Step 5: The Second Bend (and Final Firing)
Before we make the second bend, we need to put something under the fold to hold open the channel for our chain or cord. I use short lengths of bamboo skewer dipped in “bead release” – special mud-like clay that lampworkers use to coat their bead mandrels (rods) so the glass won’t stick. Bead release is available anywhere lampworking supplies are sold.
The setup looks like this:
Here’s another view:
The fiberboard is raised at one end (on kiln furniture) to ensure the tops of the pendants fold over completely. The coated bamboo skewers are held in place with short staples made from high temperature (nichrome) wire. Stainless steel wire can also be used.
Once your pendants are setup as shown in the last step we only need to fire the pendants one last time. The firing schedule is the same soft-fused schedule used to fire the focal beads to the pendant strips.
And here’s the results:
You may be wondering if the bamboo burns away during the firing and, if so, what happens? It does burn away – but as you are about to see in the last section, it doesn’t matter.
