How our Peruvian ceramic beads are made…. Part 1

There are at least 7 different techniques that we use to make the different ceramic beads we offer in The Peruvian Bead Factory – www.ThePeruvianBeadFactory.com, the different techniques require the use of different materials applied in different preparation stages. What all the techniques have in common is the first stage which is the first firing of the clay (usually white clay). In this post we will concentrate in three techniques and will give links examples so you can see the different outcome and the over all look of the beads when made with each specific technique:

·         Direct Silk printing beads: After the clay first firing the beads are glazed with white or colored glaze and then fired for the second time, the third stage is the printing of the artwork on the bead surface using a silk fabric and once the pigment are dry the beads are fired for the third time.  The three firing cycles guarantee that the beads will be hard and durable. We at The Peruvian Bead Factory print up to 7 colors over the same bead and we constantly do custom development according to client’s artwork. We also make logo printing for companies from around the globe. If you want your logo or any self-developed artwork printed on beads – we can do this task. The printing beads are usually printed on disc shaped beads and square beads, but could be printed on any bead that has a flat surface. As references for these beads in our e-store we advise you check the following links: 

o        Printed beads:              WWW.THEPBFACTORY.COM/ beads_printed_designs.html

o        Alphabet beads:            WWW.THEPBFACTORY.COM/alphabet_beads.html

·         Printed Sticker beads: These beads are similar in process to the direct silk printing beads, only that instead of direct printing we attach a made sticker to the beads. The sticker is made separately with a direct silk printing only that the printing is done on a special paper instead directly to the beads surface. The reason to use sticker and not direct printing is due to three main reasons:

o        The applying of sticker helps to obtain a more precise artwork, so wherever there is a delicate and detailed artwork, the use of sticker could get better outcome than direct printing.

o        Using sticker helps to save time in production when the artwork has several colors since each color is printed separately, one after the other.

o        Sticker is used on beads that do not have flat surface, where a direct printing simply cannot be applied.

As references to beads that are sticker made – kindly check the next links:

o        WWW.THEPBFACTORY.COM/tube_beads_large_printed.html

o        WWW.THEPBFACTORY.COM/cylinder_printed_beads_small.html

·         Glazed bead: These are “two stages” beads, they have a shorter process than any other technique, it supports bulk production being relatively faster to make, after the clay has been fired (first stage) they go to the second stage where they are submerged in colored glaze – the beads are then fired for the second time which is the last stage. Go to the next category (click the link) to see these beads… Solid Color Shaped Beads. 

 

Next week we will relate to the remaining four techniques.

Kindly visit our e-store at: www.ThePeruvianBeadFactory.com, we look forward seeing you or feel free to contact us if you have any questions about this post.