• translucent polymer clay (Fimo Soft's version or Premo's version work nicely)
• 1/8 block Fimo brand black polymer clay
• PearlEx Sparkling Copper (#690)
• pasta machine
• large roller (lucite or glass, etc.)
• a fresh sharp tissue blade (no substitutes here - the blade needs to be long, very sharp, thin and flexible)
• waxed paper (your standard kitchen variety)
• 3M wet/dry sandpaper (grits 120, 240, 320, 400, 600, and 1000)
• sewing needle
• small drill bit holder (pin vise) and drill bits that meet your desired bead hole width sizes
• grinder/polisher with an acrylic, cotton or muslin polishing wheel or an acrylic glaze

Finely chop about 1/8th of a block of Fimo black polymer clay. The finer, the better. Set aside.

Roll out a sheet of translucent approximately 18 - 20 inches long, 3.5 - 4 inches wide and #4 thick on an Atlas pasta machine. Lay clay sheet on a sheet of waxed paper. Randonly sprinkle your finely chopped black polymer clay across sheet.

Peel away top sheet of waxed paper. Starting at one end, tightly roll up the sheet to form a spiral cane. Leave no chance for trapping air pockets, please. For those who want amounts, reduce the cane until its diameter is about 3/4 inch to 1 inch across.

"Rectangularize" the entire cane using fingers, brayers, etc. Make sure you produce nice crisp corners.

Since you'll need the firmest possible cane for the next few steps, let cane rest. It can't hurt to stick the whole cane in the refrigerator or freezer for a few hours.

After your complex cane has rested, cut your cane into 1 - 1.5 inch segments.

You ready to begin the "Buesseler cut" for your football bead? Let's go!

Using both hands, grab each side of your fresh, sharp tissue blade. Place your fingers on the sides and top of the blade, bend it until it makes a nice arc then push the blade straight down to cut along one side of the cane as shown in the picture. (Do a double take on that blade to make sure you've got the sharp edge poised to cut into the clay and not your fingers.)

You now have one cutaway. This can be used to help make beautiful scrap beads, so don't crumple it up just yet or throw it away.

Make the second cut along the opposite side. Two cuts and two cutaways down, two and two to go!

Side note: These "Buesseler cuts" aren't easy to do right off the bat. They take practice, practice, practice.

See my unmanicured thumb!

This is a very important step. Take your nicest, fullest cutaway and rest it on it's back (flat side down). This cutaway is now a "cradle" for your football bead-to-be. Gingerly place the bead into its cradle. If you made nice sharp rectangular edges, your cradle will not rock or wobble while you try to do the next couple of steps. Also, if your clay is cool and firm, the bead won't stick much at all to it's cradle.

Blade arc look familiar? Using both hands, grab each side of your very sharp tissue blade. Place your fingers on the sides and top of the blade, bend it until it makes a nice arc then push the blade straight down to cut along one side of the cane as shown in the picture. (Do a double take on that blade to make sure you've got the sharp edge poised to cut into the clay and not your fingers.) Yes I know, but it bears repeating. ;-)

Yes, you will be cutting into your nice cradle when doing this, but it's OK and necessary.

Make the fourth (final) cut along the other side. Pick up your bead and carefully pull away the remains of the cradle. You now completed doing the "Buesseler cut" method for producing a football shaped bead. ;-)

The bead usually reminds people of a football. Mike says he's not fond of the term, but since it was the best way to describe the shape, the name stuck.

If you feel the bead's shape is pretty close to perfect, and you are experienced in making holes in raw clay, go ahead and use the sewing needle to make a preliminary hole at this point. You can widen it after baking by drilling. Otherwise, wait until after baking to drill the hole. (see later notes)

Remember all those scraps? Gather a few together, carefully scrunch them together into a blob, then shape into nice round beads. Be careful to not scrunch or twist the scrap clay too much.

Final stage of bead prior to baking.

Bake your beads at 275 degrees F on a piece of thick paper for 30 minutes. Immediately plunge in ice water.

After the beads have cooled, tis the time for drilling a hole and sanding.

Whether you 'drill then sand' or 'sand then drill' depends on how good you feel about the shape of your bead.

If those cuts didn't quite create a symmetrically balanced bead, sanding with those course 120 and 240 grits give you the opportunity to correct and finalize the shape of your bead and redefine the bead's central axis, which is where you want to hole to go. In this case, you may find it best to wait until after a vigorous sanding to see where the central axis will be, then drill.

If, on the other hand, you find the shape to your liking, go ahead and drill before sanding. Sometimes the drill bit can tear into the opening and leave a rough edge. If you end up with a rough edged drilled hole, sanding will help correct that flaw.

Try making a hole in the raw clay bead, one just after baking and one after sanding to see the advantages and disadvantages of each method. There may be times when you'll want to do all three.

Slightly assymetrically cut bead, before doing low grit sanding.

After low grit sanding - a good line to drill along.

Finishing

Hand Sanding:
A sanding job isn't worth doing at all if it's not done well. What's great about sanding your football beads is if your cuts weren't quite what you hoped, here's the chance to correct the bead's shape. The worse your cuts, the lower the grit you should start using. Whatever level you start using, step up to the very next level until you reach 600 or 1000. Don't skip a grit level! Be prepared to commit a little time to the sanding step. Warning: This is not a job for the impatient.

Put some warm water in a big shallow bowl. Soak your wet/dry sand paper and wet your bead. Start with the lowest grit and begin sanding. Dip the bead and sandpaper in the water frequently to clear the sanded debris from the paper and the bead. If you're systematic about sanding, you'll be able to tell which of the four side(s) you've done and which side(s) still need sanding.

Once you've completed sanding with the highest grit paper and the bead's entire surface is nice and smooth, dry the bead and rub it on your denim jeans. You should see a semi-sheen. That means the bead is ready for polishing.

Drilling:
For this shape of bead, I prefer to drill along the length of the bead instead of across. If you are lucky enough to have a drill press...

For those who aren't that lucky: Use the sewing needle to start the pilot "dimple". This helps prevent the drill bit from wandering. If it wanders, it might scratch your lovely sanded bead. After making the pilot dimple, start with the smallest drill bit. Pull the drill bit out every once in a while and remove the loose clay, then continue drilling.

If your bead is shorter than the length of the drill bit, drill until can feel the drill about to break through, but don'' let it. Pull the bit out and drill in from the opposite side at the exact spot where you felt the drill bit push.

If your bead is longer than the length of the drill bit (get a longer drill bit ;-) or drill a little over halfway down the length of the bead, then tackle from the other end and hope the two "tunnels" will meet in the middle. I won't lie, this does take a bit of practice, so try the 'two tunnel' method on some scrap beads first.

Buffing:
You can buff your bead using an acrylic, soft cotton or muslin wheel. Sanding and buffing really bring out the effects and showcase the depth of these beads. Also, the effect of sanding and buffing creates a more realistic appearance for faux work such as this.