site or shop at

http://LampOfLuxury.com/
http://burningscentsations.etsy.com/

Have great afternoon!

What the FRIT are you talking about?

There are many decorating techniques available to beadmakers when creating a new bead, and one of the staples of our art form is call Frit. Frit is powdered glass that hot (nearly molten) beads are rolled in to apply a speckled color pattern to the bead.

It can be melted into the bead so that the bead is smooth, or left bumpy on top of the bead. Leaving it bumpy is called Sugaring the bead. This technique works great for transparent frit since it will tend to look like ice crystals on the surface of the bead, but other colors work well too.

Frit comes in a wide range of brilliant colors and sizes from a fine powder up to very large chunks (which are not used for rolling onto a bead or other item). The size of the powder affects how the final design will look.

Rolling a cooler bead in frit will cause less of it to be picked up by the bead which makes give the beadmaker control over how much color they want on their bead.

Frit comes from various suppliers in both single colors or color blends. I use both in my work, but the color blends really add a lot of pizazz. I have also created my own color blends on occasion from jars of the solid colors. Experimentation is the key with this technique and there are no limits to what can be done!

Frit is very useful, versatile and, of course, can be used in many more ways than I have time to mention here. I'll save the additional techniques for a later posting. :)

If you have any questions or would like to suggest topics, I can be reached through this blog or through my web site or shop at

http://LampOfLuxury.com/

http://burningscentsations.etsy.com/

Take Care