Body piercing jewellery

[kevin_norfolk]

I have been asked by a friend if I can make some body piercing jewellery. I have looked at some examples and it appears to be some wire with a tapered thread on the end being screwed into a silver ball with one hole.

Does anybody know about the size of the taps and dies I will need and where to obtain the silver balls?

Shawn.

[Dennis]

Hi Shawn,

Most bullion dealers have silver one hole beads and below you can browse the taps and dies:
http://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&sugex...hp&pbx=1&oq=Je.
When buying beads it is best to look for heavy duty ones, because thin silver will not keep its thread. As far as the wire is concerned you would be wise to use 9ct white which is not so different looking, but is a lot harder than silver.

You will need a lot of practice to keep the parts steady while working, because a loose fit will quickly come undone. For the same reason the screw should go into the bead far enough to tighten against the far wall. You will need to read up the subject, but basically the tap used is about 20% bigger than the hole and the die 20% smaller than the wire. The puzzle is to match the results.

For anything around the mouth, the loose ball should be outside and the soldered ball inside, to lessen the risk of inhalation. However there are health and safety issues and if you are wise you must study these and be insured. Dennis.

[medusa]

I'd also add that silver isn't actually really that great for body piercings because it reacts with the acids in the body and tarnishes. Same goes for 9K gold.

[mizgeorge]

I thought you might have some answers medusa!

I have to say, after many experiments, I've come to the conclusion that silver is simply too soft for making decent threaded components.

[medusa]

I'd actually really love to be able to thread silver because making my stuff screw down would be great, but I know it would be a one time action. I've toyed with the idea of making piercing jewellery for a long time but the problems of using the right materials are too big.