So you want to make Jewelry? What about clasps? Part 2

Last week, we discussed clasps - which are a subset of findings - findings being all those little odds and ends that are required to make the jewelry work. We covered two (Hook & eye, and box) of the five main categories, not including the odd little items that are hard to categorize. This week - we fearlessly carry on!

Toggle Clasps - toggle clasps really are sort of a variant of the hook and eye, in that they are a purely mechanical clasp with a ring you hook a bar through.

In general - they consist of a ring, and a bar that is wider than the ring. To fasten these, you manipulate one end of the bar into the ring, and pull it up and through, until the other end of the bar comes up through the ring as well. Then you can let go and the bar settles back across the ring and is secure. It is surprisingly easy to do this with one hand, making these an excellent choice for a bracelet. They do need to have weight on them in order to stay closed, and I have had some problems with them spontaneously undoing themselves on necklaces. Also, the bar can interfere with the back of your neck - so I prefer them for bracelets. But that's not to say that I never use them with necklaces - but usually for bigger, heavier ones.

Because the bar needs to be the right size to slip through the ring, but not back out, these really need to be the right dimensions - and occasionally we'll get one shipped to us that was obviously not tested before they put it into production. Little gaffs like, the bar is too short, or the loop attached to the bar prevents it from sliding through the ring - those ones go in to the "defective products" bin.

They come in a huge range of styles and metals - with something to fit every budget. Some have charming little visual puns - like this heart and arrow toggle. Others make the ring so elaborate that it becomes part of your overall design.

There are some interesting variations in the category of toggles. This "Layered Leaf" clasp is still just a toggle - the smaller leaf (bar) fits through the hole in the bigger leaf (ring) and twists, to make a layered leaf look that does not read as a clasp at all, but as a design element. You can see how this floral clasp also uses form to hide function.






Our fourth category is Magnetic clasps. At it's simplest - two magnets with loops on - but lately we have seen more and more that seek to hide the magnets - making for clasps that can become invisible.

Most magnetic clasps are pretty strong, but magnets that are hard to pull apart can be very easily slid to one side. To counter accidental openings, the newer and more elaborate styles often have a post on one half of the clasp, and a hole to fit inside on the other, to prevent them from being easily disconnected. To open these - you need to slide your nail inside the opening and lift a little, and then slide apart - which is annoying if your manicure is fresh. However, for folks with arthritis, they can be a god-send, as they practically do themselves up - so long as you get the ends close enough.

You may have seen "kits" for converting hard to do up necklaces - these consist of just magnetic clasps with a ring so that you can easily attach them to existing clasps without having to modify the jewelry.

However, before modifying all your grandmother's jewelry so that she can put it on without assistance, bear in mind that you must not use magnetic clasps for folks with pacemakers. The magnet interferes with the delicate electrical signals that are communicated between the actual regulator and the pacemaker itself, and, as much as I love jewelry - I really don't think it is worth dying for. Not unless it is a really fabulous piece.

(Just kidding. A really, really fabulous piece.)

We've seen some interesting variations lately too - like these "fold over"clasps, that have a magnet in them, so that they are more secure. And these multi-strand tube clasps have a magnet in them to help hold them closed.

Magnetic clasps can be highly annoying to work with - as the magnet in them sticks to ferrous items, like - your tools! And even the stringing cable! You'll spend a lot of time unsticking them from your wire cutters, crimpers, and once assembled and stored in your jewelry box, you may pull necklace out, and find that six more came along for the ride. On the upside, you can store the stuck to your fridge or a metal filing cabinet. And they make a great clasp for making custom ID badge holders.

If your workplace requires that you wear an ID tag at all times, you may have decided that you want to hang your pass on a more attractive and personal loop than the logo-embossed ribbon that it came with. For security purposes, these need to break away should someone decide to grab your pass and make a break for it (unless you work for the CIA, in which case, I'm sure you have the training to stop that sort of thing.) If you think jewelry is not worth dying for, well, frankly, neither is your job worth being throttled by your ID badge. Just let them go and call security. (If you work around machinery - for sure you want it to break away if grabbed by a machine.)

One last caution for magnetic clasps. I don't usually use them on bracelets anymore, or if I do, I add a safety chain, a short piece of chain from one end of the bracelet to the other that the will stop the bracelet from dropping off your wrist if the clasp is accidentally opened. I find that in the winter, when you pull your big heavy coat off - it tends to drag on your wrist with enough force to open the magnetic clasp and have it come off. Because all the nerves in your arms are being stimulated by the sleeve coming off, you tend not to notice the bracelet coming off, the way you would normally notice it falling off. I can't tell you how many bracelets I have rescued from the slushy, salty boot tray by the door.



