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Anita Pepper - Glass melting junkie
After a long and arduous career as an English/Humanities/Psychology teacher, I am finally able to pursue my lifelong dream to become a starving artist. Well, since you can see my picture, you know I am not really starving. That's because I get a retirement pension besides my bead sales! |
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So, how are these glass beads made? Here I am making beads at an oxygen-propane torch. Like my headgear? It's a special visor to protect my eyes from the torch flame. |
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The torch flame is between
2000-5000 degrees, so the workbench and wall are protected by stainless steel. The beads are made from stained glass rods, either soda lime glass or borosilicate. Custom colors can be made by layering glasses, mixing glass rods together while molten, and with powdered glass enamels melted into
the surface. |
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Glass rods are melted in the flame, and wound around a steel mandrel to create the base bead. The glass becomes molten at 1400 degrees or higher. The bead must be rotated rotated constantly while being worked to prevent gravity from making it droop. |
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After the base bead is created,
it is decorated by applying
various colors of glass and
manipulating the glass with tools.
When the bead is finished, it is
carefully placed in a kiln, where
it is annealed overnight to remove molecular stress and make the
bead strong and durable.
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