We thought you might enjoy seeing how we cast the beads in the Five Wounds of Christ set. Each of the five molds is made of two pieces of stone. A wire core keeps the hole in the middle of the bead open.
To cast the bead, we hold the mold closed in one hand and insert the core wire. You can see the end of the wire protruding in the photo where the pewter fills the sprue.
We pull the wire out while holding the mold tightly closed. This leaves the bead in the cavity. Keeping the mold closed gives us leverage to strip out the core – it is much easier than fighting individual beads off the wire.
In three of the molds – for the heart and the two hands – the wire lays between the two mold halves. In the molds for the feet, the wire goes through the stone instead.
In these molds the core wire is inserted and withdrawn perpendicularly through the two pieces of stone.
You can see a video of Mac casting beads on our Facebook page.
Our other rosary / paternoster beads are made in the same way.
