how do you make your own ceramic beads using a mold?

Question

What kind of supplies do i need to make my own macrame beads useing a ceramic mold? i found a mold on ebay, i'm just not sure how to use it; what kind of paint also? thanks!

Answer 1

If it is a plaster mold, then you need to buy clay slip, which is liquid clay. When you put it in the mold, the plaster sucks the moisture out, leaving a thick coating of clay which you let set after pouring out the still liquid clay inside, leaving a hole for the bead string.
If it is a plastic mold, then you have to pack soft putty like clay into the mold with a rod in the center to make the hole. The mold should be flexible enough to allow you to turn out the clay, which you then let air dry.
In either case, when the clay is thoroughly dry (and you can carve it when it is firm enough to handle but still soft enough to carve - leather hard), you must fire the clay to form the ceramic. Most ceramic supply places will know of kiln owners who will do this for a fee. This is the bisque firing. Then you will use ceramic paints - which are a form of glass enamel - to decorate the bead and fire that for a hard glossy surface.

Answer 2

the ceramic mold, slip which is liquid mud to pour in the mold, a cleaning tool, a sanding pad, and a kiln that cooks the beads at 1800 degrees or more, you need to find a ceramic shop in your area , they usually have all the stuff and you can have them do the firing for you, then you will need the stilts and special wire that you fire them on when they are being glazed, you could paint them with acrylic paints but to get the ceramic glaze on them you need to buy that kind of paint at a ceramic shop and have the bead fired a second time.

Answer 3

OR... if you just want to make beads that look like ceramic beads but don't need to be fired in a kiln, you can make virtually any size, shape, and look of bead using polymer clay instead using your own home oven (or a toaster oven, or a few other things at only around 275 F).

And you can make the holes any size you want too.

Those can be made freehand in a bazillion different ways, or they can be made in molds (some of which could be two-sided) or just parts could be made with molds to be onlaid onto the whole bead.

Polymer clay can also be "glazed" to a high gloss in various ways (with liquids like acrylic sealers or with sanding and buffing).
And they can simulate all kinds of things quite convincingly too, like:
metals of all kinds, gemstones (jade, pearl, turquoise, etc.), wood, ivory, granite and other "rocks," as well as lampworked glass, etc., etc.
They can be painted over, or embellished with designs created by the clay itself, textured, carved, drilled, gilded, and just many, many other things.... or they can be fairly plain.

You can use all kinds of molds with polymer clay ( as well as making the molds from polymer clay too)... or use the mold you have with polymer clay.

If you're interested in any of these things, scroll down the Table of Contents page of my polymer clay site for loads more info on all those things and more:
http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/contents.htm
(you might especially want to check out the pages on BEADS and MOLDS and FINISHES... then go to them from the alphabetical navigation bar on the left side of that page).

And here are just a few examples of using polymer clay beads *with macrame*:
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/grannyx2002/album/576460762371124793


Diane B.