[boo]

Caitlin-

There is an eBay merchant who is selling some rolls of Detolon if you are still interested in trying it. The seller is charlotte8266 and there are 2 sizes available.The item numbers are 110062629121 and 110062629184. I have no idea if it will live up to the hype, but I am curious to try it ($12.95 per 1000m roll, the seller is limiting folks to 1 roll of each until his larger shipment reaches the US via shipping container)

Deb

[Caitlin]

Thanks Deb
I'll try it out!

[pattye]

Re: Detolon-
Charlotte and Dad are planning to offer it in various colors and sizes, they are working out plans to be the US supplier, may take a couple of months before they have other colors than white, this is through ebay store Pearl Emporium.
Pattye

[J. Larry Railey]

What is the best thread to use with good jewelry designed with freshwater pearls, gold and silver beads and gemstones such as turquoise, Swarovski, Amethyst, Tigers Eye etc.? We have been using Detolon, but it has broken several times. I have been told that linen and silk are prone to breaking within a year of regular wearing. Is this true? Can anyone recommend linen and silk that do not break? Is silk better than linen? Can anyone recommend other thread that does not break? What wire is best? We have had breakage with Accuflex clear coated 7-strand sterling silver wire.



Thanks,

Larry
J. Larry Railey
jlr@houston.rr.com

[perlas]

Originally Posted by Zeide Erskine

Hi Taylor,
Natural pearls were sometimes strung with no knots but on horsetail hair not silk and only if the pearls were small (under 5mm).

Is horsetail hair strong enough to string small pearls? I may just look for a horse and try it.

[Caitlin]

Hi
Yesterday I strung a necklace of 13-15+MM CFWP, 26" long with silk knots. It is quite heavy, 140 grams. After just a few hours of wear, the silk stretched on almost every single bead. I had it knotted very tightly against each pearl, so that is not the problem. It is the weight and the silk thread.

What to use instead?
I guess I'll have to string it on wire?

[perlas]

Hi Larry and Caitlin,

There are tough nylon threads from China which are more durable than silk. I have no experience in breakage of coated 7-wire strands. However, the ones I use are not in sterling silver, but steel wire, I guess.

[Satine De La Courcel]

Be wary though wire strands will kink and there is no getting the kinks out. I still feel its personal preference! for what to use.. if you mean contiuous daily wear everwhere from sun up to sund down then there may be a chance that the silk will break most definately stretch a little. I pre-stretch my silk then use it for my stringing.

[Caitlin]

Hi Larry
I got a spool of Detolon from the Pearl Emporium. It is white or I would have tried it for the klonks. How did it break on you? It seems stronger than silk to me and tangles less. I having been trying it out. So far, so good. It seems far stronger and less stretchy than silk.

[boo]

Caitlin

I have been using the Detolon too and I like it except for one thing that is driving me nuts. When I am tightening my loose knot down to its final stages (i.e., just before I pull the thread all the way tight), the Detolon twists up very tightly, much more so than silk does, which makes it hard for me to get the knot right up against the pearl. It is as if the thread has some sort of supertwistiness. Does that description make sense? Does it happen to you? Do you have any suggestions for how to deal with it? Should I just give up on hand knotting (with the Detolon, at least) and finally try to figure out how to use my TriCord Knotter?

Thanks!

Deb

[Satine De La Courcel]

HI Ash,
you get your silk wet to stretch it? How do you do you actually put the stretch on it?

Nope I just fiddle with the silk and stretch it dry. slight tuggs up and down the length I have. so there is still some stretch and play bu tnot nearly as much as before...

Wire and me not a good combo.. I thought so for durability but not really. Silk actually works beter for me and in a pinch so does Nymo or silamide... However most of the stuff I make to be gifted in my hobby people are like you they love wires for their braclets So I have a small stash of softflex 7& 19 but the 49swire is getting harder and more expensice ( here for me) so I am as always looking for an alternate supply source

I like wire., especially for bracelets. I use SoftFlex 7, 19 & 48 wires depending on how heavy the beads are. I have never had it kink on me.

Delton is new to me I am willing to give it a try depending on several reviews.

TO each their own I guess about stringing materials. use and find what you like beast is probably the safest thing to say..

Chers
Happy Friday all!

[Caitlin]

Hi boo
I had that problem. On a couple of knots one of the two threads was looser than the other, leaving a tiny loop, so I tugged it until it was as tight as the other thread.

I use a simple overhand knot. Holding the knotted pearls in my left hand, I push the unknotted pearl into place, then loop the thread over itself next to the pearls, pass it through the loop and pull it. I can separate the two threads and pull them gently to make the knot slide into place. If you use this method, I don't see how the thread can get kinked, because it never twists.

[boo]

Hi, Caitlin

I use your technique but I think I just am not describing it well: pearl pushed up against previous knot, overhand knot which is pulled by its "tail" to decrease the size of the loop part of the knot until the loop part tightens into a relatively loose knot up against the pearl, then snugging up on the strands (by pulling them gently away from each other) to push the knot all the way against the pearl while also tightening the knot. The twist comes in just as the loop gets to its tiniest point (right before transitioning from proto-knot with ever so slightly open loop to true knot). I have never had it happen before with silk or other synthetic thread so I don't think it is my technique. I will presume that Zeide is correct and that there is just some strange overspin to this particular spool of thread.

[J. Larry Railey]

Thanks, everyone.

As to the Accuflex sterling wire's breaking, we found out that it was only 7-strand instead of the 49-strand we should have been using. Are bonded nylon threads and bonded polyester threads better than those that are not bonded?

Regards,

JLR/jag
J. Larry Railey
Railey & Associates
jlr@houston.rr.com

[Caitlin]

Hi Boo
I think I had the same problem when the thread left a loop, but i didn't think it was twisted.
Here is an example. I missed this one when I was knotting , but I found i could straighten them out by pulling the longer thread- when I saw them!