Important news about HackSpace

We have some important news to share about HackSpace: Issue 81 was the last issue of HackSpace as a standalone magazine, and HackSpace has become part of The MagPi, the official Raspberry Pi magazine. Starting with issue 145, We’ll be adding pages to The MagPi to make room for the stories and tutorials you’ve come to expect from HackSpace.

Cracked Marble Charms

By Mayank Sharma. Posted

Cracked marbles are quite the rage and enhance the ornamental value of the tiny orbs, which make them fit for all kinds of arts and crafts projects.

You’ll find lots of different techniques to crack marbles, which basically involves heating the marbles in an oven and then cooling them rapidly. As the hot outer shell cools, it strikes the hot expanded interior and cracks it to create the effect.

For the best results, Anastasia suggests sorting the marbles to make sure you use the ones that don’t have any cracks and are clear and not opaque. She places them in an oven, preheated to 230 °C for 15 minutes, before taking them out and placing them in a pot of ice-cold water, which should crack the interiors. Anastasia then wears these marbles in a necklace. For this, she makes two loops at both ends of an 8” long wire, and curls them tightly until there’s only about a 1 cm gap between the two loops. She then folds the loops over each other and glues the marble between them. Once the marble is set, use pliers to pull out the tiny loop at the top, through which you can thread the necklace chain.

Anastasia won a prize in the Instructables Jewelry Contest.

Please note: Working with heat and breaking glass can be a dangerous process. Please exercise caution and use safety goggles and oven mitts while baking the marbles

From HackSpace magazine store

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