finishing question

[allthatglitters]

I'm a bit of a newbie ( and brand new to this forum ) ...I have a little trouble getting a real nice finish after the last bead is strung ...what is the secret to ending with just the right amount of slack & a neatly tucked end ... many of the beads I use are smaller holes like liquid silver has ...how much tail should I leave & how do I get it tucked nicely inside that last bead?  ( sorry if I don't have the right technical terms LOL...) ...and even if I use crimp beads over my cripms, they don't seem to line up just right for me ...they always end up a bit off set ...I'm waisting alot of materials (I use my crimp pliers to close but often end up with my chain or needle nose to try to level out the off set-ness) ...my finish just doesn't look 'finished'  

Most of the wire I am using is  49 stand , .19 width...do I need to do lighter?

thanks!

[Polly]

There are a few things you can try, and I'm not sure which one is perfect for your materials and style.

Traditionally, liquid silver is strung on Nymo or similar cord, rather than cable. This lends the lightweight strands better drape. However, then you have to deal with knots which are generally less fun than crimp beads. You can hide knots inside fold-over bead tips, or hide the ends of multiple strands inside cones.
Cable (Beadalon and SoftFlex) is generally better for heavier beads. If you're mixing heavier beads at the bottom of the necklace and finishing with small beads such as liquid silver, then stringing cable should drape well. To hide the end of the cable, find a few beads that match your centerpiece(s), and have a larger hole than the liquid silver. 1 to 3 of these at each end will allow you to hide your cable inside them. Also, consider crimp covers. They look just like a 2-4mm round bead, and allow you to trim the tail nearly flush to your crimp bead, then cover the whole thing (crimp bead + sharp bit of tail) with a crimp cover.

[Luann Udell]

After rereading your post, I think you might be using crimp covers that are too small for your crimp beads.  I don't have a formula or anything, I just have several sizes of crimps and several sizes of crimp covers.  Getting the cover that's big enough to go over your crimp bead should help get get that cover on evenly. 

Sometimes it IS hard to get the crimp cover on straight.  Usually that happens when the crimp bead is crimped a little "off kilter" or tilted--I don't know how to describe it, either!  But then it makes sort of a "diamond" shape instead of a square or rectangle, and the crimp cover won't line up with the stringing material....  It happens, and usually it's only very obvious to us.

I used to spend a lot of time carefully tucking that tail end into the next bead, too.  Then my tension would be off, or a seed bead would give way, or something, and that tail would poke out.  Now I do just what Polly says--I trim it off flush with the crimp bead (after crimping, of course!)     If the crimp is the right size for the stringing material, and the stringing material is the right weight for the beads you're using, it will hold securely with no tail.

[Polly]

I've heard that the Mighty Crimping Pliers work the best to get nice round crimp covers.

[allthatglitters]

thanks ladies ...my crimp beads ( covers I guess) do seem a bit askew before I even apply them ...probably a big part of the problem ...I am sooo glad to hear I don't need much of a tail ...yes it can wreck my tension trying to leave just enough slack to back into the last bead/s

...beaded jewelry I have purchased in the past always seemed to have a nice 1/4 in.  +/- tucked into the last beads ...it has been maddening for me ...once my design is planned, seems 90% of my time is used just finishing

[Luann Udell]

Well, you KNOW what I'm going to say....

Practice makes perfect! 

Yes, finishing takes time & skill, but you will get better, and your techniques will improve.  And good finishing techniques can make or break a design.

And who knows?  Maybe you'll be the person to come up with a fabulous new product (like crimp covers!) or the next nifty technique that will help make finishing easier!   

[allthatglitters]

I appreciate the inspiration Luann!

[allthatglitters]

just a little update ...I'm doing real good now with my finish technique!

[Luann Udell]

Yay, you!   

Polly, I just reread your post about the crimping pliers, and you're right--I bet they'd work really well.  I used to use them for their original purpose--double-crimping a crimp bead to sort of round them out.  I quit doing that after awhile, because the double-crimp seemed to weaken the crimp's metal, and I had a lot of cable threads pull apart.  I never thought of using them to close the new crimp covers.  Great tip--thanks!!