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Tips from the Glass Academy: Beadmaking

Tips from the Glass Academy: Beadmaking

 

Though not really new, because it has been around since the 19th century, bead making is gaining momentum.  One way to get into it is to buy a Hot Head torch like you see in the pictures below.  This is easily something you can do at home.  That is just propone you see attached.  

Hot Head Torch – Stained Glass Express

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If you really want to dive in, you can buy a bench burner which needs to be hooked up to gas and oxygen.  The one below is an Alpha.  You can use a 3-gallon propane to run this and a oxygen generator. 

Bethlehem Burner or Alpha Glass working Torch – Stained Glass Express

GlassWorkingTorch 

 

 

 

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Janet's Tips: Why the Heck is Lampworking called lampworking??

Janet's Tips: Why the Heck is Lampworking called lampworking??

tipsfromjanetI originally wrote this blog in 2013. I am not sure why we used this picture of unrelated glass, but I was way younger so I'm keeping it.   Lampworking is also called flame working or torch working or bead making. All those words make sense to the process except Lampworking which is the official name of the process. So, I looked it up. It is called lampworking because way back when this process started, they did it by oil-fueled lamps while blowing air into the flame through a pipe. So, there you go! This type of glasswork is where a torch is primarily used to melt the glass. Once it is molten, it is formed by shaping with tools and hand movements. Lampworking is different from glassblowing in that glassblowing uses a furnace called a glory hole as the primary heat source. The methods today use torches that burn propane or natural gas for the fuel. It is mixed with air or pure oxygen as the oxidizer. MAPP gas in portable canisters can be used.
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