04 Jan 12 What is a lampwork bead and lampwork buying tips

Any one who knows jewelry beads must have heard of lampwork beads. You can find many beautiful handmade lampwork beads at bead shops, craft stores, online jewelry supplies store, such as ebay, etsy' so many jewelry making supplies website and platform.

Lampwork beads are also sometimes called "wound" beads, because are made by winding glass around the mandrel. In fact, Lampwork beads are glass beads made in a torch. However, Lampwork beads are different from blown glass beads in that they are made by melting glass rods or glass scraps around a thin steel rod called a mandrel.

The term lampwork comes from the early days of beads making when the only heat source hot enough to melt glass was from a small oil lamp. Modern lampwork beads are made using one of two types of torch: either a single fuel torch which uses a fuel called MAPP gas, or a torch that uses a mixture of propane and oxygen, sometimes called a minor burner.

I had post some articles about lampwork before, such as how to make lampwork beads, buying tips about quality lampwork beads, and learn to examine lampwork before buying. If you are interested in these handmade lampwork beads, have a look at my articles is a wise choose!

You may, on the other hand, be looking for something more elegant and classic such as glass pearls. Metal beads do the exact opposite and offer a very modern look to them, even when they have intricate detailing in place. Nut beads and shell beads are other options and these often give a more natural, earthy feel to the finished jewelry piece. Wood beads offer a similar relationship'

The last is the buying tips:

1>The ends of lampwork beads should be totally smooth.
2>Sculptural beads should have no cracks in narrow areas like fins or legs or tails.
3>Dots on round beads and pupils on eyes in sculptural beads should be solidly attached. If you can put your thumbnail under a dot and flick it off, it wasn't applied with enough heat.
4>Powdery bead release should not sift out of a bead when it's gently tapped.

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