How to center a lampwork bead on a thin wire

At first I had problems with my lampwork beads looking off center and wobbly when I strung them or used a head pin to wire them.  I like the look of metal with my lampwork beads so I wire them a lot and also mix them with chainmaille.

Ok  how to keep a lampwork bead centered on a thin wire?  Seed beads.  Yes, fill the hole of your lampwork bead with seed beads and it will make all the difference.  Simply string seed beads on your wire either before or after you have strung your lampwork bead.  Use enough seed beads to fill the larger bead.

I use the tiny tubular shaped seed beads instead of the donut shaped ones.

That's it.  Simple is it not? 

My first mandala style bead

Today I made my first mandala bead, not bad but dots could be more uniform, next ones will be better I will wear it but don't think it is sellable. This sucker took over an hour to make. It is 1 1/4" wide overall not counting the dots, 1/4" thick not counting the dots, and has a 3/4" hole.

My first bead using the ribbon technique

 This is my first ribbon bead.  I think it isn't too bad for a first try.  The bead is a bit wonky and I got one part of it too hot when applying the clear over the orange dots.  I will wear it as soon as I get some beads made to go with it.  Well.....after they are all annealed, that is.

Here are 4 images of it so you can see all sides, even the not so good one :/

End of March 2014, Some of my favorite beads so far :)

These pictures are of some beads that I took from sets that I made to make pendants.  I have more recently been working on making melted in flower beads and encased flower beads.  This is progressing well but I sure have made some mistakes, lol.  The good thing about mistakes is that we can learn from them.  I am currently working on making a batch of matching flower beads :).   Well, not matching beads so much as complimentary beads.  I don't like the look of all beads the same in a necklace so I make a batch with different beads using the same color scheme.  No matchy, matchy for me :)

I don't get to the torch for very long at a time and not every day so I wait until there are about 80 to 100 beads made before I fire up the kiln.  I only have about 20 made at the moment so it will be a while before I can post more pictures. 

Pendants don't have to be just one large piece.  I like to put two or more beads together to make one.

                                My favorite colors, orange and blue, in a three piece pendant

                                         Three beads I chose from a set, just for this pendant

                                   I like this one almost as much as the one pictured below.  See it used in
                                   a necklace in the second picture below.

                                   My favorite "so far" pair of beads.  See them below on a chain.

                                LOL don't pay attention to the date, my camera wasn't set right.  This necklace has a chain maille chain that I made.

                     Here are some charms I use for the pendant necklaces I made from my beads.

Some things I have made

Some of these are available on ebay.  Look for bellakjewelry.  More will be available soon.

                                                      
                          My favorite, I made the wire wrap on the pendant and the chain maille chain too
                          the chain pattern is called rosette.

 

Yeah I like this one too.  Purple is the color theme here.  I also made the chain maille here.  It is called eclipse. 

LOL  my first icicles,  not too bad for starters.  :)  It took a few before I got the hang of making the loop.  It wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be.

And here is my first off mandrel pendant.  I decided to try it after I had learned how to make the loop while making the icicles. 

This is a lanyard I made for my daughter-in-law.  It still needs the clasp and a split ring at the bottom to hold her clip.  I used the eclipse chain maille chain here too.  I really like the way it turned out.

I made my own bead rest for inside the kiln

 Don't waste your money buying bead annealing racks from someone else, you can do it yourself with the tools and materials you are likely to have already. 

Here is a bead rack I made using a 1/16" stainless steel mandrel.  It comes from 1/16" stainless steel welding rod.  If you buy your mandrels already pre-cut, I urge you to check out your local welding supply store for 1/16" and 3/32" stainless steel welding rod.  It comes in different grades.  You want 308 308L.  These will take a lot of heat and last a long time.  I use a hothead so don't know about the heat from a dual fuel torch.

To make the rack I used 3 of my 1/16" stainless mandrels.  Be aware that stainless steel is strong so it will give resistance.   I first made a bend a little off center using my round nose pliers.  Then I made another bend beside it.  After that there is one more bend to make the other leg.  Then bend the legs as shown.  These first three bends are the middle where the straight mandrel rests.  See the picture for an idea of where and how much to bend the legs.  The legs must be bent as shown so that they won't tip over under the weight of the beads.  I would say to make about a 45-60 degree angle.  I made my mandrel that will hold the beads just short of 9" to fit my kiln.  I have a table top model that was made by The Glass Hive.  I got the short guy :) and I love it.  This isn't a plug for them, just saying that my kiln interior measures 9" across.

Ahhh, now I have to make 6 more rests.  Then I will be able to anneal more beads at one time than my other, purchased, rest would accommodate.   I batch anneal because I do not work at it full time.  I usually get from 8-16 hours a week at my torch so I only anneal when I have a full load. 

I have an idea that a taller and a shorter version of this bead rest could be made to create two more tiers of racks for better utilization of space in the kiln. Wow!  I could have 100-150 beads in there at once.  That means I would have to spend more time at the torch, it's a good thing :)

Making matching beads

This is not easy for a beginner like me.  I have had my equipment and glass for about 6 months but only have less than two weeks of torch time, measured by a standard 40 hour work week.

I used to work as a tig welder in factories so I know there is a 2-4 week learning curve when starting a new "job".  So my lampworking fits the category of a new job.  I expect that after another 30-40 hours of practice should be enough for me to reach the quality and consistency goals I have set for my work. 

