How Lampwork Jewelry Is Actually Made If you have ever taken a good look at the various types of beads in beaded jewelry, you may have discovered lamp work jewelry before. A very specific kind of bead that is made of glass is what lamp work describes. Each bead is usually handmade through a careful process of heating glass and winding it or applying it to a prepared mandrel. The end result is a glass bead with beautiful designs that may sit under a glassy layer, or perhaps be raised so as to give the bead texture. Here is some insight as to how these beautiful beads are in fact made. First, the various tools need to be gathered. You'll need rods of glass to start with. To help you create the design, it will help to have rods of different thicknesses. To get the base bead, you could start off with a thicker rod, and then go to the thinner rods to produce the imaginative designs. You'll want to assemble the colored glass rods that you'll be working with, have a mandrel that has been dipped in bead release, and any tools that you want to use to create textures (such as a pick). In addition, you might want to consider safety gear like gloves and eyewear. Do not forget your torch for heating up the glass! Once you're ready and you have your torch turned on, you can begin heating up one of your rods. The challenging part is figuring out how to turn your rod so that the glass won't drip off in the beadmaking process. The glass must be heated until you have formed a blob at the end, then you will need to start heating up your coated mandrel. You'll have to keep both the mandrel and the glass rod slowly turning. Then you can slowly and carefully wrap the heated glass around the mandrel to create your bead. You can use the heat of your torch flame to disconnect the bead from the remaining portion of the glass rod. To get the shape that you would like, continue spinning the bead in the flame. Once you've made the bead, you'll be able to add different embellishments to it by doing the process over again. You could heat up other rods of glass and apply the heated parts to your bead (make certain only to heat up as much glass as you intend on using, particularly when working with thin rods). As you add these little embellishments, you can add to them by utilizing picks or other tools to produce designs or other textures on the bead. You might have problems adding to the design of your bead, so make sure you keep the beads somewhat warm. You might want to anneal your beads overnight in a kiln, after you have finished making your bead and are pleased with its look. This will be relevant if you're planning on using the beads for items of jewelry or if you would like to sell them at a later date. There is a large amount of prep work that will go into each and every piece of lamp work jewelry, as you can see. It's a process that takes a lot of practice in order to master. You will be able to appreciate even more the effort and creativity that went into making it, the next time you see this type of bead on a piece of jewelry. For a tactic to exhibit your specific style and personality, consider wearing lampwork jewelry. For much more information on Pacific Jewelry Designs, view them at their web site, http://www.pacificjewelrydesigns.com/.
Pacific Jewelry Designs
Page 1
How Lampwork Jewelry Is Actually Made
Document Tags: lampwork bracelet, lampwork earrings, lampwork necklace http://www.pacificjewelrydesigns.com/
Pacific Jewelry Designs
Page 2