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Tips, Techniques, and Questions -- Technical questions or tips

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  #1  
Old 2009-03-03, 7:12am
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Default Chinese Lampwork Beads

Curiosity got the better of me and I purchased some floral lampwork beads on Ebay that were obviously from China. I received them yesterday and they are full of bead poop. This morning I cleaned one strand and over seventy five percent cracked in half. How can they conduct business this way? Why would a customer come back to purchase more? I checked their pictures and they do indicate the bead release has been removed.

I have to be honest though. The beads are quite lovely.
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  #2  
Old 2009-03-03, 11:08am
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I often have people ask me why they should pay more for my beads when they can go buy some lampwork beads from India or China for a lot less at the local make-your-own-jewelry outlet. Your post illustrates perfectly how important for beads not only to be pretty, but to be annealed and made of quality glass by an artist who cares about the durability of his or her product.
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  #3  
Old 2009-03-03, 11:12am
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What good are lovely beads filled with bead poop that crack when you clean them?!

Dar Williams has a new song with a line that goes, "Tell me who made your clothes, was it children or men?"

I tend to suspect that making beads using a production line model might lead to some individual skill at making the same design over and over.

My guess is that annealing may be an unknown concept where your beads were made - but what the &(%$* do I know?
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  #4  
Old 2009-03-03, 12:52pm
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Why not anneal them yourself before cleaning?

All the rest is already said, I myself would never buy those beads for obvious reasons but nevertheless, it's sad your beads cracked.
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  #5  
Old 2009-03-03, 12:58pm
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Chinese glass sucks because it's made with the souls of children. Those souls alwyas try to break free and thats why the glass breaks often.
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  #6  
Old 2009-03-03, 1:30pm
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That's a very poetic way of seeing it, I like that!
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  #7  
Old 2009-03-03, 1:58pm
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I actually only bought the beads to do research. I emailed the seller and I have not received a response and I do not expect to.
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  #8  
Old 2009-03-03, 1:59pm
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That is sad and beautiful..


Quote:
Originally Posted by rg9403 View Post
Chinese glass sucks because it's made with the souls of children. Those souls alwyas try to break free and thats why the glass breaks often.
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  #9  
Old 2009-03-03, 7:48pm
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Anouk, Annealing the beads will not help most of the time, since the beads are aready thermal shocked. The cracks are already in the bead. The bead will just split in half in the kiln. That is if the glass is good quality to start with.

I tried annealing China beads once and they melted into a pile and almost ruined my kiln. They did not make it to 950. But my guess the puddles were annealed properly. LOL....
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  #10  
Old 2009-03-04, 8:04am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gemsinbloom View Post
Curiosity got the better of me and I purchased some floral lampwork beads on Ebay that were obviously from China. I received them yesterday and they are full of bead poop. This morning I cleaned one strand and over seventy five percent cracked in half. How can they conduct business this way? Why would a customer come back to purchase more? I checked their pictures and they do indicate the bead release has been removed.

I have to be honest though. The beads are quite lovely.
Before I started making my own beads I bought some chinese ones too....all full of bead poop so I thought I would soak them for a day to soften it up and they all broke in half in the water! Good thing I didn't spend much on them but still....could you imagine making something with it and selling it and the customer's new purchase breaks as soon as they get it....that's bad!

Janet
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  #11  
Old 2009-03-04, 7:19pm
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Poetic indeed but not indicative of all Chinese made beads. I know many Chinese glass artists that would find that statement quite offensive. Perhaps the words that are missing should be "Factory" and "Beads". There is also Chinese made glass like CIM that might take that statement out of context.

As for the question why do people continue to buy, seems there is no answer.

Just my thinkin out loud once again.

J
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  #12  
Old 2009-03-04, 8:24pm
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i buy chinese stuff all the time - some good some bad

my policy is "dont mess with someone elses rice bowl" - if you dont have a job in China you starve - but in saying that, there is a policy that children dont work in factories in China, min working age is 14, school is compulsory and strictly policed - i go to China maybe 3 or 4 times a year and i've walked through dozens of factories, if there were little kids working there i'd have noticed.

