Hi Shinji,

Almost all of my necklaces are strung on Power Pro fishing line.
Knots can be fused just by melting them with a cigarette lighter.

Frederick

I use Soft Flex. You can buy for all different weights. Not cheap but I feel my beads are safe. Lynne

I purchased 1.2 mm and 1.5 mm brass wire from an industrial supply store on the internet - McMaster-Carr. Then I hide the end in large bead caps.

I use this technique for very heavy beads for a collar or torque - type necklace. Otherwise the necklace hangs in a "V" or a "U".

Do not use wire or cable -its much too stiff and can damage beads, its used a lot because its easy but it isnt usually a good solution for the job.
I use the maximum size of very strong coloured nylon spun thread or a mixture of many threads together, it makes nice knots and cushions the beads properly, gives the necklace a nice soft feel and hangs well. Thin stiff wire through large holes makes the beads rub against each other causing it to look clumsy and it damages the beads.

I use a range of different types of wire, thread and cord. It really depends on your design and your beads. It may be good to just get a book on some basic materials and techniques.

I have added a link to a book by Stefany that has great pictures of collectible beads (always a plus) but also goes into several ways of making jewelry with them. Not sure if Stefany has some herself, or that indeed amazon is your best bet.

Thanks Floor!
my 3 books are all out of print, unfortunately, but pop up frequently on Amazon, etc.
look for "Beads! make your own jewellery" or "The Bead Jewellery Book" and you may find copies...
Wherever possible design with beads that have similar size holes and create a cord with as many fibres as you can fit- dont bother with bought needles but make your own with soft finest fusewire bent double and twisted together.
Beads with big holes on cable or wire shift from side to side, grind against each other and dont hang in a symmetrical, centred way.

most of this advice is obvious and i believe you could eventually work it out for yourself!

the other thing would be to come to one of my classes... (I live in London)

Shinji,

There is a product that is called tiger tail it is made of stainless steel that is braided. I used to use it on my hand made silver beads that were quite heavy. I just did a search "tiger tail beading wire" there is plenty of information on it and places to purchase it.

All my best .......... Danny

only use tigertail cable as the last resort=it wears or cuts through so many bead materials ...

I got this message form a former forum member that has probably forgotten more than most of us know.

Hi Danny,

A small point about your recent reply concerning stringing materials. Tigertail is actually a cable of stainless steel, coated in clear plastic. There are typically seven lines twisted together, but there may be sizes with more of fewer lines. The lines are not braided (!).

In the 1960s, braided metal lines were available, and often used by American Indians for stringing Navajo silver beads, squash-blossom necklaces, and the like. But I think this is mostly not used any longer. In the '70s they turned to Tigertail. By now, I expect they are using SoftFlex.

SoftFlex is very similar to Tigertail--being steel lines corded (twisted) together, and coated in plastic. They now make a range of products, including colored wires and gold-plated wires. SoftFlex is considered superior to Tigertail, because it is (supposedly) more flexible, and doesn't become permanently "chinked" when the necklace is bent. Since the time this was introduced into the marketplace, it has been difficult to find Tigertail.

All my best ......... Danny

Softflex is the uber-tigertail, the new, improved version of that old staple. Tigertail is made of 7 strands of wire coated in plastic, and is notorious for kinking, especially with hard wear and heavy beads.

Softflex comes in a couple of different weights and thicknesses, and two stranded versions--21 strand and 49 strand. Yes, plastic coated. Yes, does NOT kink. Yes, very strong. Some versions can be tied, but I've never tried this. Yes, it comes in a wide variety of colors, every color you can think of and a couple dozen more. I've never seen so many choices in just silver.... Yes, there are now multiple choices in "drape" so it can even be used with very light-weight beads.

I secure with crimps (sterling or gold-filled). If I can, I "bury" the crimp in a bead.

Yes, it's more expensive. But the cost per necklace is not very much. I've had crimps give occasionally (usually because I didn't crimp correctly) but NEVER had the cable give.

I think the suggestion about knotted nylon or silk is spot on, too, because the knots cushion the bigger beads and beads with bigger holes. I've stopped using silk because it stretches too much over time, and rough-edged beads can fray it. I personally don't like the "feel" of nylon, but that's just my opinion. It's sturdy, doesn't stretch.

