Making small glass beads requires that the glass is melted onto a mandrel coated with a special compound so you can get them off once they have cooled. The mandrel / bead must be kept slowly rotating all the time or the liquid glass will drip off!

The first step is to carefully warm both the glass and the mandrel to avoid temperature shock to the glass.

Then the melting glass is wrapped around the mandrel.

This leads to a small bead on the mandrel.

Then more glass is wrapped around the small bead - adding colours as required.

This creates the larger bead.

And here it is cooled and ready for taking off the mandrel.

Click on the image below to see a selection of finished items decorated with handmade beads.