India is another matter - if you buy Indian glass beads chances are it was made with indentured (slave) labour, sometimes paying off a debt 3 generations long
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  #13  
Old 2009-03-04, 9:45pm
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I don't think *most* of the people who buy & use those types of beads generally *clean* them before using them--they just use them "as-is"....
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  #14  
Old 2009-03-04, 10:36pm
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Most that I've seen at craft shows who make jewelry with them don't clean them. I tried a few and the same happened to me. Most of them broke in half. I tried annealing some but that didn't work much better.
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  #15  
Old 2009-03-05, 6:31am
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You need to leave the bead poop in the beads if you want to string them. That is what is holding them together.....LOL.... I have seen women who just bought a necklace with those beads. They tell me what a deal they got at another booth. Oe lady was so proud of her new necklace.

Once I did say something. The lady was wearing a black shirt. The bead poop was flaking out all over her shirt. She said I was over charging for my beads since she got this necklace for $25. Many of my necklaces are $100-600. I figured what do I have to loose? I told her it was a very good deal she got. So good that when she got cancer from all that dust on your shirt, she could sue the artist. Opps... I was bad.

She was a gray mess from the bead poop. It was all over her shirt. She did not get it at first. I told her to look at all that powder coming out of those beads. She took off the necklace and started to brush off her shirt. I told her... no, no, that powder is dangerous. Please don't do that in my booth. She was freaking out.
I was freaking out about an hour later..... when my award check for $500 was presented to me with a blue ribbon!!!! I just wish the Art Festivals would jury better.

I saw two lampwork artists that had handmade beads along with bought beads in their designs.... They were mixing them... They claimed to be making all the beads....
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  #16  
Old 2009-03-05, 8:07am
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Three days have passed and I have received no response from the seller.

Should I leave negative feedback? I have only done that once in ten years. Sigh..

Experiment is complete.
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  #17  
Old 2009-03-05, 9:30am
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I would write Prompt shipping. Beads not cleaned in holes. 6? Broke during cleaning the proper way. (or however many broke.) Unhappy customer..
Tell the truth.
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  #18  
Old 2009-03-05, 9:32am
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I think most people buy poor quality Chinese and Indian beads because they have no understanding of the issues. I did not know about cleaning, annealing, etc. until I took my first lampworking class. Prior to that I bought TONS of junk to use in my jewelry. I bought good silver components and good quality stones, etc. - because I had done some silverwork and a bit of lapidary - but I just didn't know about glass

I have a number of pieces I made back then that I can no longer in good conscience sell, and I am not quite sure what to do with them, other than disassemble them and reclaim the better components.

Education is critical....
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  #19  
Old 2009-03-05, 9:39am
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I've done this myself, before I learned about lampworking and all that went with it; annealing, bead release cleaning, etc.

I had bought some cute beads at Michael's that were factory-made and I left them for a few months. In the meantime I learned about lampworking -- then when I took those beads out for a project, I found they had sharp holes and bead poop all over them! I strung them on a wire and have them hanging where I make jewelry, to remind me never to buy factory-made beads again.

I really think these big-box stores that carry this stuff should be made aware of the hazards of bead release.

I was also interested to hear that they BREAK when cleaned. Huh. I will have to clear mine out of their drawers so I don't accidentally use them.
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Old 2009-03-05, 9:41am
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Oh, and regarding your feedback, GemsInBloom, I'd write what Heather said. It sounds accurate. At least leave a neutral if you're not comfortable with a negative.
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Old 2009-03-05, 9:48am
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All that being said, I wonder how many of us have been drawn to lampworking because we saw these cheap beads in a big-box store first?
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  #22  
Old 2009-03-05, 11:21am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by StellaBlue View Post
All that being said, I wonder how many of us have been drawn to lampworking because we saw these cheap beads in a big-box store first?
Lol! Probably a lot. I saw a picture of some ugly glass Pandora beads (mass produced) and thought "Pfffft! I can do that!".
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Old 2009-03-05, 8:57pm
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Quote:
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Lol! Probably a lot. I saw a picture of some ugly glass Pandora beads (mass produced) and thought "Pfffft! I can do that!".
Dozens & Hundreds
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  #24  
Old 2009-03-06, 2:00pm
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I have nothing against Quality Chinese lampworking. That was just a joke. But I do have a huge beef with how this country imports. And its not just with glass.
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