Parrel Beads

[ulrich]

Hello everyone!

For my current model, I need parrel beads the size around 1/32" or 0.8 to 1.0 mm. I have searched this web site, the internet and went to the lokal hobby store (Michaels) without satisfying results. Does anyone know where to purchase or how to make beads this small? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Kind Regards

Ulrich

[twintrow]

Try a sewing shop, i.e. Joanne's, Hobby Bench.   Folks who do bead work and some jewelry may use beads that small.....last ditch effort might be Bass Pro Shop or Cabela's fly making gear.

good luck

Tom

[captainbob]

While at Michael's you should have asked for "seed beads" they are the little glass beads that are made into bracelets and such using a loom.

 

Bob

[hornet]

On a recent build, drilled through the centre of a small diameter dowel using my drill press and then turned the dowel down to the desired diameter using sandpaper on my lathe. I then cut the parrel beads to length and carefully sanded the ends. It was fiddly but worked well. The beads were around 1.5 mm in length but could be made even smaller. See below

 

 

Alternatively, you can buy beads in a range of sizes and colours from sewing shops. See below.

 

Edited November 16, 2015 by hornet

[amateur]

I needed 1.5 mm, and did not succeed in finding a shop selling beads that small.

I used a clay used for beadmaking (soft clay that hardens after baking it in an oven). i drillen holes of the desired measure in a wooden strip, smeared the clay in the holes, used a piece of thin copper wire to make a hole in the bead, baked it. (While still in the wooden strip) after baking, i used the blunt end of the drill to pish them out of the strip, did some founding of the corners using a bit of sandpaper.

 

 

It worked reasonably well, although Idon'tthink you can get much smaller than 1.5 mmusing this methodl. I have also seen peaple using magic sculpt or something likethat to make small parrels.

 

Jan

Edited November 16, 2015 by amateur

[ulrich]

Thanks for all the advise and tips. I don't have a lathe to turn those beads from wood (which would be my first choice).  I will try to use the method, Jan describes, using clay. To round them off, I will run them in my block tumbler and see if that works. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks again,

Ulrich

[tkay11]

Ulrich, did you make your own block tumbler or did you buy one? If bought, what type is it and what is your experience? The reason I ask is that there was a long discussion some time back about block tumblers and the difficulties of tumbling small blocks.

 

Thanks,

 

Tony

[hornet]

Ulrich, because are only using sandpaper to reduce the diameter of the dowel, you may be able to fix the dowel into a collet after drilling it out and sand it back using your hobby drill clamped in a vice. I am assuming that you have a hobby drill that uses some form of collet.

[ulrich]

Tony, 

I made my own some years back using a can with a top (english candy). It is somewhat primitive but it does the job well on blocks, not so well on the wooden parrel beads, when I tried to reduce their size.

Regards,

Ulrich

[tkay11]

Thanks, Ulrich. I've often thought of making my own. Perhaps I'll get round to it this time!

 

Tony

[amateur]

Btw the stuff is called fimo

 

Jan

[ulrich]

Hi, you'all

a short update on the issue of parrel beads: I did purchase a bunch of toho beads but it turned out their holes are too large and that does not look right. My friend and mentor from the HRSMS (Hampton Roads Ship Model Society) pointed me in the right direction: take a hardwood dowel (I used holly), pull it through a draw plate to obtain the desired thickness, drill a small hole in the center (don't drill too deep, you might get off center), than cut it to the desired length with a sharp blade (#11), rolling the dowel against it to avoid pressure which could deform the dowel. I also made a small jig to get the same length for all beads. After that, I run these beads for a few seconds in my block tumbler to round their edges. This results in a bead not exactly round but slightly cylindrical. Dipping them into some wood oil will give them a "yellowish" color, same as boxwood (I think). The beads I made are slightly less than one mm in diameter and length which I think is appropriate for a 1/8" scale.

Happy modeling

Ulrich

Edited January 15, 2016 by ulrich

[tkay11]

Thanks for the update, Ulrich. Sounds good. How about some photos?

 

Tony

[JerseyCity Frankie]

I'm restoring a model that had the parel in place. Sadly the guy had chosen brown beads that were translucent. With the light from behind the beads look all wrong as they appear to glow with an inner light if the sun hits them right. Get opaque beads!