Our fifth category is Spring clasps. Generally, utilitarian and not much in the way of design choices, but absolutely a basic, stock-in-trade item. This category of clasps feature a spring loaded lever or slider that you pull back, hook into a jumpring or chain, and then release the tab. They are absolutely secure - unless you miss the ring entirely. They can be a bit awkward to do up on bracelets until you get the hang of it.

Usually, you just see the round "spring ring" clasp and the elongated or rounded "Lobster claw" clasp. They are an inexpensive and unobtrusive clasp solution.

But technically - these heart clasps are exactly the same idea.

Other oddball clasps that you might come across and want to use.

There are the "fold over" clasps - a style that has a hinge and a friction fit. You open up the clasp and put it through the attaching ring, and fold close. You should hear a little "snikt" as it snaps shut securely. To open, pull up the tab and fold out.

These Ram's Horn tension bars are very specialized, and designed to hold wide band bead work closed by sliding the bars, like a clip, into sleeves built-into the bracelet.


These snap clasps work pretty much like the button snap on your jeans -a friction fitted ball in a hole.



Barrel clasps tend to be inexpensive and are simply a screw and a threaded socket.



This combination of a box clasp and a hook and eye uses tension to keep closed, but has a post that will catch the clasp if it inadvertently comes open.


These were an interest variation - the have a ball and a slot that it fits into. Definitely does not look like a clasp once secured. I like that in a clasp. These use the same idea - they work much like the magician's traditional "linking rings" trick.




These tube clasps - that are NOT magnetic - have a spring clip on the side to provide some tension - to prevent them from accidentally sliding open. I prefer these - because of the "not sticking to my tools" thing. These are a great clasp for multi-strand bracelets.


So that's the scoop on clasps - the inside info on closures. Hope you got some "closure" from that. ;-) Now that you know what a world of choices there are out there, you don't have to use just another lobster claw!

By the way - all the image are clickable links that will take you to the product if it is in stock, and if not, to the page where you may find something you like better.

The Joy of Metal Clay - More Bronze

Last week during metal clay play day I worked some more with the Fast Fire Bronze. Is showed you the pictures of the pieces waiting to be fired. Here are the results. Overall, I would say there was more success!!!

If you look closely at this pendant the cubic zirconia in the piece have discoloured. The reason for this is that I hadn't cooled the piece naturally and quenched it before it had cooled enough. Oops....something I know not to do but hurried it. Learn from my mistakes.

This piece is not yet finished. My Dad has my dremel as I want to bring up a brighter finish on it. This will have to wait. One thing to note is this piece had to be fired twice. The first firing resulted in a crack on one of the leaves. I am unsure as to why...there may have been a small crack that I didn't notice before firing I am not sure. But the good news is that I managed to repair it.

Here is the crack in the leaf...I did not finish or polish the piece (I believe the more polish on a piece the harder to repair).

All I did was to add some fresh clay to the crack and smooth it over and dry. The I refired it.

Here it is no cracks!

A note about firing. I fired my Fast Fire Bronze Clay embedded in carbon using the recommended ramp speed of 1525F per hour and I fired at 1520F for one hour. The directions on the site state that the firing temperature is 1525F internally but that many kilns do not necessarily fire consistently. For my kiln 1520 seems to be the right temperature. Also it is important to not seal the container completely tight and that your lid should be askew in order to allow some oxygen flow. So far this has worked well.

The last night

This final day for me in Tucson was spent running around to three different shows to pick up stuff that I had ordered earlier. All the shows were busier today, and people are still arriving to start their shopping.


This has been overall the coldest week I've ever spent at the Gem shows. Would you believe this was a hotel fountain in an enclosed courtyard yesterday afternoon?! Yikes! Today was much more reasonable weather for Tucson.


I spent over 2 hours filling out @#$%$ customs forms this afternoon. Everything has been carefully packed up by the great guys at the Pakmail booth and will be picked up by the UPS truck on Monday, and in a week or 10 days, our intrepid webmistress will be inundated with new stuff to photograph and categorize and upload to the beadFX website.

