Hollow Form Bead Construction

Begin by rolling PMC evenly between two piles of three or four playing cards. Apply a texture, if desired and use a template to cut two identical shapes for your bead.

Gently press the shapes over a light bulb or Christmas ball. Thoroughly dry and sand each piece by circling the halves on a piece of fine grit sandpaper.

Test that your two halves match perfectly and apply a generous amount of paste before joining the seams. Allow the bead to dry thoroughly, refine the edges, if needed, and fire at the appropriate temperature using fiber blanket or a bowl of vermiculite to prevent slumping.

For this bead I made a mold using two-part mold-making compound. The PMC is rolled evenly to three-card thickness, carefully pressed into the mold and trimmed. Allow the PMC to dry thoroughly before removing from the mold.

Gently sand the top half and cut a second piece of clay for the back of the bead. Allow the back to dry thoroughly, sand and fit the two halves together. Use paste to seal the seam and, when dry, refine if needed. Fire as indicated above.

When the beads have cooled, use a wire brush to remove the white surface and reveal the beautiful pure silver. Tumble with needle and ball stainless steel shot with a small amount of burnishing compound.

Add depth and color to the beads by applying a patina of Liver of Sulpher.

Keum-Boo is the process of applying 24K gold foil to silver by heat bonding.

Place a sheet of brass over an electric hot plate and heat to approximately 900 degrees. Applying a wooden skewer to the surface of the brass plate may test the heat. If the skewer is charred and smoldering, the heat is accurate. Place the silver design on the heat. Use very sharp scissors to cut the gold or tear it into irregular shapes. Use tweezers to place the gold onto the silver and gently tap into place using an agate burnisher. Use a second agate burnisher to hold the silver in place while burnishing the gold. Be sure to use well-fitting leather gloves to protect your hands.

Tumble the bead and apply patina, if desired.

©2008 Linda Kline - All rights reserved.