Unconventional Materials - From the jewelry area

[Jiml0001]

Looking through the bits and pieces available to jewelry makers (sometimes called “jewelry findings”) I came across some fun stuff.   These bits and pieces are very inexpensive,  generally $2 to $3 for a bag.    In the pictures below the sizes range from less than a mm (less than an inch in 1:1) to thirty inches (in 1:1) for the longest link shown.   There are cord ends that make excellent shock absorber ends.  These show some of the stuff i bought but there are all kinds of shapes and sizes of jewelry parts to pick from for your project.    Show us the unconventional materials you have found

Edited September 6, 2023 by Jiml0001
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[OldNYJim]

Those hexagonal ones would be great for A/N fittings and stuff like that.  Do you recall who makes those particular ones?

[Hi-Po]

What store or outlet did you find these items at?

[Bainford]

There are some interesting looking bits there. What is the across-the-flats dimension of the smallest hex tube bits?

[Jiml0001]

The smallest hex beads are size 15/0.    Google "15/0 Hex Beads" and you will see plenty of hits.   I see some on Etsy for $4.55 for 10 grams.   That's pretty much a lifetime supply.   I got the chrome ones and clear blue and clear red paint on them look great for AN Fittings.    I also found some .81 mm coaxial cable.   If you remove the outer insulation and pull out the center core, you are left with a braid of less than a half mm (3/8 inch in 1:1).    This will fit into these small hex beads and you can make all the braided lines you want.    a 65 foot piece of .81 mm coaxial cable is $15.00.    65 feet of braid will make a lot of models

[Jiml0001]

The 15/0 size hex beads are 0.056 inches.    

[Bainford]

Thanks for that. Are these glass beads? In your original post they looked like metal, but I'm thinking now they may not be.

[Jiml0001]

These are glass beads, usually referred to as “seed beads”.     
 

another jewelry item I use are bead spacers.   These are little bumpers that are strung between beads to space them out.  They are little conical pieces and make great vacuum advances.   This pic shows 2mm size but other sizes are available.  Little piece of wire, some tubing, silver paint and you have a good looking, but tiny vacuum advance uniit

 

 

Edited September 7, 2023 by Jiml0001

[Chariots of Fire]

Been using those #15 hex beads for a while now.  They are actually ceramic.  I found some #11 hex beads that are chrome.  They make beautiful spark plug bases.  The smaller ones are good for lug nuts, all kinds of bolt ends, etc.  The long links look interesting too!  Thanks for sharing!  

[Action Jackson]

Where did you find the .81mm coaxial cable?

[Jiml0001]

The small coaxial can be hard to find sometimes     Right now you can find it on AliExpress   20 meters (65 feet) is $11.82 with $4.00 shipping   

That works out to less than 2 cents per inch and you get 780 inches of braided cable   At my age a lifetime supply

 

[bobss396]

On 9/6/2023 at 1:30 PM, Jiml0001 said:

The 15/0 size hex beads are 0.056 inches.    

Smokes... maybe what I need for modified lug nuts, pretty close. I was using #00-90 nuts, which are too big at .078" across the flats.

I have Michaels Crafts and Hobby Lobby close by.

[bobss396]

For exhaust work, look at .085" diameter semi-flex cable. It fits inside aftermarket mufflers or .125" dia aluminum tube, which has an I.D. of .093". 

The cable has a textured jacket that looks like OG flex pipe.

[bobss396]

I struck out with hex beads at Hobby Lobby, eBay has them in a 15/0. Since they are so brittle, I have to use them as-is. Which works for me.

[Chariots of Fire]

On 9/9/2023 at 7:53 AM, bobss396 said:

I struck out with hex beads at Hobby Lobby, eBay has them in a 15/0. Since they are so brittle, I have to use them as-is. Which works for me.

Try Fire Mountain Gems.  They have all kinds of beads and stuff.  They have #15 and #11 hex beads.  Latter are good for bolts.  Former size is great for spark plugs.

[Chariots of Fire]

7 minutes ago, Chariots of Fire said:

Try Fire Mountain Gems.  They have all kinds of beads and stuff.  They have #15 and #11 hex beads.  Latter are good for bolts.  Former size is great for spark plugs.

