A Brief About Wooden Beads

Nov 24
09:04

2015

Sanjana Antony

Sanjana Antony

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Wooden beads are popular because they are lightweight, have unique textures and are available in many colors. They are ideal for both adult and childrens jewelry, so when you need wood beads for your jewelry designs, you have two choices.

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Light,A Brief About Wooden Beads Articles grainy, easy to get and largely inexpensive are the main features of wooden beads. This makes these beads one of the most attractive articles of making jewelry, toys and macramé.  It has a historical perspective. Wood was the most accessible item for craftsmen everywhere. It was easy to carve and polish the wood.  The supply was literally unlimited. Wherever there was wood, the raw material was available.  That made the wooden beads less expensive than any other material. It boosted the demand. It has continued to spread up to these times when so many other items for jewelry making are available.

An important feature of wooden beads is the variety of forms and size. It comes from a long line of woodcarvers working with simple tools and an artistic mind. It is also possible that the apprentices with these wood carvers began to work with small piece of wood as their first task. They slowly honed their skills on wood to become master carvers and produce saleable items. Wooden beads are now extensively produced in Asia, Middle East, and Europe.

The variety of wood used to carve wooden beads is a testimony to the variety of carvers using it in the past. They tried and tested various wood types to know its suitability for making beads. That inherited common knowledge makes it possible to use a variety of wood in carving beads by hand as well as machine.

The wood used for a bead should have good consistency. It needs to be pliable so that it can be carved. The wood needs to be grainy and elastic to get a desired shape. It must be colour compliant and colour neutral so that any colour and polish can be applied on it.  Aroma is also a consideration for choosing a wood for carving. The following types of woods are used for making commercial items.

Jewelry makers depend to a large extent on the online sellers to provide wooden beads. A long list of suppliers with exquisite forms of wooden beads is available online. Wooden beads like spacer charms, rounded, oval, flower and drum shaped, cubes, cubic alphabets, square, flat round, handmade round, animal shaped, abacus beads, are available in plenty with online stores. These beads are preferred for children’s do-it-yourself kits for making craftwork and jewelry because these are lead free and safe.

Sandal wood, olive, bamboo, ebony, palm wood, rosewood, apple wood and several varieties of locally available sturdy woods are used for making beads. Olive wood has a red grain that gives beautiful pattern on carved surface. Sandal wood is gently aromatic. The beads are in great demand among Hindus for their uplifting quality.

Rosewood has a strong consistency. It can be carved in subtle forms.  The dark grains make beads look beautiful in a natural form. The beads made from rosewood are demanded for spiritual reasons also. It is believed that these provide positive energy. Wooden beads from Czechoslovakia made from pine and bass wood are very famous among children’s toys and DIY kit makers.

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