[Jewelry making - Article 00291] - Re: [Orchid] Beat way to string beads?

[Nancy Howland]

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    Bend a short "U" shape at the end of a dead soft 22-gauge silver
    wire.   Th read the steel bead wire (Soft Flex) through a smooth tube
    crimp bead, throu gh the "U", back through the crimp bead, and cinch
    up the wire until the end loop is tight to the "U".  Crimp the bead
    and gently tap hammer the silver wire "U" flat enough to be no larger
    than the diameter of the crimped bead. The crimp bead and "U", if
    short enough, can fit entirely inside a hollow S ilver Bead.  Drill
    or file one S. Bead hole of a hollow silver bead large en ough to
    accommodate the diameter of the crimp bead unit, and, thread the end
    of the silver wire through the smaller hole.  Wrap the silver wire
    around a mandrel (e.g., shank of a Dremel tool burr) and, using round
    nose pliers, p inch the ends to form a nice round loop.  Wire wrap
    back to the S. Bead, abo ut 3-4 turns or enough times until the crimp
    bead unit is held firmly inside up against the smaller S. Bead hole. 
    The wire wrapping gives a finished lo ok and the crimp bead unit
    stays hidden inside the S. Bead even if the neckl ace wire is
    slightly loose.  (The same crimp bead unit can be hidden inside a
    length of silver tubing. 

    A word about crimp beads.  I use the shortest length crimp bead with
    the sm allest inside diameter possible.  The first crimp with the
    crimp pliers fold s the crimp bead in half, snugly between the two
    wires; the second crimp fol ds the two sides together to a tidy round
    diameter cylinder.  If the inside diameter of the crimp bead is too
    large for the wire used, the final crimped shape becomes a flattened
    round.  This shape won't fit into the larger dril led hole without
    making the hole even larger, and, with the weight of the ne cklace
    pulling against it, the wire can slip out of the grip of the crimp
    be ad.  Rio Grande sells crimp beads in a variety of sizes, by both
    length and inside diameter. Nancy

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