[Jewelry making - Article 00434] - Re: [Orchid] Crimp question

[Beth Wicker]

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    I second the suggestions to use SoftFlex - I have found it to be much
    more durable.  I also had trouble with some heavier necklaces
    separating at the clasp, and found there were several causes.  One
    was not using a small enough diameter crimp. One was not smoothing
    the clasp where the SoftFlex wraps around. The most common was the
    wire actually coming out of the crimp.  I have solved that by
    designing my heavier necklaces so that I end with a crimp, large
    bead, crimp, large bead, clasp sequence, and the wire runs through
    the final crimp/lb/crimp/lb components twice. I have NEVER had one of
    these come out, and with the precautions mentioned earlier, have not
    had any break.  It HAS meant adjusting my designs somewhat, but
    knowing that ahead of time I carefully select the larger beads to
    complement, but not usually to match exactly, the rest of the
    necklace.  This results in the entire clasp are becoming its own
    design element, and I get many complements on it - people LIKE
    having that become a "special" part of the necklace and not "just" a
    clasp, if that makes sense. Took me a while to get there, but it has
    worked for me. 

Best wishes.
Beth in SC


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