This will be a quicky. The photo is of a new tool I purchased about three months ago. It's a flat lap machine for grinding down stones for lapidary and glass. Of course, for glass. I'm kind of having a great time making these disc beads and then grinding and polishing up the flat sides.It's a tad on the time consuming side because you want to make enough of them to make it worth while to do it. Think production line! The reason behind that (for me) is that you have to work your way through the diamond grit wheels. 170 grit all they way to 1200. There are actually four wheels to grind and then one more to create that nicely polished front window. Since you have to change that machine's wheel 4-5 times to properly finish one bead you might as well be finishing a half a dozen all at once.
The one you see me holding the bead on is an Inland grinder with an 8" wheel surface to work on. Jeri Warhaftig (JeriBeads) recommended it to me. She had originally used a six inch one but switched because it is easier to hold things to the larger work surface. After having done this I can't imagine using a smaller surface area. Her book, Glass Bead Workshop, is a must have for the serious beadmaker.
I'm thinking maybe I'd like to try some "Geode" beads. " A Geode bead encases a decorative element within a layer glass. The bead is then cold-worked." That is the definition I pulled from somewhere - maybe Jeri's book. Geode beads look alot like the stones but you can reveal just about anything cased under that glass. B -U-TI- FULL.
Volume 5 is ready! 104 coe Geode Beads This Ebook shows how to layer silver colors and bevel windows into beads to create amazing geode effects! A simple Bevel Machine, wet tile saw or glass grinder is needed to create glass geodes. Rocio Bearer is the author and she already has some great books on the market.
Some quick post, huh? Procrastination is a whole different topic!
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