In this shot, we can see that the glassworker uses a painting/putty spatula to roll the bead over the flat surface.

At this point, if the worker is making bent beads—copying the "elbow" beads of Venice—he follows an unexpected process. He pulls the mandrel out of the bead (while it's laying flat on the board), reinserts it part way, and then puts another mandrel into the other aperture. Now, holding the bead from both ends, he places the middle close to the torch to make that part warmer and softer, and then bends the bead into a curved shape. I videotaped this, but didn't get still shots of the process. But I found it pretty interesting, in that many American beadmakers would not remove and replace a mandrel in this manner. Once the bead is bent, he corrects the flatness by laying the bead down and paddling it (on both sides).

JDA.