Half beads

[lemon kitten]

How on earth do I split my beads in half for slumping?  I've tried using a metal punch to split down the hole but the entire bead just breaks.......any suggestions please?

Janey

[qwirkyglass]

mine do it on thier own when i let them get too cold before putting them in bubbles.
do you cool in bubbles or kiln?

[lemon kitten]

No I anneal in the kiln.....but I do sometimes want to use beads that haven't quite turned out the way I want.  I never purposely make beads to slump

J x

[julieHB]

I filed the point of a round nail so that it had two opposite sharp edges, and when the point is inserted into the bead hole only the edges touch the glass. Then, with confidence (!), I hit the nail with a hammer. After some practice you'll end up with two halves - they might not be exactly equal in size, but pretty close. This works best with beads that are equally thick around the circumference. For lentils and similar I suggest melting them down as they are, or optionally grind one side flat before fusing.