Findings
Beading is much more than beads and string. There are a
number of items that are deemed necessary or at least
useful. These include catches, clasps, ear wires, and a
host of other things.
Almost all of these "findings" are of gold, silver, tin
and base metals. Today, these components generally come
from two sources. The first source is independent of
craftsmen who work for small businesses in India or
Indonesia. These are advertised as handmade and are
priced accordingly. One advantage, or disadvantage,
depending on your point of view, is that no two pieces
are identical. The second source is the manufacture of
large companies headquartered in North America or
Europe. They produce finely machined components made to
exacting standards. Both types are easily found in most
stores and craft shops accounts.
A third type of finding is made by craftsmen who produce
all their own components as part of unique creations.
Some jewelers and artists make all components of metal
for their creations including ear wires going to the
head of the grommets. The artist cuts, shapes and
polishes a raw piece of wire until it becomes an ear
wire or jump ring, or a capture.
These findings are the result of careful thought and
long hours of practice. As a series of findings and ear
wires or catches or clasps head is a tedious job. As an
example let’s look at the making ear wires. The first
step is to cut several pieces of wire (the use of silver
or gold fill) to a fixed length, in this case two
inches. Start with a small batch of about ten pieces.
The next step is to make a loop at one end of each piece
using about a quarter inch cable. When this is done, add
a drop of 3 mm spacer and an additional short wire coil.
Each piece should now have a loop at the bottom with a
score or separator and above the coil loop. Then a
90-degree bend must be placed above the coil. This is
where the cable from the hearing must be curved to fit
comfortably over your ear. Using a wooden dowel about 5
/ 16 inches in diameter, bend the wire to form the
familiar shape of a shepherd hook ear wire. The next
step is to make a slight curve in the last 1 / 16 of an
inch of each wire. This will insert the cable ears
easier. The last step is to eliminate sharp edges which
cut the wire. This is done using a metal file or emery
board. Sharp edges, albeit very small, can be dangerous,
and any open cuts will be painful and prone to
infection.
An optional last step is polishing. This can be done by
hand, but is a tedious process. A better method is to
use a machine to fall. A hobby-size rock glass works
well. Load the glass about 1 / 3 full of shooting and
polished steel ear wires. Add a tablespoon of soap to
fall (a combination of borax soap powder and granular).
Then fill the glass about 2 / 3 full of water and
running with about two hours. Remove the draft and
hearing polishing glass cables and rinse thoroughly. A
common household strainer works well for this. As soon
as the ear wires are dry, they are ready to use.
The result will be 5 pairs of bright, brilliant, highly
polished ear wires that resemble those of the catalogs.
The commercial results are done in a similar way, only
in large lots. The steps are the same, but machine-made.
In fact, most of the trading results are made that way.
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