Standard drill hole size

[Hanaleimom]

Is there a standard size for fully-drilled pearls no matter what type of pearls they are? Or are there different sizes for Tahitian vs. CFW? Does drill hole size depend on the diameter of the pearls?

If I were to buy head pins, what size would be the safest to use for both FW and Tahitians? Or should I buy different sizes due to different drill hole sizes?

Thank you.

 

[knotty panda]

Up until a few weeks ago, I would have said you'd be safe with 22 ga. I ran into a few pearls recently that I wish I'd had 24 ga. So the answer to your question is, no there's no standard size, and stock from 20 ga. to 26 ga. to cover all your bases.

 

[Mervione]

If you are going to use gemstonebeads with the pearls, keep in mind that the drillholes on those can be really small...

I?ve bought from druzy a few times and for lots of things you need 26 gauge! I guess they make the drill holes smaller on really precious things so that the caratweight wont be affected much. And people often wants their pearls to be stringed so that?s why the holes in pearls usually (from my tiny experience) are bigger.

 

[knotty panda]

I've purchased drilled gemstones which I linked with 20 ga. wire and I've yet to run into a pearl with a hole that large. The point is, there no standard size.

 

[Mervione]

I think a good thing to do is to get wire and pins in many different gauge-sizes.

 

[jerin]

Cathy,

just remember that the higher the gauge number, the softer the pin!

 

[Hanaleimom]

Hi P-Gers,
Thank you for your replies. I bought 24 gauge and used them on some small FW. I tried 20 on the same batch of pearls yesterday and the pin was kind of stuck in the middle. So I gently jammed it in and it worked, with the 2nd pin. The first one bent.

What about the pendant findings that are sold from Rio Grande or Bella Findings? There are certain ones I want to purchase with the peg and cup. They don't have the width of the peg in the description. It seems like a hit or miss if you purchase one of those and not knowing that it will fit your pearl's drillhole.

 

[knotty panda]

Interesting question. I've never used those, but I see your dilemma. My guess would be to test your drill hole before you purchase. If it's a snug 22 ga. you can always ream as needed. If the post turns out to be 24 ga. the glue should fill the hole nicely. If you have a 20 ga. hole and you can't ask your supplier the finding dimensions, be prepared to change your design.

 

[haolegirl]

What is the best drill hole size (diameter) for 24G wire?

 

[Heidi]

What is the best drill hole size (diameter) for 24G wire?

I don't know how much "play" you want in a drill hole, although ideally not too much since you don't want to introduce unnecessary wear around the drill hole. Here is a LINK to a conversion chart for wire diameters including gauge, inches and millimeters.