Finishing off a knotted pearl strand with cup-style bead tip?

 I think I've mastered pearl knotting, but I'm having the darnedest time finishing off a strand.  The initial end is no problem, I just do two overhand knots with a touch of glue and when it dries it sits in the bead cup.  But the finishing end is impossible!  The knotting tool won't work on the finishing end, and I've tried using an awl or a straight pin but I still cant get the silk knot tight enough.  And of course, once the knot is tied, there's no untying it and I have to start the project all over.  Does anyone have a solution?

Personally I hate bead tips for just that reason.  The only thing I know of that you might try is to string a sead bead after you string the bead tip, and tie your knot around the seed bead, glue, and then close the tip over the bead/knot. The bead gives you something to be able to help snug up the thread, if that makes sense.

I don't care much for the tips either I find they are weak and come undone with just the slightest tug.  I tend to use wire guards and just go back through a pearl or two and knot.

 Jeni,

Thanks for your suggestion.......but the type of bead tip I'm using isn't the "closing" or clamshell type.....its the cup type where the knot sits inside, and the loop of the cup is over the top....if I'm making sense!

I think I will use Sue's suggestion and try a wire guard, but I have a question for her first in my next post....

Sherri

 Sue,

Is it safe to use wire guards with silk cord???  I would think that the metal would eventually fray the silk and it would break.  What are your thoughts?

Sherri

I haven't had any problem with them fraying the silk cord. But I did have a problem with a pearl necklace I made with a bead tip. I have given it to my grandaughter for her birthday and her baby son pulled on the strand and pulled open the bead tip. This happened a couple of time. Then the tip broke from too many times fixing it.  So I restung it (Pain in the tush) and has not broken since. She wears it day and night. It is her favorite peice.

 Thanks for that bit of info, Sue.  I think what I will do the next time I make a knotted pearl necklace is make one for myself and use wire guards and see what happens.  I wouldn't want to make a necklace using expensive pearls and sell it for a lot of money only to have it break after a year. 

It seems its so hard to make things that last!!!  I'm even having doubts about bead stringing wire.........I've restrung several of my one pieces that aren't even a year old and the plasting coating on the wire is already cracking!

That's strange.  The only time I've had issues with it breaking is either a) using wire that was not strong enough for the piece or b) someone not taking care of it.  Maybe you got an off batch of wire?

I haven't had any problem with beading wire either. What brand of wire are you using? I myself perfer C-Flex but I am having a hard time finding it anymore. I used to have a nearby bead store but she closed and so did the other store in Toledo that used to carry it.

Could be the crimps are the problem. Do you use good silver crimps or base metal? The silver crimps are a softer metal and it takes less effect to crimp. The base metal ones may even have some ruff edges causing a problem with the wire.

 I have been using Soft Touch by Soft Flex and regular Soft Flex for a long time because it seems softer than the other wires.  I use the fine wire (.014) for pearls and medium wire (.019) for everything else.  The acquaintance of mine that introduced me to the wire guards also advised me to use the heaviest wire possible for my projects, and I have started doing that.  The other problem I have with Soft Touch is that it stretches unbelievably.  I've now switched to Beadalon which advertises "near 0 stretch" and will see how that works. 

I always use Sterling crimps.  I used non-Sterling crimps only one time, and it held very poorly.  Never again....

Thanks Jeni and Sue, for your thoughts on the subject!   I want to pefect my beading techniques and talking to others with experience is very helpful!

Your welcome Sherri,

I am happy if I can help in any way. But sometimes finding the correct answer is like looking for a needle in a haystack you just have to keep exploring the possibilities.

True that, Sue.  For what it's worth, I've used a variety of beading wire, but what I stick to now is either 19 or 49 strand wire in varying sizes, depending on the project.  I think I have mostly Accuflex and Beadalon, and both seem to work well, although I've used SoftFlex and haven't had issues (except in the customer abuse category-then all of them can be suspect).

 I'm old school bigtime when it comes to real pearls. The real deal belong on silk. I'm sorry, but i feel that if someone has enough money to invest in a very nice string of real pearls, then they should be on silk and handled with the care intended for fine jewelry. After all wearing pearls day in and out without ever removing them is a bad idea in the first place. Eventually they will show the signs of wear and tear but that's just life, ya know.

 I have yet to have any kind of beading wire just 'break'. Even that 7 strand el cheapo from Wal Mart has held up well in a couple of the first things that I did when I first started getting back into it. My biggest problem with anything like that was a batch of bad crimps that I got once. Well, bad isn't the correct word I don't think. I think that they sent me the cheapies instead of the solid silver. Almost every one in that batch literally split wide open either during the crimping itself or shortly thereafter. Thankfully, I had only got 20 of them at that particular time and I replaced the ones that I knew that I had used and threw the rest away. 

 Billy ;o)

 Thanks for your two cents, Billy.   I buy pearls from the Chinese pearl farms in all price ranges and sometimes I like to mix them with gemstones.  I am sure that you know that you can't (or shouldn't) put gemstones on silk, so in these cases I would use beading wire.  The Chinese pearl farms have made the shapes, colors, and prices of pearls so wide that the design possibilities are endless!