Lampwork Glass Beads – Part III
In order to make lampwork glass beads, people (or lampworkers would be the correct term) melt narrow rods of glass (just like you saw in the movies) with the flame of a torch. The molten glass is wound around a mandrel — a thin length of stainless steel. The space occupied by the mandrel becomes a hole through the bead when the bed is slipped away.
Turning the mandrel and holding it in different positions allows gravity to help the bead take form, although usually artists make it so that the form is roughly what they need (usually leave more than needed), and use other tools to give the bead proper shape. It takes years to master this skill. A professional lampworker understand both the glass and the flame of the torch, he knows how much heat is needed in the proper situation, you wouldn’t your bead to melt down on you, would you?
