Dvora, thanks for sharing, that was very cool.

Thanks! I've been playing with the timer on my camera. :D

The heat actually doesn't travel very far through the metal; the uncoated part of the mandrel (that is, the wire that the beads are made on) is never directly in the flame, and while the bit nearest the glass can get kind of warm (more of an "oh, that's hot" than a "hey, do you smell something burni--OWOWOWOW!!") when you're heating that end of the bead, the metal also cools pretty quickly.

Just don't touch the glass, or stick your finger in the flame.