Wire?

[Coco]

Hello y'all, N00B here.

I've done a bit of silversmithing but not any beading and my mum's on at me to re-thread a necklace of hers and as stoopid as it sounds I don't really have a clue as how to go about it.

Any tips on what sort of wire or thread would be suitable for huge beads and is it really as simple as just stringing them or is there some special double, triple and quadruple knotting technique I need to know?

I want to do it, but I don't want to screw it up and have her beads break and fall everywhere.

Any ideas?


Thank ye! :D

[Ominicci]

What are the beads made of, and what are they strung on already, and how old is it?

If it is pearls then it might be better done by a specialist.

If it is quite an old necklace simply strung on thread then you may be able to do it straight onto a beadalon wire - this wouldn't have been around a few decades ago.

Some different descriptions of threading materials are here About.com:Jewelry Making (http://jewelrymaking.about.com/od/beadbasicsforbeginners/a/092408.htm) It is an American site hence the spelling, but some useful stuff on there if you have time to look around. Not sure if they then go on to tell you how to use each stringing material, but if you did a search you would probably find something.

Anyone else any ideas?

[MuranoSilver]

Yep what Ominicci said - (nice link)
http://muranosilver.com/images/nothingtoadd.gif
Hope it all goes well and you do it all Ok for her :)
Nic x

[Petal]

I use Beadalon 49 strand wire either .015 or .018 diam. Its strong and gives a lovely drape to jewellery, which I secure using crimp beads, or if its a multi-stranded necklace, then I feed the pieces of wire into a callotte, which I then crimp & glue. Just make sure you use the thickest diameter wire you can, so that it fits snugly, but not tightly, into the beadhole, rather than leaving a gap. Check out the Beadalon sites faq's for more tips - they mention two reasons why necklaces break, one is making a necklace too tight (you need to make sure there's a bit of give, but not too much that there's a big gap between beads), and the other is using a wire that leaves a big gap when it goes into the beadhole. (Does that make sense?). My fingers don't go quick enough to match my thinking!!

Good luck with the project - you're welcome to ask as many questions as you like. (having written that, its probably confused you even more!)...?

jules x

[Coco]

What are the beads made of, and what are they strung on already, and how old is it?



I think they're ambroids (Little pieces of amber squished together to make bigger pieces of amber). I don't know what they're strung on, and, more to the point I don't even know where they are - they've completely disappeared! First task, find necklace. They were re-strung professionally a few years ago but have since frayed or whatever :rolleyes:


Thanks all for the tips...especially MuranoSilver, I'd be lost without your input :D;)