Sarah- I hate to be a kill joy here but I do have some advice that you may or may not wish to accept.
Almost no one uses threaded post and nuts any more. Why? Well for several reasons.
A: Threaded posts are painful to put in and take out of piercings. Think running barbed wire through your ear holes. This is the main reason why well made body piercing jewelry almost always has internally threaded connecters. It’s painful enough to run threads through ear holes let alone the tender bits involved with body piercings. Don’t ask me how I know this. Just trust me:-)
B: The threads in the posts collect gunk and encourage the growth of bacteria and just general ear funk. They can start to smell after awhile. Ask any jewelry veteran who has had to clean and steam off a pair of threaded post diamond studs. Eeeew!
C: The threads and nuts strip out and loosen with time and they will fail to be secure.
D: They are not universal. So if you loose a nut from a favorite pair of earrings sometimes it’s impossible to find a replacement that fits.
The preferred super safety earring posts and nuts used by professionals and most design houses and manufacturers are La Pousettes. Also called Protektors. Here’s a quick video showing the difference. Screw Backs vs. Protektor Backs - Which is best for your Diamond Stud Earrings? - YouTube
Now…That said I do have to say that learning to make hand threaded wires and little nuts is a very useful skill to have and it can be very satisfying to do. So You should try doing it just for fun and education. You never know when making a cold connection might come in handy.
Have fun and make lots of jewelry.
Jo
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