How to make glass beads using recycled glass.

Journal entry

our time in Israel 💙 [from fall of 2010 to summer of 2014]

The olives in Israel are really outstanding.

Fat and Tart. Salty and sumptuous.

I was surprised to see so many groves in the Negev desert area! Thriving, lush groves.

In a country with limited water Israel is masterful at managing this precious resource. 

We seem to go through plenty of olive oil here. We use it not only for frying but also in hummus, which I've become pretty good at making. 

 

 1 or 2 tins of chickpeas.

a couple of TBs of a great olive oil 

fresh chopped garlic to taste

lemon and salt to taste.

 One small trick for super smooth hummus is to take the time to remove the skins when rinsing. Blend all in food processor and serve with either vegetables or pita bread. [The pita bread has to be fresh.] 

The last bottle of oil we emptied was particularly handsome. As I was about to discard, I considered what beads from the glass might look like!

So..

I wrapped the scrubbed bottle in a towel and smashed with a good heavy hammer and managed to get a few great shards. Washed and dried them and set them on my kiln to warm so that they would be easier to melt in the flame without too much shocking or spitting.

Turned on my oxygen concentrator and torch and proceeded to make a gather of glass on the bare, uncoated end of my stainless steel mandrel.

Pulled a nice extra fat stringer, or very skinny rod of glass.

I wound some small beads with this very deliciously olive green glass.

It seems to me the COE [Coefficient of Expansion or the rate of expansion] might be 90 or close to it, like pyrex because it's so stiff ~ but I make no assumptions.

I made little beads with this pure glass, no decorating or crushed glass added since the COE is unknown to me I don't want to mix the glasses and so take a chance of them cracking later. Also, don't they look like little olives? Purity.

Kiln annealed as for borosilicate glass.

Now,

What to make!!