My overall impression talking to people at the shows is that attendance is down significantly. However, the weekend crowd was more than before, possibly because of the warmer weather and the fact that people whose travel plans were upset by the airport closures earlier in the week have finally arrived.

The Business Chat - Calendars

Continuing on with my current mania for organization this week I ripped the first month off my 2011 calendar. This isn’t just any old calendar, this is my spiffy new Business Calendar (it deserves capital letters).

I keep to-do lists, but until now I didn’t have a business calendar. I’m talking about a different kind of calendar– I mean a seasonal schedule, something to remind me in July to get busy on designing my Christmas line. A reminder in October to order mailing supplies for the holiday rush would be helpful. I also included my schedule for sending email newsletters. If I were better organized I’d also put in an editorial schedule for my blog (next year).

At the beginning of the year I updated my business plan and goals. As always those files are sitting on my computer and every couple of months I look at them. This year I’m trying something new, they’re going on my new Business Calendar. I have a lovely large paper calendar on my desk (18” x 24”, can’t miss it) and I wrote all my major goals on the calendar. Now they have actual dates associated with them. For each of my goals I also broke down the steps to reaching them and then gave those steps dates as well. Those dates also went onto the calendar. Boy that calendar filled up fast!

The format of your business calendar could be a spreadsheet or to-do lists for each month or season. Reminders in your electronic calendar would be handy. I do like the look of my lovely hard copy calendar, in fact next year I think I’ll print out my own calendar with images of my jewelry on it. Hm, a new product? I’ll add that on to the calendar for production dates.

Do it. Make a calendar for your business. What tasks are you adding to your business calendar?

Inspiration Friday

With a new year, how about we make a few little changes to our Inspiration Friday posts? This year, you pick your inspiration reference! There are lots of places to find inspiration. Photo's, magazines, fabric, nature, patterns, textures...Have a really good look at the little things around you, and make something - anything at all. The whole point is to get you out of your comfort zone, and experiment with new beads, materials, found objects, ephemera - anything you can find!

We'd love to see what you come up with. Send us a picture of your new creation, along with a pic, or description of your inspiration reference.  Send it to contest@beadfx.com with the subject line "Inspiration Friday"

If you have a personal blog, or etsy/artfire/bigcartel type site - send us a link to that as well!

Personally, I don't have anything for you this week - I've spent my creative time trying to clean up the studio. Another day or two, and I should be able to find all of my beads and tools :-)  That, and I was about to start soldering some projects, and realized I must have left my soldering board  at beadfx last time I was there. I keep all of my traveling tools in one box, and always put them back in that box so that when I do travel to teach a class - I don't have to spend a week finding all of my tools. Everything was there except for my soldering boards - oh well....

We were sent a picture that I'm planning on putting up in the gallery - I thought I'd show the tree off here as well. Awesome!

If you ever think of making a tree - Farhana shared a link with us. While Farhana did not follow the instructions here, and has been making trees for a while - She does recommend this link as a good place to start: http://kimberlychapman.com/crafts/bftreetutorial.html

What I did on my Winter vacation - Tucson

I took a couple of courses at Swarovski as the vacation part of my Tucson trip.

The first course involved rivetting large Swarovski fancy stones onto a bracelet blank. This involved the use of a new rivetting tool (which beadFX will be carrying in the near future, of course). It involves some careful measurement, but was very easy to use, especially with a table-top vise that you can get at any large hardware store.


The next course was really fun. I got to embellish the top of a plain compact case with Swarovski flatbacks. I started with an argyle pattern, but discovered that I can't set a straight line of flatbacks if my life depended on it, so I temporarily gave up on that and started another compact with a random scattering of clear crystal shapes. I'll re-do the other one after I get home and can work on it with better lighting and magnification, and fewer distractions.

Another little project I played with this evening was a kit for a new product that was just being introduced by a Japanese company. I discovered after I opened up the kit in my hotel room that the instructions were in Japanese and the English, or more accurately Japlish, translation was written on a teeny scrap of paper only slightly larger than the paper in a fortune cookie. Step one read, "Mix them well within the proper amount." Ummm, okaaay......

Fortunately, as with a lot of Japanese kits, the pictures were pretty explanatory and I was never a slavish follower of instructions anyhow. So this is what I ended up with:

Not bad, considering the abysmally bad lighting of your typical hotel room.

I'm off for some more product meetings tomorrow and then off to the Swarovski party,one of the highlights of the Tucson "season". Just hope it will be a bit warmer tomorrow as I think the party is outdoors.

