I made beads!! pics inside

I'm so stoked about beginning the dread process (switching to dr bonners and backcombing) on ~ Aug 10th. I've tried my hand at a bit of bead making.. I took pics of the wooden ones I've made. The lighter colored three are made from heart pine (A board off of my house which was built in 1835). The other ones are from a cedar limb I got in the woods, and they have a dark finish (except the oddly shaped one). I've also made some clay beads, both with real pottery clay and some from natural clay I dug up. I'm going to attempt to fire the natural ones tomorrow in a blazing hot campfire, and I may even attempt a pine needle glaze that my friend told me about. I shall post pics of those if they work out. For now, here are some beads I spent hours and hours on. The heart pine is ridiculously hard to work with. I already gave one really pretty cedar bead away to a dread head friend who was kind enough to give me a cotton tam (I'm still looking for a wool one)... More beads and pics to come

 

Wow, those are some really nice looking beads. I like how they have that natty look to em, really kind colors. Nice shapes too, well done bro and I hope you enjoy being a natty dread.

 

howww did you make those?

They are awesome
lol I want some.

 

I used a dremel tool with various attachments, a drill, and an emory wheel and lots of time. Perhaps I'll try to take some step by step pics next time I make some. I'm going to try to make some in my best friend's wood working shop soon.. I should be able to crank them out a lot faster there. to get them uber smooth I finished up with 400 and 600 grit sandpaper. :cheers2:

 

beautiful beads! if you ever make more I would love to buy a few!

 

haha i like the "pretend" dread, a paper napkin!

lol.

 

those are some beautiful beads....

 

I would deff think of selling a few when I've made enough to have for myself, but I'm not sure what a fair price would be. The heart pine is a far rarer wood, and it takes a LOOOONG time to make them.. the cedar ones aren't too difficult :cheers2:

 

wow, those are really nicely done! I really love that the wood is so old, very unique idea for sure

 

Who all would be interested in buying some? What do you guys think would be a fair price? I just found several scrap heart pine boards, and made about 20 bead blanks which I'm going to shape a little along. I could make any shape and hole size you want, and I could send you a picture of your bead before you buy it. This heart pine is tough stuff to work with, but I'm having a lot of fun doing it.. Nothing like the smell of burning resin Considering how long this wood takes to grow, these trees were undoubtedly alive during the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the French Revolution, and William Godwin's lifetime (My personal favorite to think about).

 

i'd be interested in buying one, depending on what you are going to charge. But theres a good chance i'll get one from you. They are beautiful. Let me know when you figure prices out.

 

I'm thinking 7 bucks shipped, and 5 bucks for each additional bead. Does this sound like a decent price to you guys? I'm going back out to the porch to sand and listen to MSI :cheers2:

 

hell ya. I'll actually buy two!

 

Awesome!! I'm going to clear coat the ones I just made, when that dries I'll post pics and you can choose the two you want. :cheers2:

 

I just made 5 beads. 4 round and 1 a rounded cylinder. I'll be glad to take close up pics of any. Anyone who wants a particular bead needs to tell me what size hole they want for their dread, unless they would rather expand the hole themselves. I may make a few beads tomorrow morning; I probably won't be able to make many more this weekend, and I'll be gone to Texas/Meixco for two weeks this Monday. I could easily mail some out on the way to Texas is you guys let me know.

 

i like the 1st and 4th one the best and really like the one that is like the square sides on the original beads made that is on the fake dreads. But i dont know if you can make any more like that one. But i do like the 1st and 4th one in the pic. I havent ended up starting my dreads yet so standard size is fine, but my dreads are probably going to be on the medium/fatter side.

 

Ask and you shall receive. I just made a new octagonal one for you.. they're actually about the easiest to make I'll PM you. I took a pic of the three you seem to be interested in, with a quarter for size comparison.

 

they look FANTASTIC!!
ive worked with a dremel quite a bit,when you say "lots of time",,i know how long they must have taken..
youd have to sell them for 40 bucks a piece just to feel a little good about bein compensated for your time..
a woodworking shop should help with time a lot once you figure it out with the larger tools..

they look great.. good job!!!!

 

wow,,i didnt see this,,you dont value your time i see.. but i know your just getting started an i know ya can never get compensated fully for your time when it comes to crafts..

great work..good luck on expanding on them...

 

Hehe, thanks very much for the compliments. I thought of selling them for more, but I have so much fun making them, its quite relaxing, and if I can see some pics of them in fellow dreadheads' hair, it'll be worth it I'll be glad to sell you some, or even some uncarved cylindrical heart pine blanks that you can make your own out of