Got the numbers mixed up.  The 15 size is smaller, about 1mm across.  11's are larger.

[bobss396]

I found some on eBay... they showed up and are ROUND. I have to send them back, I will try the site suggested. 

How well do they file if I have to shorten or square them up? I got some Plastruct .040 and .060 hex stock.. way too fiddly to work with especially the smaller one.

I was going through some Detail Master hex fittings, it seems like the #2 product may work for lug nuts, it has a .028" hole in them. They are a tad pricey at $1 per fitting.

[Chariots of Fire]

4 hours ago, bobss396 said:

I found some on eBay... they showed up and are ROUND. I have to send them back, I will try the site suggested. 

How well do they file if I have to shorten or square them up? I got some Plastruct .040 and .060 hex stock.. way too fiddly to work with especially the smaller one.

I was going through some Detail Master hex fittings, it seems like the #2 product may work for lug nuts, it has a .028" hole in them. They are a tad pricey at $1 per fitting.

You have to look carefully but there are separate hex shaped pieces and they come in a variety of colors.  Can't be filed as they are ceramic.  They crush very easily with a pair of pliers.  The small ones are about 1mm across and 1mm high.  Very consistent in size and shape.  The larger ones are much the same but more like 1.5mm in dimension.

[bobss396]

On 9/13/2023 at 10:59 AM, Chariots of Fire said:

Got the numbers mixed up.  The 15 size is smaller, about 1mm across.  11's are larger.

Do you have a stock number for what you found? I'm on their site, sifting thru #15 beads, (54 pages...) nothing in hex. I did learn that anything round starts with an "RR". Thanks.

[Chariots of Fire]

Go to Fire Mountain Gems.  Click on the heading for beads.  Then scroll down on the left for size and shape.  You should find some #15 under Miyuki.

[TheBEAUMONTGURU]

I havent been able to find the roll of Coax cable.  Ebay has lots of short sections with ends on them tho.  Has anyone bought these and cut the ends and striped them out?   with the same results?

[ColonelKrypton]

On 9/7/2023 at 9:16 PM, Jiml0001 said:

The small coaxial can be hard to find sometimes

 

1 hour ago, TheBEAUMONTGURU said:

I havent been able to find the roll of Coax cable.  Ebay has lots of short sections with ends on them tho.  Has anyone bought these and cut the ends and striped them out?   with the same results?

The smallest commonly found coax cables can be found having outside diameters ( of the PVC insulation on the outside of the cable ) of 0.81mm, 1.13mm, 1.32mm, 1.37mm, 1.48mm and larger.

The outside diameter of the braided shield of the 0.81mm coax is around 0.65mm.

search on amazon ( or eBay ) for u.fl pigtail or ufl pigtail or ipex pigtail and you will these short ( 6 inches, 8 inches, 12 inches and some longer ) pigtails ( SMA connecter on one end and the U.FL / IPEX on the other). look for the longer ones and the ones using the size of coax you desire ( i.e. 081 or 0.81mm or 1.13  seem to be the most common )

You will also notice some having RG-178 or RG-174 cable - these are much larger than 0.81mm or 1.13mm cables, RG-178 has an outside diameter of 0.072 inches ( 1.8mm ) 

If you are lucky and happen to find an old wireless router or two ( or three ), you get luckier still and find some of this small diameter coax cable inside the router case. 

seems a shame to buy these pigtail cables and cut the connecters off to throw away. A couple of long length pigtails and you should have enough to last quite some time. That is what I did.

 

cheers, Graham 

[TheBEAUMONTGURU]

Cool,   thanks so much for the info Graham!

I deal with this electronics place.  Does this look like the right thing?   it would be 1 Meter length for about 10 dollars canadian,  seems cheap enough as long as its correct.   it says .81 size

https://www.mouser.ca/ProductDetail/Amphenol-RF/A-1PA-081-01KB2?qs=zZwI6SfhpKSDvKwTZRTv0g%3D%3D

[bobss396]

When I worked for a living, we had out of date coax that would be disposed of. We were encouraged to help ourselves to whatever was on the shelf. I still have small coax cable around.

[ColonelKrypton]

2 hours ago, TheBEAUMONTGURU said:

I deal with this electronics place.  Does this look like the right thing?

It does indeed.

cheers, Graham