Getting same size beads has been difficult and finally I have two beads that are matched in size.  The bumps are another story lol.  One bead has higher bumps than the other one but otherwise they are perfectly matched.  The difference in height of the bumps is not very much so I am calling them a matched pair.  Yaaaayyyy

Here they are.  I am very pleased with these.

For the longest time I had trouble getting same size beads and also controlling the size of dots.  I had trouble breaking away from the dot after I placed it on the bead, I almost always got a long, very thin string of glass that stuck between the top of the bead and the stringer I was using.

I also had trouble getting a nicely shaped bead but then I went back to youtube and watched a few of my favorite how to videos and it all clicked.  So now those two problems have been solved.  Now it is a matter of practice makes perfect.  I don't expect every bead to be perfect but at least I will be making sellable beads soon. 

I learned that I should be holding the bead beneath the flame while placing dots on it and that I should be entering the side of the flame, above the bead with the stringer I was using.  Then when I had a gather of the size I required, placing it on the bead where I want it and lift the bead so the dot was nearer to the flame until the top of the dot seperated from the stringer.  It worked perfectly the first time I tried it.  Amazing LOL

Oh, and it helped that I finally learned how to pull consistent stringers by watching a youtube video.  That also worked the first time I tried it.  You make a gather on your glass rod, then, working quickly, take the gather out of the flame, pinch  the end with a needle nose plier or tweezers, and pull.  As you pull fast the stringer will be thin, as you pull more slowly, the stringer will be thicker.  For a thicker stringer, you will need a much larger gather than if you have for a thinner stringer.  When you start to feel resistance, you can pull faster until the glass is finally too cool and won't move anymore.

Placing the correct amount of glass on the mandrel every time was still eluding me but after seeing a youtube video showing how to wind the glass on the mandrel, I finally got it.  I have seen other videos that showed people building up the bead from side to side and that was how I was trying to do it.  The video that changed my technique showed to make a nice size gather on the glass rod, start the wrap on the mandrel, then wind it upward on it's self as in making a tall, thin spacer bead.  Then just spinning it slowly in the flame until it became the size bead, lengthwise, that I wanted.  It explained that the glass will want to gather close to the mandrel if you spin it slowly and will want to spread upward if you spin it faster.  Well, learning these facts and trying them out has helped me to learn how the glass flows under different conditions.  This has given me the knowledge of how to get beads of same/similar size.  Now to practice more :)  I have too many ideas about designs for my beads now :)

I was about ready to try and find someone near me who would give me lessons on the basics of lampworking beads.  I am glad I went back to youtube enough times and found the instructions I needed.......for free. 

Getting more torch time

I have been getting more torch time this week since the garden has pretty much given me what it is going to give except for a few tomatoes and a few hands full of beans now and then.

Anyhow, yesterday I was at the torch 3 times   These beads are the result.

The opaque pale blue beads on top are the best of the two pairs.

The dark ones on bottom are transparent purple.  And the bigger one with spots is an opaque pink bead with transparent dark red dots and opaque white dots.

The purple pair is not perfectly matched, one is thinner.  

I had some trouble getting the stringer to break away and the big dotted bead got messed up with some stray dots of red on it.  

I finally learned how to break away the stringer when making dots and to resize the dots if they are too large or too small.  Yaaayyy.  I have yet to be able to get all the dots the same size though.  I think that must take practice with perception.  Also, I finally learned how to lay the glass on the mandrel more accurately to make, more or less, matching size beads.   And I learned to slow down when shaping the bead.  They turn out much much nicer now.  And I found the sweet spot so things go faster now.  :)

All in all, I am happy with what I learned in these last few sessions at the torch.  But I certainly need more practice, practice, practice.  At least now, I am not practicing mistakes LOL.

Here is another bead I made day before yesterday.  I wanted a striped bead.  I laid on a little clear then laid on the stripes, yellow, green, and orange.  I should have used an opaque color for the ends.  That would have made it look neater.  Also, I should have made thinner stripes.  But I still would use this one, just wouldn't try to sell it.  lol   I just had a thought, maybe the stripes should have gone around the diameter instead of along the length of it.

Well, here are my successful beads I have made.  Maybe I am being too picky but they are not what I wanted.  However, they are nice  and I would buy them so I guess they are good :)

I am having the hardest time trying to get two beads the same size.  And I still can't make a good stringer.  And I still can't apply stringer to the bead with much accuracy in the way of symmetry, as in all dots being the same size or lines around the bead being even.  I might give in and find someone who can give me lessons.

Problem is.....I don't spend many hours on the torch so it is going slow.

I haven't found out how to clean the torch and it needs it.  I won't use it again until I can get it clean.  It muddied the last few beads I attempted.

Update:
I found out that a good soak overnight in acetone then brushing it with a wire brush works wonders to get it clean.  I am back at the torch again.  Still tackling the problems I have encountered but I know that with time and practice my work will improve.

I want to make larger beads to be used as pendants since I really like decorating them with wire.  I hope to make some nice ones to sell.

This is a poor picture of the bead I made, hoping it will be used for a wire wrapped pendant.  It is a little over an inch long and a little less than an inch wide, and about 1/4 inch thick.  It has not yet been annealed so it is still on the mandrel.  This bead was made by dipping it liberally in frit all the way around, then raking it all the way around 3 times while it was still round, then it was flattened.  I had trouble getting it evenly hot enough to get it to squish evenly on both sides so one side is thicker from the hole than the other one is.  This shouldn't present a problem though since I plan to wrap it in wire.  I am hoping the problem is as simple as my impatience.  I will try to be more patient the next time.  Maybe tomorrow :)