When I started making hollow beads, roughly a decade ago, I made simple glass globes, just as a solid-bead maker starts out with spacer beads. I quickly began to add trailing, such as dots, to my creations; my original soap bubbles, as Page called them, had uneven walls and often were stringcutters into the bargain. They needed decorations to cover up my manufacturing flaws.
Assortment of plain hollow ‘bubbles’, ranging from roughly 8–24mm hole to hole. Assorted soda-lime glasses, Jan 2007.
Well, here it some number of years later, and though I still make bad ones, the good ones, like those depicted here, make up an acceptable percentage of my efforts. Retail pricing is as follows:
- less than 10mm: $11.00ea
- 10–13mm: $9.00
- 14–17mm: $11.00
- 18–23mm: $17.00
- 24+: please enquire
Measurements are made hole to hole. Some of under 10mm sizes may be built on smaller mandrels, and beads 20mm or larger are easier to make on 3/32 but unless stated otherwise, beads are made on 1/16” mandrels. (All the beads above were made on 1/16.) I use a thin coating of release, so that should be close to the actual size of the hole. If you have other questions concerning purchase, please see the pricing schedule.
file originally created 20jan07
Unless otherwise noted, text, image and objects depicted therein copyright 1996--present sylvus tarn.
