On page 835 of the current Rio Gems & Findings catalog, at the top
of the page… are some earrings that are using round sterling beads
“lined with rubber and function as ear nuts.”
I would like some of those, as ear nuts are usually unattractive.
Rio only sells them as part of the earrings. I make my own earrings.
So does anyone know a source for just the rubber filled beads, or
the kind of rubber to fill the beads (and is there an easy way to do
this?)
Stick pins are great, but I never make them as I don’t like
commercial ends for them. So knowing what and how the rubber gets in
the bead would be great. But I can just get the rubber filled beads
too.
Alan Revere’s “101 Bench Tips For Jewelers” covers this in tip #97,
page 102, on making a gold stopper for a stickpin. You anneal an
appropriate piece of tubing, burnish (in your flex shaft) one end
over so it has a lip intruding into the inside diameter, and punch
it into a pencil eraser.( Sharpen the working punch end first.) Then
burnish over the second end, and you have a stickpin clutch. These
could be even fancier if engraved or stamped with textures or
designs before filling.
Revere’s book is full of this clever stuff; lots of fun!