Galaxy Bead!?!?!?
 

Okay, I have waited so patiently for someone to offer up the how to's...and I just can't take it anymore! Please, oh please, oh please, will someone share with me? I really want to try to make a set of "galaxy beads" as a birthday gift for a friend of mine. She is rocket science smart, but a smidge shy of a full deck when it comes to common sense (she admits it)...she's always saying, "You'll miss me when the mother ship comes for me", and I keep joking with her that the mother ship really needs to beam her up for some warranty work, but that they can't keep her. Her birthday is in December, so help...please...

Chris

I am not sure if you are referring to any specific tecnique but one way to acieve this is to roll a black base bead in small silver and gold chunks. First roll in 22 or 24 ct gold clippings and heat in an oxidizing flame until the metal starts to burn and leaves a trace deposit of gold fume on the surface. Next roll in .999% pure siler clippings and gently heat in a reducing flame until the metal smokes and leaves a fume deposit. Then encase with clear the fumed bead with imbedded metal chunks taking care not to burn off the fume. The finished bead should look like it has small metal comets with blue green or pink tail when done properly.

I hope Queen Corina doesn't mind me giving the secret away. When I got PTF few weeks ago, the cosmic fudge was one of the first beads I had to try.
1. make a black barrel bead
2. roll in silver foil and burnish
3. dots with silvered ivory stringer
4. encase
I attached a pic of it. first one looks like a galaxy in the early stage with red and blue (well, that was my intention anyway). third one was cracked, I didn't have kiln yet when I made these guys. Hope you have fun with these.
Kyung

Opps, the pic disappeared. here we go again.

Transparent cobalt, wrapped in silver with rubino dots is my favorite :D

Kyung, those are beautiful!

Here's a bead I made and called galaxy.

Make a Cobalt base,
add random dots of rubino,
roll in silver foil and burnish it (means roll it on a graphite marver to make sure the silver is touching the entire bead)
burn off the silver,
add random silvered stringer lines,
encased in clear.

Pretty easy and make amazing effects!

Hope this will help you!

Here is one I'm talking about...not encased, rubino over silver :D

Wow, those are all so cool! The ones I was thinking about have that "air of distinction" but I'm likin' all of them, off to torch...

Thanx everyone! oh soooo much,

Chris

*snort* Thanks Chris :D

What are the rods that you see people using that already have the "planet" inside them? to make their galaxy marbles?

Typically not a rod but a glass tube, heat close the end, drop the planet (opal or other object being used as the planet in the tube. Heat close it up and place it where you want it.

At one time there was rods with crushed opal in them you could use to get the planets (small ones). I have one I purchased from Trev's Glass some time ago.