Making wax beads/pearls

[chrismf]

Does anyone know how to make wax bead/pearls as found in craft shops?

[GaSteve]

My guess (and that's all it is) is that they let molten wax drip into cold water and strain the beads out or maybe let molten wax drip through a cool air stream to solidify before landing.

[chrismf]

Already tried the first suggestion, but the droplets get flattened .... guess it's something to do with surface tension.

I'll think of a way to set up the second suggestion

[Jesse & Cynthia]

The surface tension of ethanol is less than half that of water. If you could find a relatively stable, nontoxic, substance with a low surface tension that wouldn't react with the wax to compramize the usability of your pearls, you could try that.

Otherwise, the way they make lead shot for shotguns is to drip the molten lead through a screen. It then falls straight down a cooling chute until it hits the bottom cool and hard. The only problem I see with this is that hardened wax is a lot softer. When it hits the bottom it could still deform. Maybe a gradually sloping chute would be better. (Think of a straight down chute, sloping into something that looks like a playground slide.)