Tahitian strand stringing adventure ahead! Would love input!

[multichrome]

These arrived yesterday. I live in the southeastern US and it was stormy and VERY dark all day, so I couldn’t see them in the sunlight until this morning. I’m so pleased with them! They look kind of otherworldly to me! I’m about to string them, and I’m leaning toward using Beader’s Secret PLUM, but I also have NIGHT (dark blue) and STORM (cool dark grey). I could do a test, of course. Planning to use a silver orbit clasp and silver gimp. I have other colors if y’all think another would be better! Thanks for looking!

P.S. Sorry for the repeat/disorganized photos. Attachment management with the board software is kind of a bear!

 

[pattye]

Oh, so lovely! Curious to see what color you choose!

 

[Charlotta]

Those tahitians are really pretty.

 

[multichrome]

I’m having more of an adventure than I planned. I managed to get a knot of #20 thread stuck in one of the pearls when getting ready to restring them on the mid-weight #30 PLUM thread, as the holes were drilled too small for a double strand of the #20. Still struggling to get the stuck thread out. I’ve tried many of the solutions I’ve read here, but it looks like I’m just going to have to drill it out. As it is, I may try to enlarge the holes in all of them, as the #30 thread is really not substantial enough to support these pearls. So that is where I am. Still happy with the pearls, but I should have had the holes drilled larger than .8mm! Live and learn!

 

[BWeaves]

They are lovely! I've gotten knots stuck in pearls before, too. It takes me forever and a reamer to get them out. I don't have a drill.

 

[multichrome]

Thank you, BWeaves! I didn’t really want to get a drill, but I really want to get that thread out of there, and I’d like to enlarge the holes in the rest of the pearls if I can do it without damaging them! I hope I’ll succeed.

 

[multichrome]

And I just went after it once more with the reamer and the end of the reamer broke off in the hole, so now the metal end of the reamer is stuck in there with the thread. Oh, snap! A total adventure!

 

[BWeaves]

Oh noes! I have a small collection of pearls I cannot string because there's either knots or glue or bits of metal stuck in the hole. I sympathize but I don't have a solution for you.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

It sounds like drilling it out is the only solution.

 

[multichrome]

I’ll do it if I can. What a comedy of errors!

 

[pattye]

oh gosh, so frustrating! Yeah, I've done that also. Just the other day I wanted to remove a bail from a Tahitian pendant and it seemed a little loose so I twisted it; broke the post off in the pearl, of course. I'll try to drill a new hole next to it. (I'm waiting for new drill bits so I can start practicing again on fw pearls.)

Do you have another pearl you can sub in to finish the bracelet?

 

[Marianne]

Sounds like your have a pesky pearl! I've had the best luck extricating unwanted stuff from drill holes with a pair of very fine pointed tweezers. I just pick and gently prod until it gives. Good luck!

 

[multichrome]

Thanks to all for your sympathy and advice. That knot is incredibly immobile! I’ve made inroads, though. It’s just going to be painstaking, I guess. My current solution (when drill gets here) is to enlarge the hole on one end. I just don’t want that bit of metal to fly out in my direction. I have safety glasses so I’ll wear them. Truly a learning experience.

Pattye, I may use another pearl but the others I have are much lighter and silvery. Still glad to have this strand, and looking forward to wearing them all eventually.

I ordered a 16” strand yesterday. These things are addictive . . .

 

[BWeaves]

I know I've already said this on a different thread, but I love that new strand.

 

[Charlotta]

Pattye, I also broke of a piece of bail in a pearl recently. First I tried to get it out with a needle but only manage to jab myself in my index finger. Tried a reamer after that, but that one got stuck in my thumb. Now I put away the pearl for a while. Luckily it wasn't a favorite pearl.

 

[multichrome]

Thank you, BWeaves. As it’s coming from China, I may get to anticipate it for a good while before it arrives. I just really loved that particular strand, or else I might have waited to order anything. I love purple, and that image shows a very purply strand.

 

[multichrome]

I’ve about decided to wire wrap these large pearls with gold wire and make a bracelet by linking them. Then I’ll have enough pearls even without the one with the thread and bit of reamer stuck in it. They are so heavy that I‘m starting to think that thread will not support them in a secure manner. without frequent restringing. So I’m brushing up on my wire loops, and looking for a pretty gold S-clasp for them. Or I may make a clasp. I haven’t worked with wire much this year but I’m totally up for it once I’ve practiced some.

I’ll post the result here eventually. Thank you all for following the saga!

The purply strand is supposed to arrive by the end of the week. Yay!

 

[lisa c]

Have we ever tried silicone lubricant on a drilled-through pearl, to push anything through, that was stuck?

 

[BWeaves]

I use silicone lube on my loom to make sure the wood and metal parts slide easily against each other. It's nasty stuff. Smells horrible. I'd be afraid to put it on pearls. Then again, the pearl is practically a lost cause with the stuck hole.

 

[lisa c]

Does silicone lube come in forms other than spray, B? I should look that up, and not bother you... I was trying to figure out how to use it without getting the whole pearl slippery and impossible to control. I love that spray for wood drawers, keeps them easy moving without gunking up.

Maybe I'll see if the silicone spray hurts a pearl I have. It’s very hard to be patient, and let the stuff work...