Creations In Glass

What is lampworking and why is it called that?

Lampworking is an ancient type of glassworking that uses a gas fuelled torch to melt rods of glass. It is also known as flameworking or torchworking. Early lampworking was done in the flame of an oil lamp, with the artist blowing air into the flame through a pipe. Although the art form has been practiced since ancient times, it became widely practiced in Murano, Italy in the 14th century. Lampworked beads (with the exception of Asian and African beadmaking) have generally been from Italian and later Bohemian (Czech) lampworkers, who for the last four hundred years kept the techniques secret.

Thirty or so years ago, some American artists started experimenting with the form, and so evolved into our modern day way of making beads. It was around the late 1960's when modern lampworking became recognized as a serious art form.

Most artists today use torches that burn either propane or natural gas, with either air or pure oxygen. There are many different types of torches and fuels, made for working many different types of glass from the super soft Sataki and Kinari glasses of Asia to the very modern use of borosilicate (or commonly known as Pyrex) glass which is much harder and requires more heat.

I use a Carlisle MiniCC torch with propane and I have a machine called an oxygen concentrator to provide the oxygen for a nice hot flame. I also use a Chillipepper bead annealer kiln, made just for handling beads. I would recommend all of the above to anyone interested in learning this wonderful art form.

What kinds of glass do I use?

The most common are soda-lime glass and borosilicate glass. I normally use the softer soda-lime glasses. I get my rods from Italy, the Czech Republic, the USA, and Germany.

Most lampworkers use rods of glass 7-8 mm in diameter, but sheet glass (like for stained glass windows) can be cut into strips and used to make beads also, but the compatibility is more difficult to know. Glass is also available crushed into various sizes from tiny pebbles to fine powder, and this is called 'Frit'. The frit is typically used for surface decorations in lampworked beads. Or as a base for another layer of designs, like say flowers.

I blend my frits to make custom blends, and I also use some commercially available frit blends.

Different colors of glass must be carefully selected for compatibility with each other. Chemically, some colors can react with each other when melted together. This may cause desirable effects in coloration such as a pretty metallic sheen, or be a not so pretty mess. I have to be careful when choosing which colors to use together to make sure I get the nicest bead effects.

How do I shape the glass?

Tools for lampworking can be anything! Dental tools, butter knives, pliers, tweezers, scissors, you name it. Graphite or steel pads are used for marvering the glass. Brass tools and presses can be used to help shape the glass as well as tungsten picks used to drag glass around on the surface, or to create a hole through a piece.

So, basically what are the steps involved in making a bead?

• Preparing the mandrel - I start by dipping a mandrel (stainless steel wire) into a clay based substance called Bead Release.
• I select rods of glass to use for that session. Then, I warm up the rod and the mandrel in the flame, and When both glass and mandrel are sufficiently warm, I start rotating the mandrel while allowing the glass to wind upon it, that creates the base bead.
• Shaping the bead - Beads are shaped using a combination of heat, gravity and tools. This is the first shaping, there will be several other times where I will need to shape the bead depending on how complex it is.
• Decorating the bead - Beads can be decorated by many different ways creating dots or lines, feathers, hearts or other designs may be produced. Metal decorations of pure copper, silver, gold, palladium and platinum, wire. other special glasses like dichroic and enamels can be added. There are lots of things we beadmakers use to make our beads have a special look.
• Annealing - Once completed, beads should be heated in a kiln until the piece reaches its "stress relief point" and the stresses from manipulating the glass are gone, then slowly cooled to avoid cracking. Annealing makes the beads a great deal more durable and long lasting than non-annealed beads. This is a very important step to making beads, without annealing the beads can (and usually will) break into sharp pieces and can cut you. Everyone who sells or uses their beads should anneal, it is critical for safety. Simply cooling the beads slowly will not help, it is the annealing at the proper temperatures that helps the glass molecules relax and become more stable.
• Cold working - Etching the finished piece with acid leaves a matte finish. Sometimes, I like to etch my beads because the etching gives them a softer look and feel. I especially like to etch transparents layered over white and clear, as the etching makes the beads seem to glow.