I'm pondering something...any thoughts?
 

I've been pondering this for a little while now...

You can make hollow PMC beads by using cork or wood clay in the center and designing around it, and then burning off the wood when you fire it.

I wonder if there's any way to apply that to glass? My thoughts so far:

1) Put the wood clay around the mandrel after dipping in bead release. It's likely the clay will ignite the moment you touch it with glass, and then you won't have the shape you want, just an ashy mandrel.

2) Put the wood clay around the mandrel prior to dipping in bead release. Possible results - shape not held because heat causes the wood under the bead release to ignite, shape held but entire inside of hollow bead is now coated with bead release, (minorly) explosive result as gases from wood ignition are released from bead release shell.

I realize there are other ways to make hollow beads, I'm just interested in exploring the possibilities of how to use the media.

Any thoughts?

Steel wool. Wind it tightly around the mandrel before dipping and pull it out after bead is made and cooled. It's how the Japanese artists make their vessels. You can find the technique in the Tombo Dama book.

If you really want to try it with the wood bead, I would suggest a few coats of bead release, then burn the wood off in a kiln before applying the glass. I would imagine that the release would be so delicate that it won't work, but it would be interesting to try, anyways!

That being said, I work entirely off mandrel, so I could be WAY off in my thinking.

That's an interesting one. I might have to try that anyway regardless of what else people come up with!

My thought as well - that the shell would quite possibly be too fragile.

Rather than using bead release perhaps use ceramic over the wood. It would have to be about 1/8" thick IMHO but after firing should be strong enough to build a bead around. Getting the ceramic out afterwards might be a problem but it may be possible to break it out... dunno?
PJ

I think that is called pottery

Hollow Beads
 

Make two discs on your mandrel a distance apart. Fuse the outer edges of the discs together shaping them toward each other as you go. When they are fused nicely heat and reheat the whole bead. The expanding traped air will make a round bead dont over heat it dont under heat it

Thanks for the tips, but I think you misunderstood my post. I know how to make hollow beads, I'm just looking into alternative ways using additional materials, and trying to figure out a way to use one material in particular.

The early egyptians used a sand core which was dug out of a vessle later.

Funny...I just started making hollows and the entire time I kept thinking "there has to be a better way to make these damn things". :lol:

Yeah it's called a glass lathe, if you have a few thousand bucks laying around.

I've been thinking about wood clay also but haven't tried it.

Georgia

I watched my PMC instructor's kiln incinerate wooden match sticks in a matter of moments, there's no WAY anything wood based is holding up in the torch.

you could try a mixture of 2 parts silica to one part plaster. Its what I use to make glass slumping molds. You would have to heat it very slowly in the kiln very slowly until all the water was gone about 1100 degrees before adding glass. It would be a right pain removing from the inside of your glass form when finished.

steve

Lol! Interesting idea, but I don't want to make cleaning them that much more complicated! :)

Sorry but I don't see cork or wood dough holding up to 1600F+ very long :lol:

Here is the ancient technique on core forming...
http://www.romanglassmakers.co.uk/nl7text.htm