Fishing line....I've never used it for necklaces, it just reads "cheap". In other uses, I've had knots come undone. I don't like "melting" the knots. I've been told that newer versions decay under UV, so it will eventually break down in the wild. That doesn't bode well for necklace designs. Some brands get brittle over time, or discolored.

Cotton cord looks nice but can fade, wear, "rot" with moisture and perspiration. I love waxed linen cord and waxed cotton, but eventually the wax wears away under heavy use, and then the linen or wax cord frays. (Ask me about the first designs I made using linen cord. Then ask me how many times I've restrung them--free of charge--for my faithful customers.)

IMHO, of course.

Soft Flex for strength and to prevent stretching; knotting to cushion the beads and prevent the ends from grinding on one another.

Whenever I use Soft Flex I use glass seed beads or small wooden beads as pivot points between the larger beads - dramatically increases the flexibility of the necklace, as large beads strung tightly can not only damage each others' ends, but can actually produce enough leverage to snap the wire if bent into a tight curve (as happens if the piece, heaven forfend, is dropped).

Would like to know more about the project you have in mind, Shinji.
I like Rosanna's idea for a torque with thick heavy wire, sometimes it could be just the thing, but you would have to be careful to try and prevent the beads from getting damaged. Sometimes you can "stuff" the holes if there is room by wrapping the stringing material with soft thread, and literally pushing more material into the beads from the sides with a needle...

While I like Stefany's approach of using as many threads as the beads will accept, I don't always use beads of exact same size perforations. That is where the wrapping and stuffing is helpful. I've done necklaces where the bead holes vary from 2mm up to 10mm or slightly more.

My long time favorite stringing material is artificial sinew, especially for trade beads. It can be split to thinner widths if needed. When tying it off, you need to leave a 3/8" tail and singe the knot with a low flame, being careful to not melt the knot itself!

Another thread I love is called C-Lon, popular in the last 8 years or so.
It is a kind of polyester or nylon, comes in many great colors and is not expensive. It doesn't keep stretching like Conso, a thread originally made for the upholstery industry, I believe. C-Lon has become popular with micro-macrame artists because of the great colors and not stretching like Conso.

There are so many products these days that I haven't even tried! Have recently bought some of the thread marketed for Kumihimo and like that stuff too!

Re. Softflex - those people are in our area, and their stringing cable definitely rules. It even comes in sterling plate and gold plate, very pretty. But I have had the thinnest weight, the .10, break right at the crimp without the necklace having much use at all. The crimping tool out in the last 10 or 12 years sure makes the crimp look better than it used to, and there are nice looking crimp covers out now too. I don't use the stainless stringing cable a lot but sometimes it's most convenient, at least for jewelry I don't sleep in. I don't like the idea of sleeping with steel cable around my neck.

if you like, look at it this way-
to thread up your beads the EASIEST way that anyone can do use wire cable (by which i mean tigertail, softflex or any of those which require no needle) regardless of how it hangs and looks- this allows using badly drilled beads but eventually they may even cut through the cable-

to thread beads TO LOOK WONDERFUL use the thickest cord that will fit of combined related colours of threads and match the hole sizes so you can knot which may add to the beauty and the feel of the finished item specially if you want to sell it-

to thread beads with the GREATEST CONSIDERATION FOR THE BEADS themselves -such as for example ancient glass, or faience, it requires thought about the design to include safety features that protect against grinding etc, and maybe not to use organic fibres which can spoil things like shell or other substances that degenerate if exposed to acid fumes (that's why museums use acid-free tissue) so i use strongest spun coloured bonded nylon threads which are marketed under lots of different trade names, but were originally made for machine-stitching leather for shoes, etc.

Stringing choices are determined by the beads themselves...which is why most of us probably have a couple of boxes worth of different threads, lines, cords.......

