I gave myself one condition if I was going to make a bead (since everyone and their mother is making beads): make a bead design that's never been done before.

I've was toying with this idea for over a year and I finally decided to get it done before someone else did :) To give credit where it's due: I was inspired by my favorite flashlight maker, Fred Pilon over at Photon Fanatic. His work is INSANE. The most beautiful lights I've ever seen without question, and also the namesake of the bead. What, you didn't think I was some sort of creative genius did you? The Photon Bead is my homage to Fred's vision and I make this bead design with his blessing.

I also wanted to take advantage of my Haas ST10-Y's milling capabilities. The 30 grooves are cut by side-milling with a 3/32" 6 flute carbide keyseat cutter from Harvey Tool. This process is fairly slow and takes a significant amount of time to machine each bead. It's the longest run-time part that I make on the lathe. However, I'm really happy with the result and I hope you are too!