Cleaning the studio

As usual, my studio has fallen into complete, and utter disarray.  I've spent the last couple of months not feeling my best - and only going into the studio to complete a project. As such - I can barely walk down there now...Having your studio in the same place as the family 'storage' zone isn't necessarily the greatest spot. 

I think part of the reason for my lack of inspiration lately is quite simply an inability to find 'anything' - So today, I'm clearing it up a wee bit in between working on a few new resin projects.

In the past, I've tried blogging about my New Years Studio cleanup projects - all have failed dismally. My goal for this year is to have it tidy enough so that I can actually walk (without tripping over something) to my various areas. I've got a metal clay table, a silversmithing bench, my beading/computer desk, and my lampwork area. None of which are currently easily accessible.  There will be no pics, as I doubt I will ever have it tidy enough to show off :-)

Off to clean some more - and planning more projects for you for my Thursday posts, as soon as the studio is cleared of death traps!

In this Corner - The Undisputed Queen of Colour

Many of you know the name - Margie Deeb is a highly talented bead artist, and some will recognize her name from her books on colour palettes. 

I've recently discovered that she has been writing a column since 2005 called Margie's Muse. They're all archived on her site as PDF's that you can download, and view at leasure. If you're in need of colour inspiration - look no further!

Beading, Art Clay Classes and More

Here's what's coming up next week: February 6th to 12th

A Little Bit of Everything with Rae Huggins
Feb 8
6pm to 9pm



Introduction to Art Clay Copper with Heather Bell Denison
Feb 10
11am - 6pm




How to Run a Successful Craft Show with Catherine Winter
Feb 10
6pm - 9:15pm


Basic Bead Crocheting with Amy Waldman-Smith
Feb 12
10am - 1pm



Adios Amigas!

The beadFX Buyer in Tucson

I meant to blog yesterday, but as usual for the first full day in Tucson, I hit the Gem Mall running, overshopped and under-hydrated and ended up with a killer headache. You have to have water with you ALWAYS as it's very dry here and we Canadians are just not used to that.

Now that I've been coming here for several years and have learned the lay of the land, so to speak, I can cover the territory much more quickly. The Gem Mall and the neighbouring Holidome are two of the larger shows in Tucson and I use them as a sort of 'home base'.

The first day, I went to 1/2 dozen of my usual vendors. With these people, I don't need to waste time negotiating. They point me towards their newest and most interesting stuff, hand me a big basket and are quick to take my filled basket and hand me another empty one. At most wholesale-only shows, nothing has prices on it or if it does, they will be retail, per strand, or MSR prices. Once I've gotten what I want from that vendor, I leave a business card with the pile of baskets/bins and I'm off to the next vendor. I'll go back in day or two and pick up the stuff. That way they have time to add it up and make up an itemized invoice.

After 2 days of shopping, I have to say that there are a lot fewer buyers this year, fewer even than last year. Some vendors are gone, several others are trying new venues in an attempt to get a different crowd of customers. In some ways, this is a good thing because a lot of the fly-by-night vendors have flown.

But there is still a lot of kitsch around. Everything from gaudy to gorgeous, from tacky to terrific. There's even more tables of "Chinovski" than there were last year.

Tomorrow is going to be some "me" time, in a Busman's Honeymoon sort of way. I'm taking a course in rivetting at Swarovski in the morning to learn how to set chatons and the beautiful large fancy stones. Oh yeah, then there's the Interweave magazine (Beadwork) tomorrow night at the Tucson Art Museum. Great chance to meet up with friends and scout out potential teachers.

Hopefully by tomorrow I'll also be able to incorporate some pictures into my blog. I just got a new phone last week. It takes pictures, of course, but I haven't learned how to get them off the camera and into my computer yet.

So you want to make Jewelry? What about clasps?

Clasps. So many different kinds of clasps - does it make a difference what kind you use?

Yes, you betcha! Although there are many possibilities, each style has it's own strengths and weaknesses that make one a better choice than another, depending on how you are using it.

Clasps fall into the general category of "Findings." Finding is that big category of general "stuff" that you need to make jewelry that is not the actual jewelry part itself - so ear wires and clasps and headpins and earring backs and ... stuff. So I've heard - they are called "findings" because traditional goldsmiths made them up out of the left over bits and pieces after making the main piece of jewelry - so from the stuff they "found" on their bench. Not sure if that is true - but it makes a good story.

