July’s Mold – fused glass beads

July’s mold – Fused glass beads.

One thing I enjoy every month is my newsletter from “Glass with a Past” by Jodi. First let me say Jodi is always helpful when I email her and ask her questions. She has also started selling various fusing items along with her tutorials, templates, etc.

First a little background, the only part about fused glass that I struggle with is it’s difficult to make beads out of fused glass (without being a flame-worker that is). Specifically beads small enough for earrings or a beaded necklace, etc. Don’t get me wrong I can drill holes in glass, use fiber paper to create a channel, use a cast mold, etc., but they aren’t real beads.

A few months ago, I saw these cool molds that are actually used to create beads using fusible glass! To say the least I bought 2 different types. The first mold (for round beads) uses frit or tiny pieces of glass with a stainless steel mandrel (dipped in bead release) in the middle.

The other mold uses strips of glass for triangle beads.

BTW I forgot to followed Jody’s instructions on the first batch of round beads, so I had some mistakes.

My fused glass beads needed a bit of cold-working, but I really love the fact that I can make beads out of fused glass without a torch.

Another lessons learned – when I firepolished I didn’t put them back int the mold so they flatten on the bottom. Not a bad thing but it I want to keep them rounded on the bottom I need to put them back in. The good news is my firing schedule was so great the holes didn’t close up!!

BTW, I also used the bead release on wooden skewers to see if it would work with sheet glass verses fiber paper.  It worked great, except it took a little bit to get the bead release out of the pendant, the hole is extremely tiny – I’m not sure if a normal chain will fit, I might have to wire wrap the pendant. As expected the toothpick totally burned up in the kiln.

But for the first time using the molds I’m pretty happy. I did have 3 stick to the mandrels and couldn’t get them off until I asked Jodi and she said to soak them it water – that worked for 2 of them. the other. I’ll just use it to remind me to put enough bead release on.

I hope you like the beads. I’ll have to do some more fused glass beads and maybe I’ll follow the instructions this time. 🙂

To see more of my fused glass work or more of my reviews please refer to my website Elegant Fused Glass by Karen.

If you get a chance, check out all my sites, Fused Elegance, Elegant Fused Glass by Karen, Etsy, and Artfire.

If you would like to stay abreast of what I’m up-to and learn a little more about jewelry, check out our newsletter. It is published the last day of each month.

Keeping my Kiln warm,

Karen