Hello

[Daftie]

Hello,
This is my first attempt at posting. I have been making jewellery since I was 9 years old but only started silversmithing as a pensioner......I tend to be in the fools rush in category .
My latest project is what has given me the courage to post here. I am trying to source the inners for some home made silicone lined tube set " beads". The apperture is nominally just more than1.8mm and the wire they will sit on is 1.8 mm. I want to have the tubes sit at a certain angle and be interchangable.So far I have come up with the hair extension silicone lined beads which I have cannibalised, however I am struggling to get the silicone inserted in the holes. I could increase the apperture but I would prefer not to .
Any help woud be most welcome.

[Dennis]

Hi and welcome.
This is way out of my experience, because I fail to understand why your beads need to be silicone lined.
However you can most easily thread tubing of the appropriate size (possibly 2.0mm ID) by cutting tubing with a craft knife, so that it has a long bevel or tail to insert.
Once in, use a craft knife to crop the ends flush. https:https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=2.0mm+ID+silicone+tubing Dennis.

[mizgeorge]

I wonder if the little rings used on orthodontic braces might work? I've used these successfully as spacers for something similar in the past.

This kind of thing - https://www.amazon.co.uk/RZJZGZ-Orthodontic-Elastic-Ligature-Transparent/dp/B07WS95TJL/ref=sr_1_8?dchild=1&keywords=orthodontic+ligature+ties&qid=1610409671&s=drugstore&sr=1-8 (they come in all sorts of other colours too).

I do have larger versions (I can't remember what their original purpose was supposed to be) but I'll need to look up where they came from.

[Daftie]

Thank you both.
I origionally tried the threadind of the tubing as you suggeted and as the type I had is "sticky" on the outside it did not work.
I shall look at the orthodontic rings.It is the small dimension of the wire for the torc which the tubes will sit on which is the problem.I am using what I have in stock!
I would not have started this project if I had not been successful in angling one of these tubes with a silicone slider clasp, a component from Cooksons ,on a wire cuff.
In my innocence I assumed that the silicone inserts would be easy to obtain!

[Dennis]

Don't loose heart. We all have to experiment first. If your tubing is sticky a tiny amount of lubricant such as oil, or Vaseline will fix it. Dennis.

[Daftie]

I thought I should report that I ended up poking the silicone innards out of the hair extension beads and used them as spacers. The double gemset tubes now stay in the orientation I want on the torc wire even in wear. Mizgeorge's suggestion sparked the rethink. Thank you.

[mizgeorge]

Good result! I'm pleased you got it all to work in the end :)