Preparation is important, a stamen and vine cane is required and stringers are needed for the petals.
1. Vine Cane - Melt a substantial ball of dark green glass
Would you like to know how to make a flower lampwork bead?
Here we go...20 step by step instructions describing the method I use for making my floral beads
© 2008, Glass and Splinters
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Glass strips ready to be used in the flame
2. Shape it slightly with a pair of mashers
3. I use a tool I made by sharpening the end of a piece of brass and placing it in a hobby knife holder, using this I make indents along the green base.
4. In the indents lay down a molten ball of yellow and run it along the base of green glass. In between the yellow stripes place molten clear stripes. Ensure the end of the base is also encased in clear.
5. Melt the glass in. Using the mashers squeeze lightly to remove any air bubbles that may be captured.
6. Heat the end of the base and using a *punty attach it to act as a handle, melt the strip of green glass off, add clear glass to the end and add another punty forming 2 handles.
*A punty is a handle made from a pyrex glass rod so it will easily disconnect when cooled. To make the punty the end of the rod is made molten and then flattened on a graphite surface, to give a flat capped end.
7. Heat glass evenly, pull out slowly, if it starts to pull out too thinly blow on the glass to cool and continue to pull. Cut off the cane, I use tile cutters to do this.
Stamen Cane - use the same method as with the vine cane, substitue yellow as the base with black stripes laid down.
8. Melt strip of white glass, whilst hot the molten glass will appear as clear. Take out of the flame to cool slightly until the glass changes back to white. Using a pair of tweezers slowly pull out into a stringer.
Pull stringers from translucent pale amber, dark amber and a stringer from clear glass.
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9. Using a 1/16" mandrel which has been dipped in bead release and dried. I mix kiln wash and water to a creamy consistency and dip my mandrels 3 times, drying thoroughly in between each coat.
Heat the mandrel just under the flame.
10. Melt a ball of black glass. Wrap while spreading it along the mandrel to a sufficient width for the lentil mould. Melt to distribute the glass evenly around the mandrel.
11. Take the vine cane and meander around the base. Melt in.
12. Add a molten ball of clear glass around the centre. Melt in and add clear to the sides.
13. Make molten, cool slightly and press carefully into the lentil mould, aim for it to be a little undersized. This is to allow for the extra glass to be added for the flowers.
14. Using the white stringer add 4 dots in the shape of a diamond in three sections on both sides of the lentil. Make sure to constantly bathe the whole bead in the flame. Slowly melt the dots in.
15. Add the stringer of pale amber on top of the white dots. Once again melt in slowly and gently remould.
16. Add 3 small spots of white glass using the stringer between the pale amber petals.
17. Melt in the white spots and top with the dark amber glass stringer.
Melt in slowly and remould.
18. Heat the centre of each flower, take out of the flame and push the stamen cane in. Blow on the cane while 'wriggling' the cane from side to side until it breaks off.
19. Melt a dot of the clear glass stringer on top of the stamen cane. Melt in and reshape in the lentil mould.
20. After reshaping it is ready to be placed in the preheated kiln.
I preheat my kiln to 530ºC/985ºF in the morning before I begin making lampwork beads. It is then left at that temperature for another hour after the end of my bead making day (approx. 7 hours). I then switch it off and wait till the next morning before removing my annealed beads.
The mandrels are soaked in water. The beads taken off and the bead release in the holes is cleaned out by reaming with a dremel.
My wonderful kiln!
Mandrels prepared for molten glass
