applegreenmachine.co.uk - Glass Bead Info

I make glass beads on the beautiful west coast of Scotland. Beach and sea are yards away and views across the water are of the impressive Isle of Arran.

I use Effetre glass, both opaque and transparent. I love CiM 104 glass, and am currently playing with Double Helix 104 and Northstar Precision 104 glass, there's a little Reichenbach 104 and Vetrofond in the collection too.

My beads are all kiln annealed, I wouldn't put them up for sale if they weren't. I've often seen the early hours of the morning after a lengthy bead making session, and then waited for the kiln to reach a temperature that I could safely switch it off at before I went to bed. Sometimes I scurry up the stairs to the sound of the first birds singing in the new day, and as much as I love birdsong, it's not good to hear it when I am just going to bed. I never skimp on annealing times though.

My beads are usually one of a kind. If I have a set of any number, I will make that clear. It would be unlike me to make the same style of bead over and over again, that takes a particular kind of discipline. When I'm making beads, I want to go with the intuitive process. The frustration of repetition, unless I LOVE what I'm making, is not something I want to bring into my bead making. Life is so full of things that one 'must' do, I leave those at the shed door.

I generally use a 2.5mm diameter mandrel, as I find them easier to handle than the smaller sizes, this means that the holes in my beads are usually 3mm in diameter, big enough for leather, cord, and ribbons. Chain works well too, if I use wire to hang a bead with 3mm hole, I double the wire for stability or jam a smaller bead in the hole and then thread it. Very technical! If I make a tiny bead, I'll use a smaller diameter mandrel, and will specify hole size in the bead description.

I spend plenty of time cleaning each bead hole to remove the release - a medium used to prevent the molten glass from fusing with the mandrel - this is a dull task, but well worth the effort. Now that I know more about the process of bead making and have set myself high standards (with aspiration to occasional perfection) I am very surprised to find that in the past I happily bought rather a lot of beads that hadn't been cleaned at all, and I didn't even mind or notice. Isn't ignorance bliss! And another thing - I endeavour to make well balanced beads, but my favourites, and the ones I do not want to sell, are all a bit wonky. One day I'll have a good think about that. Maybe I'll make a 'Wonky Bead' page and see if anyone else likes them as much as I do.