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Title: Lentils
Artist: AJGlass
Image created by: AJGlass using a Panasonic DMC-LZ7 Lumix 7.2 MP camera and PhotoShop.
Medium: Glass
Type: Soft Glass (this means it’s not borosilicate)
Description: Glass Beads
Details: The dime is provided for scale of the glass beads. These beads are made out of dark Windex blue glass. All AJGlass beads have been properly annealed. Due to the differences in monitor settings, the color of these beads may look slightly lighter, slightly darker, or otherwise different on your monitor than the beads look in real life. The “white dots” on these beads are mostly light reflections. The dime is not for sale.

Status: For Sale.
Item: Only the beads in the top image of this deviation are for sale. One set of 11 handmade, temporarily strung, lentil-shaped, dark Windex blue glass beads with tiny glass turquoise spacers.
Price: $22.00 + $4 S&H (or $5 S&H outside of the continental United States).
Contact: Please note me if you are interested in purchasing this set.
Payment: PayPal. Other payment options may also be accepted.
Shipping: I ship beads via US Post in packaging suitable for glass beads.
Delivery: Please allow one week for delivery, longer for international orders. Weather permitting, I try and ship the following business day after payment has been received and cleared. Beads will be shipped with delivery confirmation when possible.

Discussion: These beads are a lot of fun! Not only are they a neat color, but their shape and texture really make them fun to wear. These beads would make for a great addition to a necklace or a bracelet. Please understand that these beads are created from glass, and like all glass they can chip or break if dropped/thrown/crushed or otherwise abused. These beads are NOT suitable for small children, and are NOT edible. They may pose a choking hazard if swallowed.

Creation: To create a lentil-shaped glass bead, part of a Windex blue glass rod was melted and wound onto a bead-release coated mandrel and formed into a round bead. The still-molten round glass bead was then pressed between two brass cups (which can be seen in the bottom image) of a lentil press. Once pressed, the lentil-shaped glass bead was then placed into a box of vermiculite to slowly cool. Once cooled, the bead was removed from the mandrel and put into a kiln where it was annealed.

I decided to leave the chill marks on these beads instead of melting them away in the flame. The chill marks give the bead’s surfaces their lined “rippled” appearances – which to me look like rippled waves. The dark Windex blue glass rods had all manner of impurities in them (including odd wisps, bubbles and stones) and those impurities make these lentil beads look even more like watery splashes.

Difficulties: The hard part about making these beads is their tendency for thermal shock. The lentil shape is thin and wide and the brass lentil press tends to rapidly cool the glass. Thus the glass has a tendency to build up a lot of stress – usually right near the bead hole. The result is that, before they can be annealed, these beads tend to crack in half. So, depending on the type of glass I use and how I decorate and/or press, heat and cool the beads before annealing, as many as half of the lentils I make may not survive. That being said, the ones that do survive the creation and annealing process are as stable as any other type of annealed glass bead.

Further comment: I really like the color, shape and texture of these beads. I find them to be fun to hold and to run through my fingers. They’re also really therapeutic and relaxing to make. It can be quite stressful making almost perfect round, spiral, bone, etc. glass beads sometimes. So being able to physically squash some of them, and still have the majority turn out well, is really a lot of fun.

Guarantee: I will do everything that I can to make sure that you are satisfied with your purchase. So if you are not satisfied with these beads for any reason, please return them prepaid in their original condition and in their original packaging for a full refund. Shipping costs are the responsibility of the purchaser. Please request return authorization in advance.

Legal: Copyright © Aaron J. Greenblatt. All rights reserved. Commercial use prohibited. This image and commentary may not be used for any reason without the expressed written consent of Aaron J. Greenblatt.


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