Donut or Round?

[anfrank]

Hi
Apologies if this has already been addressed however I have very recently started lampworking and see that my beads inevitably turn out donut shaped.  I was really pleased that I had managed to get them 'round' until someone pointed out that they weren't round, but were flat!  I hadn't considered this as I thought that as long as they were symmetrical on the mandrel, then they were 'round'.  The fact that they are not round on the horizontal didn't occur to me - until now!  I have read 'Passing the Flame' and see now that Corina Tettinger does not really seem to like donut shaped beads, however Cindy Jenkins seems to prefer them?  I tried Corina's method of winding onto the mandrel moving slightly to the right each turn to get a wider footprint as she says that the glass will naturally move back to the centre, but I then just end up with olive shaped beads with horrible pointy ends.  If I add more glass to the ends to try and 'round them up, they just end up either still pointy but bigger, or back to a donut shape? Should I stick to donuts or should I be trying to make the perfect round?  Are donuts OK?
ps love all the posts on here - what a great site! 

[beadammed]

I think either's fine.  I usually make a tube shape and wind discs onto each end then heat the middle to bring them together to make rounds.  Sometimes you have to add to each end to get the shape you want

[Shirley]

Donuts are what come naturally. I expect there's some ratio between the footprint, the amount of glass and the production of puckered ends.

I don't know that it is possible to make a perfect round bead without some aspect of pointiness or sharpness to the holes. If I'm making a roundish bead I do as described above. Make a tube, then build a disc on both ends and then melt the whole lot down. I usually add an extra wrap of glass around the centre to make it slightly donut-shaped. I then heat one end and tip that end downwards slightly to create a puckered hole, repeating with the other end.

You can get bead rollers that help with the shape, although I tend to be a gravity kind of girl. I use my roller to measure for size rather than shape.

In the end, the right shape is the one you are looking to make. As long as it works for you it really doesn't matter.

[anfrank]

HI ladies,
Thank you, I haven't tried that method - will give it a whirl (literally!). I just found it easier to roll on the first layer of glass then just carry on adding to it like a big wheel, and then letting it melt down the sides?   I think it's a case of more work at the torch for me - I am getting obsessed now seeing how flat or round people's beads are!  

[Calico Cat]

It's just a matter of taste really - some folks prefer the doughnut shape and it's what the glass naturally wants to do.

I'm like you - start with a narrow disk and melt that down but I rarely make truly round beads ( to be honest I mainly make critters! ) I do find that sometimes a surface design looks better on either a doughnut or a round but it's whatever you prefer.



PS my spell checker doesn't like donuts ;-)

[Redhotsal]

If you can make a nice tight donut shape, then technically speaking you have a good bead. Personally, I like donuts and I'm not so keen on spherical beads. It doesn't matter - there's really no "right or wrong" with beads.

However, a couple of points to note - you will naturally get better hole "dimples" with donuts - which will make the resulting bead a stronger shape. With truly round or spherical beads then by default you will not get such a good dimple around the hole.

On the other hand - you will need to make more donut beads to make, say, a bracelet, than you would rounds because they take up less space, which is definitely worth thinking about if you sell bead sets to jewellery designers. If, on the other hand you make beads strictly for fun then it simply doesn't matter how "long" a strand of beads is!

If you find donut beads are easy to make then you will also probably find it easier to make disc beads, and leading naturally from there, you can also make hollows. If you can only make round beads, as your glass spreads out all over the mandrel, then you don't have a chance in hell of ever making a hollow. So, from a purely technical point of view a "donut" maker is probably a more accomplished technician than a "round" maker. You can also go from a donut bead to whatever shape you like - but conversely, you can't make a round bead into a donut......as you can't scrape the glass back off the mandrel once it's on there.

If you have a donut and you want it to go round - the easiest way I reckon is to just gently marver your donut into a squarish cylinder shape (this means you are spreading the "footprint" of the glass on the mendrel out a little more and then heat it until it goes back round. If you end up with the pointy olive shape you can add a "ring" of glass around the bead near to the holes.

The last point I would like to make is that the pointy olive shape is by far much much easier to encase than a donut shape as there are no "undercuts" to negotiate. So, if you are going to heavily encase a bead with clear glass then the preferred shape is definitely a pointy olive.

Flipping heck - who'd have thought I could have made a thesis out of "round vs donut"? 

[anfrank]

Oh my goodness, what a fantastic lot of excellent info to take in.  I am so grateful that you are willing to share your knowledge and take the time to help like this.  I will carry on with my donuts but also try the other methods detailed above - I haven't tried encasing yet but see what you say about trying to achieve that on a donut! Many thanks, really very grateful and food for thought indeed - sorry, it's all this talk of doughnuts!!

[Skyblue]

I really enjoyed reading your reply there Sal

[Pam]

Sal, that makes me feel so much better I find round beads without a shaper very un-natural to make (yet I prefer Maltesers to donuts )