Bead Reaming Made Easy

By on February 1, 2010
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by Mary Bailey and Charley Key for Wire-Sculpture.com

Bead Reaming Made Easy



Plus: We now carry Large-Hole Pearls that can accommodate up to 18-gauge wire! Check them out!

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18 Comments

  1. avatar

    Patsy Hughes

    February 1, 2010 at 4:05 pm

    Great !!!!!!!!!!!!! Very helpful ! Made easy to understand! Two , very nice ladies !

  2. avatar

    Delfy Gomez

    February 1, 2010 at 4:20 pm

    This information was very useful.

  3. avatar

    Roseamrie

    February 1, 2010 at 4:21 pm

    This video was very helpful. I didn’t know about using water to cool the pearl so the heat wouldn’t crack the pearl while being reamed.
    Thank you and I look forward to more instructive videos.
    All the best!

  4. avatar

    Norine

    February 1, 2010 at 7:34 pm

    Thank you for this very informative video. This is something that I have never heard before and I have pearls that I wanted to use but the holes were too small.

  5. avatar

    Ann Keefer

    February 1, 2010 at 9:54 pm

    Thank you Wire Sculpture for all the Great video tips, they are very helpful-love your supplies and website. I am new to beading and wire wrapping. I tried my hand at my first sterling silver wrapped stone for a pendant and I am very disappointed in my final outcome. I tried once with cheap practice wire and it one came out beautiful! The sterling wire I used was 20 gauge square half hard with 20 gauge half round, half hard sterling silver. I had a hard time keeping the square wire straight, some of the strips wanted to keep twisting and it was very hard to bend. The silver wire seemed to gauge up quit a bit, while bending (I tried to be as careful as I could). How do you keep your wire from getting gauges in it and keep smooth bends, spirals and curls?

    Please help, I don’t want to give up yet, I have a pair of blue topaz earrings to make for my daughter to wear for her something blue in her June wedding.

  6. avatar

    Jane Elizabeth

    February 2, 2010 at 9:57 am

    Love this video on bead reaming… especially because I recently designed a neckpiece, earrings and bracelet combo that required the use of some beautiful pearls that have the smallest hole I have ever run across. I have the readmer that was shown from wire-sculpture but did not know I was to perform this under water! Now I know why I ended up with many cracked and/or broken beads… thanks for the tip!

  7. avatar

    Susan Ivy

    February 3, 2010 at 6:46 pm

    Love the videos! They are short and to the point. Would have liked a little more info on whicfh stones need to be reamed under water, but got a lot out of the video.

    • avatar

      dalecgr

      February 3, 2010 at 8:02 pm

      Thanks Susan – to answer your question – ALL stones need to be reamed under water.

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  9. avatar

    Terri

    November 6, 2010 at 10:43 am

    Thank you for the info.
    Wow i never realized you had to ream in the water that explains why my beads break sometimes.
    I frustrated me so.

    :)

  10. avatar

    Lacyblu

    November 11, 2010 at 3:50 am

    I adore Mary Bailey…I have the exact same bead reamer but I never knew water was the best way to use a reamer for natural soft stones and pearls…Might have saved me reaming my thumb on a few occasions…Thank you again Mary…

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  12. avatar

    Nathalie

    January 13, 2011 at 1:00 pm

    I love pearls and use them in most of my projects. Thank you Mary for finally clearing some confusing issues…

  13. avatar

    Teresa

    February 12, 2011 at 10:29 pm

    I’ve used this same tool shown in the video but it took much longer. guess I know why now. I wasn’t using water. Makes a difference when you know what you’re doing. Thanks so much for taking time to give us the info we need. It is really appreciated.

  14. avatar

    Tammy

    July 10, 2011 at 6:05 pm

    Hi

    I don’t post comments too offten but I thought that this video was great. I have had one of those bead reamers for the last ten years and they do work. Hey Terri you can use use water with a bead reamer for glass as well. I think that its a good idea I think with most kinds of beads its good to use water because of the heat that is generated. I use use water for just about any kind of bead except clay and wood.

    • avatar

      dalecgr

      July 11, 2011 at 11:15 am

      Thanks for taking the time to let us know Tammy!

  15. avatar

    Sheryl

    November 19, 2011 at 11:31 am

    Ditto. Thank you so much for the video, and the tip to use a bead reamer under water. I’ve been cracking more beads than not when I’ve tried to use my bead reamers. Now I know why that’s been happening, and will do it under water in the future! These tips are invaluable!

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