Creating uniformly sized beads?

Question

I'm interested in making my own beads, but I can't seem to get them all the same size. Does anyone know of a tool or mold that can help me size and shape them?
I am mostly interested in round--4mm, 6mm, 8mm etc to start with.

Answer 1

I presume you're talking about beads you make from some type of "clay"??

If so, there are a number of ways to make them all the same size.

You can of course, buy or make your own mold that would probably be a hemisphere rather than a whole sphere... if you fill one of the depressions with clay two times, you could join the halves together and have the correct volume of clay. But there are easier ways to just get the same volume of clay in each bead. (Getting that volume to be the correct volume is a slightly different problem.)

There's a bunch of info on various ways to do this at my website, but here are a couple of quick ways:

...as mentioned above, roll an even-width log of clay, then cut it in equal segments, and roll each segment into the shape bead you want

...roll out an even-thickness sheet of clay, then use the same small "cutter" (canape cutter, cookie cutter, or just use a bottle cap or something from around the house) to cut out a bunch of pieces all the same size... roll each into the shape bead you want . . . or you could combine two of the shapes for a bead that's exactly twice as large, etc.

... find or make a mold that has the volume you want (could be a mold of any shape as long as you use the same one over and over... a face, a cabachon, etc). Or a specific bottle cap (from a water bottle, e.g.) could be the exact volume you want, etc. Fill the mold/etc. with clay, trim off any excess, remove from the mold, and roll each into the shape bead you want .


For more info on making equal-size beads (and lots of other info on making beads, from polymer clay anyway), check out this page:
http://glassattic.com/polymer/beads.htm
(... click on CONTROLLING BEAD SIZE...)


HTH,

Diane B.

Answer 2

You can buy an implement to size your beads in most craft stores. It looks like a square rolling pin. Each side is marked off with different measurements. You roll your clay into a uniform cylinder, and lightly press the side of the measuring thing into the top of the clay. This will leave a mark showing where to cut each bead. You could also run the clay through the pasta machine. Lay several layers together ( You'll have to figure out how many. Use the marking instrument to mark the size you want and cut with your knife blade. In the office supply stores, and art stores you can find a type of ruler that has holes of different sizes that you can pass the beads through to test for uniformity.