Lampwork at Avalon jewellery

For many years now we have produced our own range of glass beads, which are all hand-made in our lampwork studio.  In the main we use Effetre glass rods all with the same coe (co-efficient of expansion) of 104.  It sounds obvious but as you can imagine, mixing glass with different coe’s is a terrible idea as it can bring explosive results.  The torch you can see here is a Minor burner, which is ideal for working with soft glass and is often used to equip studios where lampwork is taught.  The torch is mounted on a creation station which provides proper support for your wrists.  Stainless steel mandrels that have been dipped in bead release stand ready for use in a large pot of craft sand and the blue pot contains Japanese cooling bubbles, an interim pitstop that will allow your freshly made glass masterpiece to lose heat gradually before going to your kiln for annealing.