The technique and technology of making hand-crafted glass beads is considered as one of the oldest creative pastimes of humans.  Egyptian faience beads are glass-like beads which come from a sort of clay bead that has a self-forming vitreous coating.  They’re maybe the earliest beads found from the ancient Egyptians.  In some cultures, glass objects were reserved for royalty and owning a glass object was closely associated with owning other luxurious objects. 

What are glass beads anyway?  Glass beads are beads made of glass.  They’re often called lamp work beads.  This kind of bead can be poured into moulds, cut and polished as pretend gemstones, and can be stretched and pulled into any shape you need.  These beads can be straightforward or ornamental depending on the artist’s preference.  Different sorts of glass and colors are used and played with to create the specified look.  Before you begin to make your own beads and finish up with a bowl full of different types of beads all mixed up, take a little time to find out How to Organize Your Beading Stuffs. 

The first thing to do before using the torch and other dangerous tools for glass bead making is learn some Safety Tips in Jewelry Making.  These tools can be very dangerous not only to you, but to others around you.  When creating glass beads, you have to melt a narrow rod of glass employing a torch.  The molten glass is wound around a mandrel which is a thin length of stainless steel.  The space where the mandrel is placed becomes the hole of the bead.  Holding and turning the mandrel in different positions permits gravity to help form the bead.  There are specific tools needed for pushing and pulling glass beads to form different kinds of shapes. 

Working with a lamp to create glass beads isn’t easy, but patience and practice will help along the way.  You have got to remember that you are working with glass and a torch ; you’ll have to learn the different levels of heat that are required for the glass to flow. 

The beads are pulled out from the flame to chill ; they’re left out in the open air that means that while the exterior of the bead is quickly cooling, it remains awfully hot inside.  The uneven temperature resulting from this technique will often cause a bead to crack as the beads sometimes cool too quickly.  

Kiln annealing is a method by which both the inside and outside temperature can be closely controlled.  The bead is placed in a high temperature kiln to be sure that all the glass is uniformly heated.  After a few hours, the beads can now be put out at 70 degrees for cooling.  But it is important to be sure the glass beads you buy are all kiln hardened.  For miniscule glass beads, you may try cooling them within layers of insulation.  This technique is not like the annealing process but it has proved to be effective for small amounts of glass.  Most products and tools come with a set, so always follow the Beading Instructions an Important Tool for Beading if you want to learn and get it right.