Sterling headpins

What is a good weight for sterling headpins when making earrings?  The ones I purchased are too flimsy.

[Polly]

Hi Elizabeth,

Here are our basic recommendations:
Standard head pins (0.028" diameter, approx. 21g) are easy to bend, cut or loop.
Thin head pins (0.025" diameter, approx. 22g) are for small-hole beads (such as pearls, small gemstones, and seed beads)
Heavy head pins are straighter and stonger (i.e., harder to loop).

Our basemetal head pins are made of soft brass.  Brass is soft and easy to work with, but htis doe cause the 2" and larger pins to usually end up quite bent after machining and plating.  

Nickel silver "paddles" can work well for earrings. Nickel silver is much tougher than brass.  Use good quality pliers, and heavy-duty cutters to avoid damaging your tools.

Our sterling silver and GF head pins are available in thin (0.025", 22g) and extra-thin (0.020", 24g) weights.  GF is generally a bit stiffer than sterling.   Long head pins of these weights are likely to get a bit bent up, so some re-designing might be necessary..

--Polly