Bead rollers are 2-part tools used to shape beads. The user places a right-size ball of clay into the shaped tray, places the same-shape lid on it, and slides the two halves of the tool back and forth. This causes the clay to roll and be formed into the shape of the channels in the tool. In this picture your are looking at the ends of two different bead rollers. One makes an enlongated bi-cone and a round bead, and the other makes three different very small sizes of round beads. The one lying down that looks striped is for making tube beads.


So, do you need these or not? It depends.


It is not hard to form round beads or oval beads by hand. It's not even hard to get them all the same size. But it does take practice and if you don't do it a lot, your hands can literally lose their touch for it. While the clay can be measured and handled in a way that you use the same amount of clay for each bead so they are the same size, it's the hands that do the actual shaping that determines the final outcome.


In some cases, beads MUST be rolled by hand. If there is a specific design on the clay, for example, the design would very likely be distorted or totally lost in the process of using the bead roller. If the bead is EXACTLY the right size, the roller will be gentle and do final forming, but this is a long shot with beads that have cane slices on them, for example. So, bead rollers are not the answer here. You'll have to train your hands to do the rolling.


On the other hand, that enlongated bi-cone would be a real pain, if not impossible, to shape by hand. So for that shape, the bead roller can be your best friend. It's best used for solid color beads, or for multi-colored beads where you just want swirled colors in random patterns.


One of the other nice things about most of the newer bead rollers is that they also have little holes on both sides where you can line up the bead and push the baking pin through the first hole, through the bead, and through the second hole. This is intended to help you make a hole that is perfectly straight and centered through the bead. (The pins referenced are the ones that come with a rack that is designed to suspend beads during the baking process). I'm on the fence about the value of using a roller to help with placing the holes. It requires that the bead be placed EXACTLY in line with the two little holes. If you are working with very soft clay, there is something to be said for having the bead securely held in the bead roller so it won't distort during the process of pushing the pin through it. But if the clay is firm, there's nothing wrong with being able to push pins through straight by hand. I consider it a training exercise for the hands since so much clay work is by "feel".


Now, back to that point about putting just the right amount of clay into the bead roller. Easier said than done! Some rollers come with a little measuring "cup" into which you press the clay, level it off, and then extract the clay to place it into the bead roller. Digging the clay out of the little cup is a pain, and there is almost always some left behind so the amount that goes into the bead roller is going to be a bit different every time. That said, if you are just starting out, it's a place to start. Some bead rollers come with instructions that have you make a snake of clay of certain diameter, then cut off slices of a certain length, and that is supposed to be the proper amount of clay. In my experience, it gets you close but there could still be too much or too litle. Too little, and the roller doesn't make good contact with the bead so the shape is a bit off. Too much and the clay gets squished out of the channel. If it's just BARELY too much, you end up with lines on the bead caused by the seam between the two halves of the roller. These can be almost invisible on raw clay, but stand out big time once the beads are baked. Then you get to sand them. Or throw them out.


So, bottom line, the usefulness of the tool requires the user to practice and learn all the little ins and outs of using the tool to their individual best advantage. Do I use them? Sometimes. I'll make round beads by hand and then put them in the roller for a final smooth finish, especially if the clay is real soft or if I haven't made any for a long time and my hands are out of practice. If I know or suspect that the beads will be placed close together in a piece of jewelry, I'll use the bead roller if possible just to make sure the beads are perfectly matched in size and shape but ONLY if I can do it without trashing the design on the beads. I'll also a bead roller sometimes to make cores that will be covered with other clay elements. And it's definitely handy for making the 4-5 millimeter beads simply because they are small and subject to over-heating and distorting when hand rolled.


So now you know some of the things to consider when making the decision to invest in bead rollers. I would suggest that if you have a local Guild, ask someone to bring bead rollers to a meeting so you can try them out before you decide. Or watch for classes or demos at a local store, for the same reason.