Hollow beads?

[Dee Dee]

This may be a daft question, but are hollow beads much weaker than normal beads?

And are they made by two disks eased towards each other?


Thanks
Steph X

[Dragonfire Glass]

check them out on youtube.
as for strength, I would imagine they are more fragile, being thinner, but I've never dropped one on my tile floor so couldn't say for certain 

[littlegiggles]

yup they are made with 2 disks which you join

in theory they are stronger than regular beads as if you drop them there is a little "give" which they can take and they bounce more

[Pat from Canvey]

yup they are made with 2 disks which you join

By slowly bringing the wraps closer to the middle each turn of the bead until finally they meet. The whole lot will look straggly at first but continue to heat so that the glass smoothes out and the air trapped in the bead expands due to the heat. Some people make two disc beads close together, say 1/4 inch and carefully push the outer rims of the discs closer till they meet.

[Hels4444]

I like making hollow beads but it can be a bit tricky  ( sometimes mine turn into really weird monsters!!), but keep at it its well worth it, I cannot remember who demonstrated it at last year's flame off but they made it look dead easy!!!!!!!!

[Dragonfire Glass]

I cannot remember who demonstrated it at last year's flame off but they made it look dead easy!!!!!!!!

Ray Skene I think 

[TiaraHelen]

Ha Ha, I just made my first one about half an hour ago, so haven't got it off the mandrel yet, eek...  The first attempt didn't work, because the bead release cracked - there's more strain on it I guess cos you work with thin disks and by the time they are bigger you are putting a lot of pressure on the centre as you turn if you're not careful. 
There was a tutorial in this or last month's Beads and Beyond actually.   PM me if you like, I might know where you could get a copy....

There might be something on here too but I haven't had a look..

[Donna@Rockin' Beads]

Mike Poole demonstrated Hollows last year - made it look dead easy and decorated it in fab bumpy dots.

[Magpie]

He does really nice ones.

He also does them in opaque colours which I thought was a bit strange when I first saw them, opaque? so you can't see that they're hollow? But they're much lighter than a solid bead that size which for me putting round my neck is a big plus. They're also easier to make, so for your first one try with an opaque colour, you'll be able to see the holes in the discs and joining bit, this makes it easier to plug them. If there's any holes your bead won't inflate, you'll just get a claggy lump of glass. Not that that's a problem, the daughter of a friend went straight for the first 'hollow' I made (tried to make) saying it was her favorite bead.

[Trudi]

I find it easier to start off with 2 small discs - then build up one till it meets the other - as demo'd by our very own Red Hot Sal on the Red Hot Minx course!

[Donna@Rockin' Beads]

He also does them in opaque colours which I thought was a bit strange when I first saw them, opaque? so you can't see that they're hollow? But they're much lighter than a solid bead that size which for me putting round my neck is a big plus. They're also easier to make, so for your first one try with an opaque colour, you'll be able to see the holes in the discs and joining bit, this makes it easier to plug them.

That's a great tip - opaque glass melts quicker too so that might stop bits of glass pinging off as I go along. I tend to end up with a very dense hollow (iyswim) cos I've taken so much glass to plug the holes. I'm desperate to make a bead within a bead too so the thinner the wall the better (I think).

[theflyingbedstead]

I make mine in a similar way to Sal's but, I make the second disk after I have built up the first and then join the two.  The easiest transparent that I have found to use so far is CiM Larkspur, but be careful not to get it too hot as it can scum up.  Once you have joined the sections and plugged the holes, it can take a while to melt everything into a nice rounded hollow...just keep it spinning!  You can also make hollows by starting with a long thinly walled bead and building up discs at each end, then joining those.  I find that this type of hollow a bit more difficult to make though!

[Dee Dee]

I've had a few "isn't it heavy" comments on some glass bead necklaces I've made, so thought it might be a solution, will have to have a play!!  Although goodness knows what they will turn out looking like 

There was a tutorial in this or last month's Beads and Beyond actually.   PM me if you like, I might know where you could get a copy....

We get B&B here (Australia) intermittently, but I have ordered issues No.s 15, 16 and 17 so that I can hopefully see some of the fab beads in the competition.  Is it in one of those?

Steph X

[TheJanie]

I started making hollows just before Christmas and it's the first technique I've taken to straight away without needing lots of PPP - I make two disks and then gradually add glass to bridge the gap.

I'm currently planning a bracelet with a load of them on that I wouldn't be able to make if they weren't hollow beads as it would end up waaaay too heavy!

I also find that because it's quicker to make bigger diameter beads, I've been able to make some big beauties! (well, I think they're beauties anyway  ).  It means I get far more beads for my limited energy and I come down from the workshop feeling I've actually accomplished something

[Sulis (Hazel)]

Dark Green transparents and Dark Blue transparents work well on hollows too - they seem to be stiff enough to build up the discs nicely and don't tend shock too easily. I use standard effetre colours for these and they work really well.

Lurrrrrve hollows  Especially decorated with dots!