Plunge Dot Beadmaking Demo

Here I make the classic Plunge Dot Bead. I use COE 104 soft-glass - dark purple, light purple, periwinkle and clear. Under 10 minutes with seconds to spare... Whew.. Enjoy!

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• Flameworking
• lampworking
• glass
• beadmaking

[sev07pass]

Whats a ceramic fiber blanket even do?

[hotglass]

@sev07pass The ceramic fiber blanket only slows the cooling of the bead. I reduces the number of beads that will crack in half. If you made a bead and just let it air cool most, if not all, the beads would break as they cooled.

[Burritoast]

never seen anyone use a pencil as a glass shaper tool

[hotglass]

@Burritoast hehe, yea, a fat pencil is actually a pretty good tool for this job. It has good enough quality graphite and the wood is an insulator.

[thellamashow]

amazing work!

do you need to throw that in a kiln?

or is it good to go?

[hotglass]

It needs to go in a kiln or at the very least a "ceramic fiber blanket" that is made for beadmaking.

[koweesmum1]

I have enjoyed your tutorials, thanks. The fact that the filming angle is similar to my own working angle makes it really helpful as I can work the process through in my mind much more easily. Right, I'm all inspired now. Armed with notes taken as I've watched, I'm away to light up and have a go! Thank you so much!

[DEAFthief]

Cool deal man.. I just currently applied for a bead making job in Atlanta, they said that they train you until comfortable, but i went ahead and bought my own torch and kiln just to do my own stuff.. I love playing with glass!!! i cant wait to master some tequniques and start creating some from imagination!! thanks for the awesome video man. every bit of learning helps!!

[vonniescrafts1]

That is some bead! love it!

[maidenearth]

Hi Ross, I have been watching your videos for 2 years now and I still come back to them time and again. I am "graduating" from a hot heat to a GTT Lynx, and setting up a studio in my basement. Can you please tell me about your ventilation in this video? It looks like a style that will work for me to get started. Thanks! More videos please!

[KraftwithaK]

You can use a crock pot filled with vermiculite (available from a gardening center). Let your crockpot heat up, and when the bead is finished let it cool a bit so it doesn't stick to the vermiculite. Just keep putting your mandrels in when you are done and leave them there. Put the lid on as best as you can when finished and turn it off. Beads are done a few hours later. Its not as good as an annealer, but it does the trick for a lot less money. I've lost few beads using that method.

[fwd1976]

no wonder the glass beads r expensive. i got a glas beads neckles only for £8 at invarary castle, scotland quite cheaper though.