My Work Space

I know it doesn't look like much, but to me this is a little slice of heaven! I have a workbench in the garage where I make all my beads. I generally work at the torch in the early morning before it gets too hot.

If you're not familiar with lampwork bead making, here's a quick introduction.

All lampwork beads begin as glass rods. The rods are heated with a torch and wound onto a mandrel, which is a sturdy metal rod dipped in bead release. As glass is being added to the mandrel, different colored rods are used to make dots, patterns, etc.

Once a bead is completed it is put in a kiln for several hours until it's properly annealed (heated and cooled slowly for strength). Beads are then soaked in water and slide off the mandrels. All beads are cleaned with a little tool to take all the bead release (which is powdery and makes a mess) out of the holes.