Ball end on hinge pins?

Jewelry Discussion
1

Anyone have some tips on putting a nice maybe ball end on hinge pins?
I’m doing my first hinge on a small pendant and wonder if there’s a
nicer way to finish off the pin…

2 
I'm doing my first hinge on a small pendant and wonder if there's
a nicer way to finish off the pin...

You can tube set faceted stones or cabs at the ends. The stones will
keep the hinge pin in place. Just to cite one source, Rio Grande has
diamonds down to 1.3mm, CZs down to 1mm, and round cabs down to 3mm.
Larger, colored stones may be easier to notice, depending on how the
hinge is oriented to the viewer.

Neil A.

3

Finish the ends of the pin with a couple of tube-set cabochons.
That’s always pretty and gives you another touch of color; matching,
complementary or contrasting.

Elliot Nesterman

4

It doesn’t take much flaring to keep a hinge pin in place. It really
doesn’t need to be balled up, careful tapping with a rivet hammer is
all it really needs.

5

Stephen,

Anyone have some tips on putting a nice maybe ball end on hinge
pins?

What material are you working in?? Metal or wax?? If its wax then you
can turn the pins using a rotary hand tool… Metal ones are a little
hard to do that way. For the metal, make the pin, then use a charcoal
block and melt your self an over-sized ball for the end. Solder the
ball to the pin… Then take a file and dress the ball to size and
shape… depending on the size of the pin… you can sometimes again
use the rotary hand tool as a lathe. You can do all kinds of shapes
that way.

Hope this helps.

Dan.
DeArmond Tool
dearmondtool.com