Blank Bead Cores

Description

Blank Bead Cores for charm beads made with bead moulds. They fit resin, polymer clay and glass donut beads to make them look perfect on any Biagi, Chamilia or Pandora bracelet. A set for one charm bead consists of a part A and part B. Part A is inserted through your charm bead’s core, the part B placed over the top and flared gently with a 6mm doming punch and a wooden doming block. You can also use a 6mm ball bearing (included) and a lightweight hammer, but the doming punch method is easier, both methods are shown below.

Purchase them wholesale from us here!

These are the cores we use at Tree of Opals made by the same people for us for the past 4 years. The blank cores are regularly requested on our Breastmilk and Memorial Jewellery Group (here) so here you are – you are a community we are so proud to have brought together! It’s suitable as a breastfeeding and baby keepsake (breastmilk charm beads, first curl charm beads, placenta and umbilical cord charm beads) but also as a memorial for your clients (cremation ashes charm beads and hair and fur charm beads).

Cores For Charm Beads – Compatibility

Perfect for use with the following bead moulds:

• • medium bead mould
  • faceted bead mould
  • honeycomb bead mould
  • sparkly bead mould (at a push!)

Please note they are not compatible with slim, super slim, small or large beads due to length of the core. For inserts which are compatible with charms of a different length core please click here for our glue-in charm bead inserts. For advice on making keepsake and memorial jewellery see our blogs here. Don’t forget, we sell bead mould masters too so if you’re able to make your own bead moulds, we’d recommend buying medium, faceted or honeycomb bead masters.

These cores are sold by the set, so for one charm you would just need to purchase one core set. They are much wider than other inserts on the market so they’re ideal for covering up the sanding area on resin charm beads and slight colour run on glass beads.

How To Fit A Blank Bead Core

Here is a video showing you how to fit a core with the ball bearing (included) and a lightweight hammer like this one

Here is a video showing you how to fit a core with a doming punch set and a wooden doming block

How to make a breastmilk bead with the Beachball Resin Technique, here’s the Breastmilk Bead blog with all the supplies you’ll need

Kit Contents

If you’d like to buy these cores as a kit you’ll receive:

• blank bead core(s) and 6mm ball bearing
• medium bead mould
• 1x pair of vinyl gloves
• dust mask
• 3 cocktail sticks
• resin sparkle mix sample (random colour)
• 10g bottle of UV resin
• sandpaper
• label backing paper
• 1x sachet Breastmilk Preservation Powder and these Breastmilk Preservation Powder PDF Instructions (breastmilk kit only)

You can also request some practice ashes here. You’ll also need to provide yourself (not included):

• • • an epoxy resin starter kit or a UV nail lamp
    • your clients’ elements an any additional sparkles and dried petals
    • doming punch set, easier to use than the ball bearing, better and more consistent results
    • wooden doming block to steady the bead when doming, you can use a cloth instead!

Follow our tutorials here to prepare your clients’ elements or buy a pack of 5 or 10 sachets of Breastmilk Preservation Powder here!

Stock Images

You can download some stock images here (coming soon!). They’re royalty-free and Creative Commons 00 so you’re free to edit and use for your own purposes but we ask you to let your clients know in the image description that they do not necessarily reflect your own work and are for guidance only. You can Photoshop in your own charm beads and add your own watermarks as desired. More coming soon – feel free to submit your own royalty-free CC00 images to benefit the community, so long as you are happy with no attribution required, which means that someone using the images doesn’t have to credit you for the photo.

Blank Core Sizing

in depth specifications
10mm wide core flange on two part core set. Covers 10mm sanding area on charm beads
8mm length core tube on part A of two part core set. For 6 or 7mm wide charm beads
4mm wide smallest internal diameter. Ideal for bracelets 4mm wide or smaller such as Pandora or Trollbeads
5mm wide internal tube diameter. Ideal for bracelets 4.5mm wide or smaller such as Pandora or Trollbeads
5.5mm wide largest internal diameter on part B. Charm bead hole will need to be at least 5.5mm wide
10mm total set length of charm bead with core fitted

lampworkers
5mm mandrel with bead release, ideal for use with fitted bead cores
donut bead graphite mould – the black and blue charm is the perfect size for our charm cores

925 Sterling EcoSilver

The silver in these fitted cores is 925 solid sterling EcoSilver. Please see our blog on Types of Solid Silver which explains the care instructions for the silver and the metal content.

How to Use Charm Bead Cores

Full blog coming soon with information on sizing lampwork glass beads and attaching the cores. You do not need a machine to fit these (in fact, a grommet press is not recommended and can warp the core). A piece of cloth and a 5mm or 6mm doming punch are all you need, just apply a firm pressure downwards to flare part A over part B. Do not press too hard or you will warp the core and need to use pliers to remove it. We will not replace cores damaged during setting.

We will include 6mm ball bearings with orders, which can be used with a gentle tap of the hammer to flare, be sure to put the bead on a soft cloth before you do it though! Video coming soon.

Pro tip – at Tree of Opals we like to make the client two charm beads with their elements (ashes, hair etc) at the same time. Remove both from the moulds and send the client a photo to check they’re happy and offer them a choice. Let the clients know that you will return the second one free of charge as a spare, and set their favourite with a core. Over half of our clients ask for the second charm to be set, which you may charge £20 for doing. So it’s always worth buying an extra core just in case!

Costing Cores For Charm Beads

Over at Tree of Opals we sell charm beads with hair for around £70 (80EUR/85USD/120CAD/130AUD appx) and sets of them down to around £50, plus occasionally up to 30% off for large family orders, wholesale (funeral homes and crematoria, I used to do 30% off for 10 pieces or more for a breastfeeding group) or black Friday deals etc. The very cheapest I would sell a charm bead for would be £25 as a mystery piece/mystery order addon or for someone who wanted a second charm bead set when you’ve already made two. The profit margin on that is high enough to cover my overheads (websites, payment processing fees, my admin manager, moulds etc) and support my family.

Of course, you can sell charms for £15, and I have seen them that low, but only with silver plated cores. Clients will happily pay extra for a solid silver setting on any piece. We also sell glue-in charm inserts and a set is a little less expensive but they do not fit all the way through the core and will need to be glued in. This will take longer and occasionally they can fall out. These cores provide the most professional option and will set your business above others using glue-ins.

Cores For Charm Beads – Large/Custom orders

If you would like some custom charm beads made our minimum order quantity is 300pcs and your first order will include the cost of designing and making a “die stamp”. You can choose your brand name or business name, or your own special phrase such as “Breastfed with Love” or “Over Rainbow Bridge”. Please order our Branded Charm Bead Core Quote here and give us the details of your business, how many charm beads you sell a month etc.

Please note, these cannot be stamped. We are not sure about engraving yet, we plan on sending one off to our laser engravers and taking one to a hand engraving master to see but please don’t buy them intending to have them engraved!

All Bead Tutorials