How Do You Make Handmade Glass Beads?
The best way to set your beading projects apart from others is to create your very own custom beads. There’s a simple way to make handmade glass beads. Only a few tools are required and the cost of materials is low. It involves melting colored glass powders onto the surface of copper tubing. Turn a slow cooker on high and fill it two-thirds full with vermiculite, a granular material sold at garden centers to mix into potting soil. Heat at least a half-hour. Clamp a copper tube cutter over the 1/8-inch copper tubing. Cut 1/2-inch lengths. Turn the handle on the tube cutter until the cutting blade bites into the surface of the copper. Swivel the cutter 360 degrees around the copper tubing. Tighten the handle again and repeat several more times until it cuts all the way through the walls of the copper tubing. Set up a propane torch so it can be worked with hands-free. Fill a metal pot with gravel. Bury half the propane tank in the gravel, with the tip of the torch hanging over the edge of
