Instructions For Piercing Holes Through Unbaked Polymer Clay Beads

Having a Problems Making Nice Fimo Bead Holes? Here's 7 Tips That Will Help You To Overcome This Challenge:

A common issue for many polymer clay beginners is how to pierce holes through unbaked polymer clay beads. Here are just a few of the comments that have been posted recently here at the blog about this topic:

"My girls and I are having fun creating with the clay. One of our challenges is when making the holes in a bead, even after letting the bead sit for a while, the shape of the bead tends to get a little disformed. Thank you Cindy." ~Robin

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"My biggest challenge has been getting the holes centered without messing up the overall shape of the bead. I'm getting better, but the saying is, practice makes perfect." ~Daisy

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"I wanted to come back and comment again that I can make beads, but have a lot of issues making focal beads. Making holes for them and even figuring out how to put the findings in and what findings to use." ~KB

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"I'm a newbie with PC and… would appreciate a tip on how to make the holes in the beads go straight and not ruin the shape. I've tried poking in from both sides and have a hard time getting the hole to meet." ~Virginia

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Here Are 7 Tips That Will Help Make the Process Easier:

1) Let the bead cool down before piercing. This will help to prevent indenting where the needle enters and bulging where it exits.

2) Making holes in raw clay beads will result in a slightly flattened bead with indented holes. Many people like this look because they sit nicely next to other beads.

3) Needle tools for making holes can be purchased. Or you can use toothpicks, hat pins, darning needles and knitting needles. You can also use the bead piercing wires that come with bead racks.

4) Coat needles or piercing wire with cornstarch or water to make piercing easier.

5) Sand your needle lengthwise with a high grit sandpaper such as 600 or 800 grit. This will clean the needle or wire of any rust or baked on clay or finish. The result is less friction between the bead and the needle which reduces chances of the bead becoming deformed when the needle is pushed through it.

6) Twist the piercing wire back and forth as it enters the center of the bead, holding the bead as lightly as possible with your other hand.

7) The straighter the needle the straighter the hole so be careful not to bend your bead wires.

For more tips on how to drill holes in your polymer clay beads, here are a few other articles for you to read:

• How to Pierce Bead Holes
  
• Bead Hole Drilling
  
• Making Lentil Bead Holes
  
• Small Bead Holes vs Large Ones
  
• Personalized Polymer Clay Drilling Tools

Please give these suggestions a try and then come back here to let me know if your bead piercing skills are improving at all. If you are still running into problems be sure to ask for help in the comments section below.