Professional Lampworking / Beadmaking / Flameworking Courses & Workshops

Glass Bead Making Course Description

To view a list of our current, on-going courses please click the "Course List" button below (Courses are listed on our sister-site Beaded Lily Glass Works).

Below is a point-by-point overview of the glass bead making (AKA lampworking, flameworking) course we offer. All classes are taught by instructor Tim James using his self-developed gravity and spot-specific heat techniques to naturally center and balance beads. FYI: 6 and 9-hour beginner courses do not allow sufficient time to fully explore all of the items listed below.
1. SAFETY While glass bead making is certainly safe, a proper understanding and respect of the tools we use is essential. We will begin our class by discussing those safety standards. Be sure to dress appropriately for the class: Wear long hair tied back, cotton or natural fibers, no shorts or plunging necklines and no excessive jewelry on hands and wrists.
2. Equipment Using & maintaining gas tanks, hoses & regulators Different gas options & Oxygen concentrators Torches; Order of turning on the gases and lighting the torch Shutting down the equipment when done Kilns – proper kilns for annealing beads, digital controllers Cooling with fiber blankets and vermiculite & the limitations of these methods Batch annealing Basic tools used in bead making 3. Ergonomics: Proper way to hold mandrels and rods Importance of good posture and taking breaks Workbench set up: Chair height, good lighting, table height 4. Physical and Chemical properties of glass: Different types of glass (hard glass, soft glass, different brand names) COE’s and compatibility Stress in glass, thermal shock Annealing, annealing range and annealing point Reduction flame and oxidizing flame 5. Beadmaking basics: Avoid thermal shocking rods by warming slowly, perpendicular to the flame Winding glass on, laying down an even “footprint” Importance of slow, even rotation of mandrel Positioning of the hands Adding extra glass Where to work in the flame Using heat and gravity to help shape the bead Making even and dimpled ends How to remove air bubbles Shaping with graphite tools, making different bead shapes 6. More techniques: Pulling stringer Making dots, twisting dots, layering dots, feathering and raking Distorting the surface of a bead: poking, squashing, raking, twisting, cutting, etc. Applying stringer Basic encasing Use of Gold & Silver 7. Preparations and clean up: Preparing mandrels Proper consistency for bead release, how to dip mandrels, and dry release Cleaning glass rods Removing beads from the mandrel Cleaning bead holes 8. Resources: Recommended reading or video viewing Information on suppliers of glass, tools and equipment 9. Your beads: Of course all of the beads you create are yours to keep. At course end your beads will be batch-annealed to relieve internal stress and insure longevity. It is best to let the beads "soak" in the kiln and slow-cool overnight. If your travel plans are such that you will not be in town to pick them up the next day, your beads can be shipped to you via First Class Post.

Course Description - Intermediate:

Outlining a general syllabus for the intermediate-level bead making course is more difficult as it is varies depending on that individual students bead making experience and needs. Therefore, intermediate-level courses will be planned on a case-by-case basis and structured to speak to those needs directly. The pricing structure, however, remains the same.