[Sueki]

Inge, Inge,
Take your eyes off of the pearls for a moment or two....

European Cup; Sweden 2 v. Greece 0

[pearlescence]

Are you sure the nuke is shifting Susan? It sometimes happens that the two halves of the drill hole don't quite line up so that when you try to thread the needle through it catches on the raised bit. I find a good shove through with a stiff headpin scares it back into line. Or turn the pearl around. Or upside down. Those things usually do it If all else fails you can shout at it.

[Sueki]

Hi Wendy,
No, this is definitely the nucleus shifting - the needle won't go in at all any further than the nacre; when I hold the pearl to the light, you can't see through the drill hole, so then I look through the magnifier and the hole has disappeared. Replaced by black nucleus.
I gently prod and move the bead with a wire needle until the hole is back in line.
I have experimented a little with one of the pearls this happened to and using Beadalon wire I can slide the wire in quite deep between the nucleus and the nacre.

[knotty panda]

Ok, that's freaky. Sounds like you're living in an alternate universe.

[jshepherd]

Originally Posted by Sueki

And here's something that drives me nuts - with bead-nuked pearls, occasionally I find that the bead has shifted slightly within the nacre, and I spend ages trying to re-position it...
This happened again yesterday to two of those Josh pearls.
Does anyone else have this happen ?

That's common, actually, and incredibly annoying. You can usually shake those pearls and feel the nucleus moving around. This never happens with round pearls. Typically only with baroques.

[pattye]

Jeremy,

Why would the nucleus appear black?

Pattye
so many pearls, so little time

[jshepherd]

If the pearl were baroque it would have deposits of organic residue. This is why they smell so bad sometimes when you drill them.

[pearlescence]

How amazing - and thanks for that. It hasn't happened to me yet - no bead nuked pearls -but I am aiming to get some soon, and now I will know what is happening when one tries that little trick on me. Ha - send for Susan - that'll learn'em!

[jerin]

Originally Posted by Sueki

Inge, Inge,
Take your eyes off of the pearls for a moment or two....

European Cup; Sweden 2 v. Greece 0

Not being a football fan, I still saw it in the papers, lol oh how happy the Swedes were about this win... But you being English, I think it would be a sacrilege if you were not interested in Football

[Sueki]

Thank you Jeremy,
My sanity is saved ...
I'd begun to believe Knotty for a moment there !
Yes, I can feel the nucleus moving around when I shake those pearls - didn't post that bit 'cos I thought that'd really convince folk that I was slightly mad!

And yes, it is indeed incredibly annoying.

Inge, don't tell anyone, but I'm not a football fan; I just can't escape it here.
But at least in the long light evenings of summer I can disappear into the beading room while the footie is on and no-one misses me.

[jerin]

Hi every one,

so far I have never encountered such a pearl, luckily, very interesting to hear about it though.

Well Sueki, beading and stringing goes much faster when hearing your husband cheering the English Team, I think.

[sleight]

Wow, the things I learn here. Re: shifting nukes. I've had that happen so many times and had no idea what was going on. I usually have to work late at night, and I just always thought I was losing coherence! So how does one fix a shifted nuke - other than shaking the pearl and hoping for realignment? Can you redrill it?

[Sueki]

Originally Posted by jerin

Well Sueki, beading and stringing goes much faster when hearing your husband cheering the English Team, I think.

Well Yes, Inge, but unfortunately England were knocked out of this competition in the early stages, so he's under strict instructions to cheer for Sweden and Holland....


Sleight,
So I'm not alone then.
I don't know the answer regarding redrilling, but I usually manage to re-align the bead by prodding gently with the needle tip.
But it does take ages....and ages....

[jshepherd]

It's such a pain when the nuke moves. Sometimes it can be impossible to realign it. You can drill it again, but you still have the problem with it moving. You have to stick the needle in as soon as you create the new hole.
I work a lot more with rounds than baroques so I do not have to deal with it too often. But when I do, I feel like pulling my hair out.

[smetzler]

Originally Posted by sleight

Wow, the things I learn here. Re: shifting nukes.

Likewise, considering the 100s of thousands of posts, 10s of thousands of pages and thousands of threads here at Pearl-Guide this is a curiously late-arriving little tidbit for those of us without practical experience.