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There are lots of flashy elements that go into making jewellery with the beads being front and centre. Clasps can come in ornate and beautiful forms and chain can add something to a piece. But none of it would quite as well if it wasn’t for a small finding that holds everything together – the crimp bead.
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What is a crimp bead?
A crimp bead is a tiny metal bead with thin walls that isn’t designed to sit nicely alongside other beads but is designed to be squashed out of shape with special pliers. Why? Simply to stop a length of beading thread from coming undone and release all of its beads.
Crimp beads are known as a ‘construction point’ in jewellery making and are one of the essentials of creating a number of styles, most importantly those using beading wire, cord or thread. They are the lock that stops the thread releasing the beads and come in several different forms and sizes for different tasks. They are also integral to the use of crimp chain, but more about that later.
Styles of crimp bead
There are two main types of crimp bead. The most common is the crimp ball or round, often simply known as a crimp bead. Then there is the crimp tube. The former are small, rounded beads that look like little spacer beads or tiny doughnuts. And as their name suggests, crimp tubes are a little tube bead that tend to be bigger than the round beads and have slightly thicker walls so are ideal for thicker styles of wire or thread and for use with heavier beads.
Getting the right crimp bead
Now it might sound a simple task to pick up a bead or tube to finish your piece of jewellery. But the trick is that these beads come in different sizes and these sizes are aimed to work with different widths or thicknesses of beading wire. If you choose a crimp that is too small for the wire, it might not fit through or won’t grip the wire. On the other hand, if the crimp is too large, then it won’t grip once crimped and won’t do its job.
For example, using the Beadalon crimp and wires as an example, the recommended size of bead for wire between 0.010” and 0.013” is the 0 size crimp bead. The popular 0.015” and 0.018” wire is recommended to use either a crimp bead size 1 or a crimp tube size 2. One of the largest sizes of wire is 0.036” and this is recommended with a size 3 bead or size 4 tube.
Crimp pliers
To finish the process and crimp the bead, most manufacturers recommend using a pair of crimping pliers. These first squash the bead and then the second part of the pliers shapes it in a ball. To be honest, I tend to simply flatten mine with my regular pair of flat nose pliers as I’ve found they grip just as well but if you want to finish them this way, you need the right size pliers for the different crimp beads.
According to SoftFlex, you need:
- Micro pliers – 1x1mm beads
- Regular pliers – 2×2, 3x3mm beads
- Mighty Pliers – 3x3mm beads, 3x4mm 3x5mm tubes
Basic crimping
Once you have your equipment you can set about crimping. The idea is quite simple. You thread a crimp bead after the decorative beads and before any clasp (or in our case, we use a split ring at the end of each strand then attach clasps).
You then feed the thread back through the crimp and usually a couple or more of the beads. Pull the wire tight. Take your crimping pliers and crimp the bead to secure the wire in place or press the crimp bead flat if that’s the way it works.
If you like, you can add a crimp bead cover over the top to hide the crimped bead. Crimp covers make the crimp bead look like more a normal bead.
Making jewellery with crimp chain
One of my favourite looks at the moment uses something called crimp chain. Basically, it is a fine snake chain that crimp beads can grip. This means you can add beads onto it and place them apart then use crimp beads to keep them in place. This creates a very dainty and delicate look and works really well with beads like Swarovski crystals as there’s little to distract the eye from them. Plus, you can add a nice pendant for a statement look!
