How to get a large-hole bead to stay centered on wire?

 Hi everyone,

I finished a gorgeous necklace last night with new jade, amethyst, Swarovski crystals, silver and stunning lampwork beads strung on Beadalon wire.  My only problem is that I can't get the lampwork beads to stay centered on the wire because of their large holes.  I put 4mm Swarovski bicones underneath the beadcaps on either side of the lampwork beads, thinking that the bicones would fit nicely into the large holes of the lampwork beads and they would hold them centered, but it's not working.  6mm bicones are too big to fit under the beadcaps, and I don't have any 5mm.  If I can figure out how to insert pictures into my post, I'll post a pic tonight.  Does anyone have any suggestions on how to solve this problem?  Thanks!

do you have any seed beads that are both large enough and small enough? Try maybe a size 6 or 5 seed bead. They are inexpensive and round with small holes in them.

 Hi Sue,

Thanks for your suggestion, but the only seed beads that I have are delicas.  The only beader I know in this tiny town of mine suggested I use glue, and I wouldn't dream of using glue on these lampwork beads which cost me $90!  I've got to find some other way. 

just recently i read a good tutorial for your problem. check this out! not sure if you have to be a member to view the forum or not. but if it's not working, i can send you the pdf file. just give me your e-mail :)

 You can make an eye pin out of a fairly hefty wire and then wrap it from end to end with a finer one until it fits loose enough to spin around yet tight enough to not have a bunch of slop in it.

 I have some long bugle beads that would work perfectly as an axle of a sort, maybe you can find some of them. They are 5/16"long with about the same inner and outer diameters as regular bugles.

 That's all I got, maybe it'll help.

 Billy ;o)

 wheni have a bead with big holes and want to keep it centered i use silver or gold balls. i think prolly 6 or 8 mm. you woulod have to see what what works. hope this was helpful  craes

 i forgot to say i use 1 on each side  oopsie  ty craes

 Thank you to everyone who gave me suggestions!  I tried using silver balls with small holes and made sure the balls I used filled up the space under the bead cap, and it worked.  In this case, the silver balls were 4mm. 

Thanks again to everyone who replied - your suggestions were very much appreciated!

 im glad it worked hun  happy beading  craes

Hi!

I just wanted to share this link: http://www.tierracast.com/newprods/largeholebeads.php

Tierracast makes suggestions for centering large-hole beads and because their materials are available in many online shops and other stores I thought I'd share. I love the BeadAligners.

 Oh thanks Dagi!

I think Sherri asked this question again this summer when she sold a necklace with lampwork.

I mentioned the bead aligners but I've never personally used them because I wanted to know how someone else liked them before I did!

I'm so glad you posted about them, now I can get some when funds are better to try for myself since you like them!

Actually, what I found works absolutely the best is to fill the center of the large-hole bead with 11/0 seed beads (not delicas, because their holes are larger than other seed beads).  They're cheaper than bead aligners and I'm finding they work like a charm!

Thanks to Sue for giving me this suggestion a year ago.  I took some non-delicas from the last bead swap package and tried it - I should have bought some and tried it a year ago when Sue first suggested it!