How to Make a Bead: Part III

How to Make a Bead in 85 Easy Steps

Part III: Reducing and Recombining the Canes

Step 27

Put the two triangular halves together so that they look like this, forming a blue circle in the middle.

Step 28

Begin reducing this by gently squishing it into a square.

Step 29

Continue squishing and reducing gently. Try to keep the blue lines pointing in the direction of the corners.

Step 30

The result should be a cube.

Step 31

Begin reducing this cube into a square cane. Squeeze from the center outward.

Step 32

Press and reduce against the work surface. Work on one side, then turn a quarter- or half-turn, and work on another side. Continue doing this to maintain flat, even sides and to reduce warping in the design.

Step 33

Continue reducing...

Step 34

...and reducing. The usable portion of the cane should be at least 6-8 inches long.

Step 35

Cut one end of the cane.

Step 36

And let's have a look...

This is the base cane that we will be working with.

Step 37 (optional)

Various things can be done with the base cane at this point. For the remainder of the tutorial, I am only going to work with a section of this base cane. However, you may wish to skip to Step 40 and continue working with the entire base cane for recombination.

Step 38 (optional)

Reduce portion of base cane.

Step 39 (optional)

Reduce further until you have a cane that is long enough to cut into four 1-2 inch sections.

Step 40

Cut the cane in half.

Step 41

It should look like this.

Step 42

Now cut these two canes in half.

Step 43

Try recombining these four sections different ways until you find a pattern you like.

Step 44

I chose this pattern, rather than the one shown in the last step; however, any different number of combinations will work. You should decide on a pattern which is pleasing to you before going on to the next step.

Step 45

Once you've chose a pattern to work with, align the square logs together so that all corners are meeting as evenly as possible. Begin reducing this cane from the center outwards as described in Steps 31 & 32.

Step 46

Reduce the cane until it is between 1/2 and 1/4 inch wide.

Step 47

Let's have a look.

Step 48

Depending upon what pattern you chose for your design, the reduced cane should look something like this.

Step 49

In this picture I've placed the base cane next to the recombined and reduced cane. Note the sharpness and clarity in the appearance of the recombined cane as compared to the base cane.

Part IV: Making the Bead

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