What do you do with broken and cracked beads?

[simvet02]

I have quite a collection of cracked and broken focal beads. I was just wondering what you do with yours.

[squid]

Have you tried fusing a half bead? You can make some REALLY cool cabochons with some of them.

[simvet02]

I've done a few but didn't clean them well enough. Now I have quite a collection because I'm too lazy to clean them. Usually when I have one of my large tornado beads that cracks down the middle I go ahead and throw it around until the breaks down the middle. I have quite a few, especially orange and yellow combinations. I've quite trying to make any with those colors. They just don't like being encased.

I'll have to get in gear and do some, I be they will really be pretty.

[lindag]

My avatar is a bracelet made with a broken bead that I fused into a cabochon. I just grind out the release with a dremel and fuse.

[simvet02]

That's a great idea Lindag, I totally forgot about the dremel.

[Kalera]

I saved up a bunch of smaller cracked Bullseye beads and did a whole batch by putting them on a small square of black and then capping them with clear, and I like how they turned out:

[Kevan]

I throw some in the ocean and some away.

[jgraff]

I love melting thermal shock beads! They make the best cabs. Especially the florals!




Dots come out pretty good too. The only trouble I've had is when the crack goes right through the middle of a centered design. Then the cab has the design on the edges which is useless.

jgraff

[playswithfire104]

You can use them in mosaic projects too.

OMG BEAUTIFUL necklace Janet! I'd love to see a full size pic of the one on the right in your signature that is TDF!!!!

[jgraff]

Thank you for the compliment Nancy!

Actually the one on the right of my signature is the same as the one in the pictures. I'm still working on my photography techniques so my lighting varies wildly. The collar is hard to photograph in the light box because it's so big!

jgraff

[simvet02]

jgraff that collar is wonderful they all look like little flowers.

Kalera the cabs are so cool, that's a great idea. I did buy some 104 sheet glass to play around with, now I know what to try.

thanks,

[Starfield]

When I first started doing beads my husband bought me a gumball machine at a garage sale. I fixed it so the mechanism would not turn and I threw all my wonky and cracked beads in there. I looks very nice in our den.

Karen

[Bricklend]

I make hair pins out of them

[playswithfire104]

Originally Posted by jgraff

Thank you for the compliment Nancy!

Actually the one on the right of my signature is the same as the one in the pictures. I'm still working on my photography techniques so my lighting varies wildly. The collar is hard to photograph in the light box because it's so big!

jgraff

Wow how about that. The colors look so different but when I looked closer at it I can see that they are the same item. I do bead weaving and can just imagine how long it took you to make it. Sorry for hijacking the thread. Back to the regularly scheduled discussion.

Lots of good ideas for cracked/broken/wonkie beads. I love the gumball idea. I have and and just may have to try it out!

[Janie]

I glued some around a wooden frame and some around a clay pot.

[Lea Zinke]

I found some pretty cool garden stake candle holders/cups that I have in the garden. I fill them with the experimentals/wonks/etc. with a little tea light -- sure looks pretty when you're outside sitting on the deck with a glass of wine!

Great ideas, everyone!
Lea

[Theresa]

jgraff, your nacklace is amazing! How long did it take you to make? I know I wouldn't have the patience... (plus the fact I have zero beading skills, lol)

Didn't mean to go off course. I'm a newbie but the few I have I put in a clear vase.

[simvet02]

Originally Posted by Bricklend

I make hair pins out of them

I'd love to see some photos of your hair pins.

[simvet02]

Don't worry about hijacking the thread, that's what I wanted, lots of ideas and photos of what people do with their broken beads. I have quite a collection. I just need to clean them up so I can fuse them. The first ones I did were really pretty but the bead release has to be completely gone or it floats to the top and ruins them. Found that out the hard way.
I was thinking that as a cab they might work well for those glue in wine stoppers too.

[jgraff]

Not only does the bead release need to be completely removed but if you have a piece with the hole through it and you slump that, the hole is very hard to get rid of. I slump mine pretty far but that hole just never fills in.

You can take a slumped bead and flip it over and reslump it. So if you don't like where the design is hiding you can move it to a more prominent position.
I've done that with my florals. Sometimes the flower is off to the side too much and reslumping it will reposition it.

No amount of flipping has gotten rid of the hole. I suppose I could fill it with clear frit. It's not worth it unless the end is really pretty.

jgraff

[houptdavid]

Originally Posted by Kevan

I throw some in the ocean and some away.

Litterbug

Going to search Kevans beach. Seriously? Think of the thrill you must give to the person that finds one washed up on the beach.

Somewhere on here someone showed how to split the beads along the hole with a punch, that way the bead release is on the bottom

[Beadbug]

I love the ideas, Mine get taken out in the sailboat and thrown overboard into lake michigan, by the time they wash up on shore someone will find a treasure. I love finding beach glass so this is a new twist on beach glass. If you are ever up at Wilderness State Park and find some sand worn glass it could be one of mine

[barbbbeads]

Creative ideas! I'm the lazy sort. Throw them into the garden or into pots or into the trash. Whoever occupies this house after I'm gone will find some interesting looking "stones" when they go digging in the gardens.

[Renee]

I have a "boo-boo" bowl on my kitchen island in which all error laden beads find their final resting place. It's really a clear glass canister with a lid. If you do something like this, just make sure the container has a fairly thick wall. I once used a glass container meant to decoratively store spaghetti. It was almost full, and slight contact with something cracked the container.

[woozles]

for slumping beads? I am sure I saw them on here, but can't find them in a search or in the tutorial index.

[rusticstudio]

I slump some into cabs but mostly they go into a vase.

[PurpleCatJewels]

I found the slumping directions/tutorial!

Important, because I was looking for the same thing.

Okay, I just did a search and Mary Lockwood posted the following link on WC for Gwacie's tutorial:

Turning beads into Cabs - a tutorial

~Rachelle

[NLC Beads]

I chuck mine into my bead release if they're thermal cracks or incompatibility cracks.

Sculptural pieces that crack get glued back together and sent to homes for damaged beads to live the end of their days in peace.

[harakeke]

I was fortunate enough to meet a mosaic artist, who was selling some of her art at the same gallery I sell beaded jewellery. She came round, and was so enamoured with my cracked beads, that she bought a year's worth for the cost of the glass!

[woozles]

link. Now I know why I couldn't find it on LE!