How-to-make ball head pins.

The technique you see below was shown to us during a wonderful Introduction to soldering workshop we attended with Wendy Hearn of Guru Creations at a Bead and Gem show in Australia. We were taught many wonderful ways to incorporate simple soldering into beading and how to create our own findings. We highly recommend attending a workshop with Wendy, as she opens a whole world of possibilities for us humble beaders.

Materials:

• Micro torch - available at lapidary, auto and kitchen suppliers.
• Insulated cross-locking soldering tweezers.
• Soldering board or other non flammable non melting base.
• Cutters
• Fine silver wire
• Bowl of water
• Nylon pliers

Ball head pins create lovely professional finishes especially for dangles and drops. It is possible to very easily create your own ball pins enabling you greater control on the length of your head pin.
Creating your own ball head pins from fine silver also saves you money so what are you waiting for?

Firstly gather your tools and wire. We use fine silver as its high silver content prevents what is known as scaling (a black residue) forming on your pin, so you will have a bright finish every time.

Step one:
Cut your wire to the length of your head pin, just a smidge longer as the end will ball up.

Step two:
Straighten your wire with the nylon pliers or your fingers.

Step three:
Grasp the head pin in the insulated tweezers, make sure they are insulated as they will get very hot.

Step four:
Light your torch - ours is lit in the pictures but the flame is not visible to the eye so do take care.

Step five:
As in the image hold the wire down into the flame, this will give you a lovely round ball shape.

Step six:
Remove the head pin from the flame and quench in the water when it is the size you require. The ball will only get so big before dropping off, if this happens just try again with the same wire. Be sure you have your block or tile below to prevent any damage to the bench.

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Free beading tutorial by Yvonne Kristel all rights reserved.