One of my favorite tools that I use to make bead holes is a wooden skewer or pick that originally was the handle for a pinwheel party favor... it makes a nice size hole for waxed cotton cord.
Here is how the finished hole looks.
One of the tools Anita mentions on her Blog Melobeau (# 13 on her list) is "tiny cocktail straws to punch jumpring holes". I use coffee stirrers that I first used to stir my coffee at Bread Company.... they are basically the same thing as the cocktail straws... Anita snips off the end of the straw with the clay inside... I use my pinwheel skewer... which just happens to fit perfectly inside the coffee stirrer to push out the clay.... saves me trips to bread company for more coffee... and straws.
See how nicely the skewer fits inside the straw and see what a nice clean hole it makes in the clay.
Making the hole with the stirrer straw....
and here I am pushing the clay out of the straw with the skewer... pretty neat!
Okay, gotta go ... more tomorrow.
Thanks for stopping by.
I often use broken sewing machine needles to make bead holes. The needles for my machine are slightly graduated, like your wooden skewers, so I can get exactly the size hole I need. Everyone has their own tips and tricks, I guess. :) The coffee stirrer is a great idea for a larger hole -- I'll have to give that a try.
ReplyDelete- Jennifer @ JennJill Designs
www.JennJillDesigns.com
I love the idea of the coffee stirrers and your clever idea of using the wooden skewer to push out the clay! I suspect that my cocktail straws may be a smaller diameter, but I just found a tiny diameter knitting needle that I can use to push out the extra clay. No more cutting. THANKS for the idea! When I get around to it I'd like to put a link to your hole punching "refinements" on my blog post.
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome Anita, glad to be of help. I find it very rewarding to share with others and I know you do too.
DeleteI did edit in a link to your "coffee stirrer-skewer" post into my original blog post. It's such a great idea. One of the other things I like about using the knitting needle/skewer to push out the little round excess "punch out" is that it not only conserves the coffee stirrer to use many time, but I also get to re-use the excess bits of clay. I was making many small dangling clay leaves with holes using your method this morning and I saved enough clay from the "punch outs" to make an entire extra leaf. I was thinking of you gratefully as I was making the punches!
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