Every bead designer has a unique style and method of producing their handcrafted accessories and they each have a different bag of tricks. Most of these tricks have more to do with tools and equipment rather than actual designs. If we sneak a peak into the bead designer’s tool box we will find some tools that look out of place and may be a bit unusual to the novice bead designer. Every bead and pearl designer will have clear nail polish in their supplies. Every professional pearl and bead designer is taught to use this simple tool. The function of the nail polish is to finish off the “tail” of the thread. It acts as an adhesive, gluing the thread inside the drill hole of the bead. It is essential as it provides a colorless, fast drying method of preventing the silk thread from popping out of the bead. It is also used to create leader lines to transfer large amounts of beads from hanks over to the working design. It is completely safe, even for pearls. Glancing at a bead board that is white and velvet covered, we might see a “T-pin” or two pushed into the sides of it. These metal T-pins act as anchors for those complicated woven patterns or when you feel like you need a third hand. Other anchoring devices that might be used are the brass colored “U pins”. These are particularly helpful for working with charms and jumprings. The functions of these pins are limited to the type of bead board that you use as they do not work with plastic boards. Along side the essential hardware like pliers and wire cutters we also find tools for soldering. You might think of these as garage items – but they do have their place in the beading area. Soldering or welding of jumprings is the only sure way to keep those jumprings closed and to make sure that the jewelry doesn’t fall apart under the weight of the beads. Other tools in the beading kits look like they belong in a medical bag or even in the medicine cabinet. Tweezers and Emory boards have their use as well in beading. Tweezers are used in the creation of knots and you may see one or two since they are available in different sizes. Emory boards are used to file down the sides of brand new tweezers as they have a tendency to be extra sharp right out of the package and may cut the thread. These are just some of the tools that can be found in the beading bag of tricks. Most of these can be purchased at beading suppliers and of course some are readily available at the nearest drug store. |