1mm (millimeter)
= .039" (inches) 1" (inch) = 25.4mm (millimeters)
I hope you don't mind the time it takes for the pictures to load. I thought you might prefer seeing all the detail that the larger pictures show.
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Coming soon - real furnace beads - the ones with
lots of clear on the outside. The furnace is up and running and it looks
like I'll be concentrating on smaller sizes, solid colors (unusual ones)
to start with.
Yipes, stripes.......
Sometimes called"furnace beads" because this sort of bead is traditionally made from a furnace.
These are made over a torch in the same way the furnace beads are made, just smaller scale. A large hollow blob of glass is built up on a punty rod, decorations are added, another punty rod is added, covered with clear glass, and the blob is stretched out into a hollow tube or cane. Patterns on these will usually be stripes or solids of some sort.
The tube/cane is cut into beads on a diamond saw. The ends of the beads can be rounded by polishing and then bringing the bead up to working temperature in the kiln and then picking it out on a wire and rounding the ends in the torch flame, or they can be rounded entirely by cold working (grinding/polishing). The beads that have been rounded are more expensive due to the labor intensive process required to accomplish this.
I have included a strand of samples pieces I save (to remind myself) in the picture to give you a (very) small sample of some of the patterns possible. The conical shape beads you see on the sample strand are the very ends of the pulled cane. Most folks want the parallel shape beads cut out of the middle of the tube/cane, so these ends of the canes are often what end up being saved as samples to remind myself of what patterns I've done.
Like everything else, I don't stock these beads, I build them when you order them. I can build and cut them to whatever designs you want, and diameters and lengths can be large or small.
These are the result of cutting the cane/tube on the diamond saw. Note the "fuzzy" edges on the beads turned up on their ends. This may or may not be a problem for your application. I can polish the fuzzy ends of the beads for another 25 cents per bead. Patterns, colors, bead sizes and hole sizes can be made to suit you.
25 cents to $1 per
bead, depending on how complex and what quantity
These were tube beads reheated in the kiln and then rounded in the torch. The sides are cold worked (polished). The larger ones were encased in clear glass. Different patterns, colors, bead sizes and shapes can be made .
Like everything else, these have to be custom made, they're not a stock item.
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here for all your ordering, shipping, guarantee, and
quantity
discount info
The End
Thank You