What are lampwork beads, and how do you know what to look for?
Let’s start with a short overview of lampwork, and the lampworking process. Lampwork is, simply, melting and working glass over a flame.
Torches of various kinds are in general use to do this, from the single fuel hothead, to some quite large propane and oxygen torches. There are many different types of glass that can be used, but the main two you will see used for lampwork are:
Soft glass (most of it manufactured in Italy, usually used to make glass beads. It has a low melting point, so the artisan doesn’t necessarily need a large torch.
Hard glass (also known as Pyrex or borosilicate, or just plain boro), which can be used to make anything from pendants and beads to goblets and small bowls.
The information given here pertains only to soft glass and glass beadmaking.
To make a soft glass bead, the glass is generally melted and wrapped around a steel rod, or mandrel, that has been dipped in a claylike bead release to make the hole in the center. Each color of glass is individually applied as dots, lines, squiggles, frit (broken glass), or in the form of previously made elements such as twistie (glass that has been twisted together) or murrini (glass shapes). The tools used can vary from scissors, ice tongs and dental picks, to those that are specially made to work with glass. Almost anything goes as long as it is made of stainless steel, brass or graphite.
So that's it in a nutshell.
Now, what should you be looking for in a bead? Well, much of that is subjective, but there are a few general rules:
1) The beads should have nice finished ends- they should not be sharp as they can crack, chip or cut through the cord they are strung on. The best end is one that is nicely puckered.
2) They should have clean holes. After the beads are taken off the mandrel they must be reamed to clean out all the bead release, or sludge.
3) They should not be cracked. As glass has liquid qualities, even a small crack can grow over time.
4) There should not be unintentional tool marks or chill marks on the glass. Sometimes tool marks are used as a design tool. Chill marks are concentric circles which are left after a cool tool touches the glass. As a general rule, these marks should be fire polished out over the torch, as they are signs of stress in the glass.
5) If there are decorative dots on the beads, they should not be undercut. They need to be firmly attached to the base bead so they can't break off.
6) The beads should be kiln annealed. Annealing is a slow cooling process that equalizes the temperature in the glass while it cools.
7) If you are looking at pictures on the internet, the photos should show the bead from all sides. My beads often have quite different looks, depending on how they are viewed.
Same bead- front and back:
There are other things to look for- are there unintentional bubbles in the glass? They do not cause any technical problems, but the more strict school of thought says there should not be.
After that, it's mostly a subjective thing. There are hundreds of different techniques in use, and thousands of variations on those, but when it comes right down to it, it really just depends on what strikes a chord with you.
Hope this has been informative, and that it will make it easier for you to find lampwork beads that are properly made and will suit your needs!
