Have you ever wondered how lampwork beads are made?  Here are some photos of the bead making process.  We use Lynx torches and we always anneal our beads in a kiln overnight to strengthen the glass.  We use both borosilicate glass and soft glass in our creations.  The first step is to prepare the mandrels with bead release.  This enables the beads to come off the mandrel when it has cooled.  Then we wrap the mandrel with the glass, building layers of color.  We often use frit, or small pieces of glass, in our lampwork beads and pendants.  Stringers, or thin rods of glass, can be used for detailed designs in the bead.  Once the glass has been melted into a nicely shaped bead, we place it into the kiln to be annealed.  The next morning the bead holes are cleaned with a Dremel tool to remove all bead release residue.  They are now ready to be made into the perfect piece of jewelry.  I am a member of Self-Representing Artists, so you know that my lampwork beads are all made by hand.

The torch is lit and ready to go.	Melting borosilicate glass onto the mandrel.	The bead is nice and round and glowing hot.	Rolling the glowing bead in frit.
Bead with frit, before melting it in.	After the frit has been melted into the glass.	Bead with a stripe of clear encasing glass.	The bead after the encasing is complete.
			#L62
The finished set of borosilicate beads.