4 Steps to Make Glass Beads
Materials needed: scrap glass, clay, cassava leave stalk, suede (color), fuel for grease/oil
Tools needed: metal mortar, metal pestle, grinding stone, file, sieve, bricks, and mold
Stage 1: Designing and making clay mold
Steps:
Prepare clay slab
Make holes of the desired shape and size in the slab
Allow to dry
Stage 2: Designing and building a brick kiln
Steps:
- Make a design of the kiln
- Make a dimension of the kiln to be made
- Prepare bricks
- Construction of kiln according to the design
Stage 3: Preparing glass powder
Steps:
- Break glasses into pieces
- Pound or grind broken glasses into fine particles
- Sieve pounded glasses into fine powder
- Store for use
Stage 4: Making beads from glass
Steps:
- Paint the holes of the mold with kaolin or oil
- Fix a cassava leaf-stalk into each hole
- Fill the holes with powdered glass
- Add colored powder to the glass powder for decoration
- Pack mold in the kiln for firing
- Allow to fire
- Remove from the kiln and allow to dry
- Smooth beads by filling the rough edges and polish
- Design if necessary