One of my customers, an overactive Australian young man, keeps breaking necklaces and bracelets. One of the latter suddenly snapped during a flight Hong Kong-Athens, the beads were scattered all over the plain, and many were lost to the sweepers.
So, the string I used for the last project I made for him -- the bracelet with amazonites recently posted here -- was 1,5 mm thick Dyneema. It has a silky touch, ans is so strong I was unable to cut it with scissors, I had to use a Dremel rotating saw! Of course, this could be a problem in case the wearer would get hooked somewhere...
I dislike knots at the ends: alternatively I bend the string and bind it with a thread ad hoc, that I seal afterwords with the epoxy varnish sold for finishing fishing rods -- its surface shines when dry, but it can be made matte with a hard bristled brush.

Leather cord is my favorite for stringing trade beads - it comes in various thicknesses and has a superior feel when worn against bare skin - a consideration when leaving the back 7-8 inches of a necklace with no beads. I have found that the various nylon cords like C-Lon to be very uncomfortable when used like this.

Leather is not a permanent stringing material however and must be replaced when it gets worn. It also can break at thin spots or worn spots.

A note on bracelets - beads on bracelets get banged up a lot, especially if they are large, or the wearer is clumsy like I am! For this reason I make very few bracelets with collectible beads.

I agree, leather is a possibility, although I had problems when I started to use thin thongs supposedly made of kangoroo leather.
This large bronze pendant is safely strung on an antique Turkish whip made of braided leather.

Thank you for everybody!
Every coments are very very valuable for me.
I'd like to study every way you guys told me.
Thank you!

Shinji

You have many options: the 2 questions are: how big are the holes, and what is its end purpose??

Soft-Flex - Nylon coated braided steel, crimp to finish available in .010, .014. .019 and .024. For a real heavy piece you can double this, then crimp to finish. Recommended using the proper crimping tool. Other brands such as Acculon and Tigertail tend to be more wire-ry.

S-Lon: similar to CLon, available in Micro, Fine, Regular, and Heavy, great for knotting, micro-macrame and braiding. Much stronger than silk, should be pre stretched.

Tuff-Cord - a nylon thread similar to S-Lon - 6 thickness, and many colors.

Chinese knotting cord: Avaialbe in .5mm, .8mm, 1.2mm and 2mm - many colors and pretty.

Ultra Micro Fiber Suede Lace - a smilier look to suede leather - many colors and knots well. This can also be braided.

Waxed Cotton cord available in .5mm, .8mm, 1mm and 2mm, Limited colors, and much stranger than leather options. The wax feeling varies among brands. More cords are either bonded or waxed.

Hemp - typically in 10lb or 20lb, many color choices. The first pair of Levi's were made from Hemp!! a little course - but nicer than Jute.

Fireline® is a pre waxed, braided cord consisting of gel-spun polyetholine –Available in 4lb, 6lb, 10lb and 10lb. - much stronger than fishing line which is made to break down with UV.

http://www.globalbeads.com/shop/category/stringing-material/

I put together an Infographic to help our customers.

Salvaged gut cord from an old tennis racquet has been used in this necklace.

this shows a good solution for these beads- as a very stiff springy stringing material can be appropriate for beads like these which are bone and/or wood, not brittle, which are not heavy and look good on a round loop - its much more difficult to do well if you use a soft floppy cord.

Thank you, Stefany, for your knowledgeable comment.

As a matter of fact, I had these beads for years -- since I got them from the estate of famous turn-of-the-century dancer Tórtola Valencia -- but I was taken back because of the technical problems involved in stringing. Both the nails and bone cylinders, which are empty and have thin walls, have been stuffed with the dried up vegetable fiber from a creeper found in the woods of South Eastern Asia islands, then sealed with bee wax. And yes, the gut cord has enough "nerve" to keep the whole set in place.

I still do not know which animal these relics belonged to -- perhaps an oversized bird? I will thank any info.

I appreciate every coments here.
Thank you very much!

Making Jewelry is not my main business,but I have to do it sometimes when the stock is getting small or our customers request.
So I have to be ready to make Jewelry with any kinds of beads.
Tiny beads also huge beads also,cheap beads also expensive beads also.
So evebody's coment's are very important and usefull for me.
Thanks again!

The picture here is the latest necklace I made.
I feel white hearts is too big for the face bead.
But my custmer like this style,everybody has different taste haha.

Shinji