Project 206-3 |
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The
main component of glass is silica (sand quartz) lime and soda or potash.
Different minerals like iron (blues and greens), manganese (black), and
gold (pinks, reds) are added to the basic ingredients to create colors.
Colors are made opaque by adding calcium or tin. Glass beads are one of the most popular and diverse beads on the market, they all have different names and production methods. Here are how a few styles are created. Lampwork Beads : (hand wound) Photo A This is one of the only processes that can be made by a home artisan Here are some basic tools. The torch (or lamp) flame, runs on propane. The rods are made of steel and coated with a kaolin (clay-like) substance called bead release. This enables you to take the bead off the rod after it’s formed. Sometimes when you buy lampwork glass beads, you’ll find a powdery substance in the bag or on the bead. That’s the bead release. Here are the glass rods that are used. How it starts: The glass is heated to be made molten and wound onto a coated wire and heat-worked with hand tools into the desired shape. While the bead is steadily turned over the flame, fine filaments of glass are used to "paint" the glass bead with designs and textures. After cooling slowly in a kiln, the bead is removed from the wire rod forming the bead hole. Drawn
Hollow: (cane beads) Photo B Pressed
Beads: (molded beads) Photo C |
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