Clasps can be broadly divided themselves into four or five main categories, with some specialty clasps in some minor categories.

I say there are four traditional types of clasps, and then there are magnetic clasps - which have become somewhat more complicated over the years, as their styles expand. But still - a magnet is a magnet.

The four are: Hook-type (Hook and Eye), Box type, Toggles - and Spring-type. Let's look at some examples.

A hook and eye clasp is blindingly simple. It is, in some variation or another, a loop and a hook. These vary from the utilitarian to the whimsical, from plain to elaborate. Some are even so cleverly designed that it is hard to tell that it is a clasp at all!

You can even make them yourself using wire and wrapping it.
Where to use: A hook and eye is an excellent choice for a necklace. It is secure enough for a necklace, and is easy to do up and undo behind you without being able to see what you are doing.

It is, generally, a poor choice for a bracelet - as the hook and eye clasp tends to be long, and will take up a lot of the relatively short design of a bracelet. My experience with them is that they tend to come undone spontaneously in bracelets too.

Hook clasps come in an endless variety of sizes, shapes and metals and to suit every budget.


Box-type clasps. I love the box-type clasp. It is called this because it is essentially, a small, constructed, shallow box, four sides, and a top and bottom, with a slot that a springy lever slides into. They seem very traditional to me, and tend to be somewhat more expensive than other clasps, mostly because of their more elaborate construction. Often - they have some interesting design on them, or a stone or pearl mounted on the top.

Because they are more complex, they have tended to be made of the more expensive metals, Sterling Silver, Gold-filled, Vermeil - but we have seen a few made in brass or other inexpensive metals in the past few years.

I particularly love matching the clasp to either the colour or the theme of the piece I am making, and sometimes use this style of clasp as the inspiration for the piece, or hunt specifically for the one that will match the item perfectly. Sometimes, this little indulgence can add significantly to the cost of the finished piece, but hey - I'm worth it. This hissing cat clasp is one of those "inspiring" clasps.

In fact - there is an awesome emerald-green stone clasp that is currently "in processing" that I can hardly wait to build a "something" around. Necklace, bracelet - not sure yet - but there is gonna be green!


It is also frequently easier to find multi-strand clasps in a box clasp.

Where to use: They are overall, comfortable to wear, and work well for bracelets and necklaces. They can be fiddly to do up as a bracelet, especially if the lever mechanism is a tight fit, but once you hear the "click" - they are secure.

To open them, squeeze the tab and pull the v-shaped lever out of it's little hole. Sometimes, over- enthusiastic squeezing will deform the v-shape into one that does not have enough spring to secure it. This is an easy fix. Gently wedge open the v-shape again - I usually just slip something narrow like a nail file into the gap and widen it slightly. Don't over do it - you can break the metal.

Sometimes, they have a little safety bar - like these with the Lapis cabochon - that swings out and over a little post - just to add an extra level of security. A "belt and suspenders" approach to security.



Next week - we'll carry on - with toggles and magnetic and other odd and speciality clasps.

By the way - all the images above are clickable links to the items shown.

The Joy of Metal Clay: Metal Clay Play Days

Today is Metal Clay Play day at BeadFX. I am fortunate enough to fill in for Jennifer Tough today, the usual host, and my first Metal Clay Instructor. (Metal Clay Play days are held monthly, check the BeadFX Class Calendar for dates.)

Metal Clay Play day is a fun day filled with people with a love of metal clay. It is a chance to use all the fabulous metal clay tools that find their home at BeadFx and to socialize (if you wish) with other like minded folk. It is often a chance to get inspiration or learn a trick from a fellow artist.

Here are some pictures of what some of us were up to today.

Marjia was working with Prometheus Bronze Clay:

She found that the clay was quite elastic and this was hard to get used to.

Christine came with some great tools and ideas. Here she is working with a clamp on magnifier.

Also Christine came with this great can of Olive Oil!!! Hmm...I never had thought about buying it that way.

Valerie made a lot of great things.

Here she is making a really neat wavy square/diamond shape.

For some reason I didn't get any pictures of Kathleen. She did some fun things and even worked with her silver paper clay. Also she brought her olive oil in a pump contained that sprayed like a can (I remember I used have one and I think it was called a Misto). Sorry, I was having so much fun. I didn't get a picture.

Sandra, made a linked copper bracelet!!!

Here is what I was up to (I was working with Fast Fire Bronze Clay):

A name....and a round pendant with lots of CZ's the inner portion spins....