Screw Eye Findings For Polymer Clay Pendants
Video #724: Have you ever lost a jewelry charm because the eyelet came loose? Well… today’s video addresses that problem!
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IN THIS POST: — screw eye findings — eye pins — charm bracelets — pendants — findings — hanger — (Topics marked with an asterick* are discussed in the Comments Section below).
If you have ever made a polymer clay charm, pendant or earrings that you wanted to hang from something, you will need to add some sort of loop to it.
What a lot of people do is take their charm and stick an eye pin into it before baking, and leave it at that. But before long, that eye pin will fall out and you (or your customer) will lose the charm :(
I do have a tutorial on how to make those eye pins work better, by bending the end before inserting into the unbaked charm. But an even more secure way to attach a loop to a charm is to use a screw eye.
You may have seen them before… they are kind of an industrial looking little fastener that you wood get at the hardware store or jewelry supply store. They come in different sizes and finishes.
Here is a tiny one I found years ago at a jewelry supply place that is about 1/16" OD (Outside diameter)… and one that is about 3/16? OD I found at a hardware store (I mistakenly said 3/8" in the video)… and one that is about a 1/4? OD made by Tim Holtz that I got at Michaels. The nice thing about the Tim Holtz ones, is that they come in three antique finishes, and there are 36 in the pack.
There are lots of places you can buy screw eyes. The nice thing about them is that they screw into the polymer clay and are very secure…. Especially if you put them in the way I show in today’s video… by adding a drop of superglue to “lock” them in.
I show you some examples of how I used the screw eyes in a Leopard Cane Pendant with a Copper Tape wrap… and on a Happy Camper Cane charm bracelet.
The advantages of using screw eyes instead of eye pins on a polymer clay charm (especially charms that will go onto a charm bracelet)… (1) They are much sturdier, and they don’t get bent open with all the twisting that a charm does on a bracelet… and (2) they don’t pull out since they are screwed into the clay and secured with a drop of glue.
There are different reasons why you may want to use a screw eye on a particular shape of polymer clay charm or pendant. Perhaps your piece is too large to drill all the way through… or an unusual shape that does not work well with a bail type finding. In these cases, a screw eye may be the perfect solution.
Just like putting a screw into wood, it is best if you pre-drill a small pilot hole into your polymer clay piece before threading in the screw eye. This will ensure that the finding goes in nice and straight without cracking the clay.
However, it is important that your drill bit is smaller than the outside diameter of the threads, so that the screw shank ends up with just enough material to “bite” into. If the hole is too big, the screw will just fall out.
In the video, I show you what drill bits I use, and how to drill into the polymer clay. I got a great set of tiny drill bits for only $6 at Contenti, which is a Jewelry Making Tool Store Online.
You will also need to add a drop of superglue or something similar, to secure the screw eye and keep it from turning and unscrewing from your piece. I show you how to do that as well in the video.
You have put a lot of effort into making your polymer clay jewelry and charms… so make sure you put some care and attention into installing eyelets that will keep your pieces secure.
00:00:03 –> 00:00:08 Hi guys, it’s Cindy Lietz, your Polymer Clay Tutor and today’s Studio Tip, I’m going to show
00:00:08 –> 00:00:13 you how to add Screw Eyes to polymer clay.
00:00:13 –> 00:00:20 Now, if you’ve ever made a polymer clay charm or pendant that you needed to hang something
00:00:20 –> 00:00:28 from, you need to add some sort of loop to it and what a lot of people do is they will
00:00:28 –> 00:00:35 take their little charm, in this case, it’s a little blueberry muffin bead that I made
00:00:35 –> 00:00:41 and they’ll take an eye pin like this little eye pin here and they will just stick it into
00:00:41 –> 00:00:46 the raw clay, pop it into the top, bake it and be done with it.
00:00:46 –> 00:00:52 But if you’ve ever done that before, you will know within a short period of time that especially
00:00:52 –> 00:00:56 if it’s on a charm bracelet that little eye pins just going to fall right out there’s
00:00:56 –> 00:01:00 nothing to grab onto that polymer clay.
00:01:00 –> 00:01:07 Now, I have a tutorial on how to add the eye pins, you can just put a little bend in it
00:01:07 –> 00:01:12 and and bend it into your clay before you bake it but an even better way to do it, it’s
00:01:12 –> 00:01:19 even more secure is if you use something like an eye pin or a Screw Eye, they’re called.
00:01:19 –> 00:01:24 And you may have seen them before they’re kind of an industrial thing that you would
00:01:24 –> 00:01:28 find at the hardware store they come in a bunch of different sizes.
00:01:28 –> 00:01:36 I’ve got a little little tiny one here, it is only about a sixteenth of an inch across
00:01:36 –> 00:01:41 the whole, if you go from the outside of the whole to the–or the outside the circle to
00:01:41 –> 00:01:49 the other side and– I found it now years ago somewhere at some jewelry supply place.
00:01:49 –> 00:01:56 Then this one here is one that I found it a hardware store it is about it’s about three-eighths
00:01:56 –> 00:02:03 of an inch across, so around three millimeters or so and then this one here, is actually
00:02:03 –> 00:02:10 a Tim Holtz one and it is about a quarter of an inch across and the nice thing about
00:02:10 –> 00:02:15 the Tim Holtz ones is you can buy little packages of them, you can get them in just about any
00:02:15 –> 00:02:23 store, I got these at Michaels, I believe, and you can get them in a different– different
00:02:23 –> 00:02:28 finishes in small amounts so you don’t have to buy a big bag of them at the hardware store.
00:02:28 –> 00:02:36 He has a sort of an antique silver one here, an antique bronze or brass and then an antique copper
00:02:36 –> 00:02:42 But there is lots and lots of places you can find Screw Eyes and the nice thing about them
00:02:42 –> 00:02:48 is that they screw into the polymer clay and are very secure especially if you do it how
00:02:48 –> 00:02:49 I’m going to suggest.
00:02:49 –> 00:02:55 Now, I’ll show you a couple of examples of where I’ve used them, this one first one here,
00:02:55 –> 00:03:03 I’ve used one of the Tim Holtz eye pin or Screw Eyes in the top of a little pendant here.
00:03:03 –> 00:03:10 This happens to be a one from a slice of cane from my Leopard Cane Tutorial that I’ve wrapped
00:03:10 –> 00:03:12 some copper tape around the outside.
00:03:12 –> 00:03:19 I’ve also done some UV Resin on both sides so it’s a neat little pendant and then I screwed
00:03:19 –> 00:03:28 one of the copper colored eye pins into there or Screw Eyes and then on this one here, this
00:03:28 –> 00:03:37 bracelet it is made up of slices from my Happy Camper Cane, it’s a little polymer clay cane
00:03:37 –> 00:03:44 that looks like a vintage trailer and I happen to put the Screw Eye right here on this side
00:03:44 –> 00:03:47 where it would look like a little trailer hitch.
00:03:47 –> 00:03:52 But you could put a screw wherever you want but this suited it to be right where the trailer
00:03:52 –> 00:04:00 hitch was and the nice thing about it is better if– they’re so much more sturdier then eye
00:04:00 –> 00:04:07 pins so the twisting and the things that can happen on a charm bracelet, they don’t get
00:04:07 –> 00:04:13 bent open and they also don’t pull out because they’re screwed into the clay plus there’s
00:04:13 –> 00:04:16 a drop of glue there as well.
00:04:16 –> 00:04:21 Now, to do this, there’s a lot of different things that you would be– that you might
00:04:21 –> 00:04:27 want to use is an eye pin in rather than turning it into a bead or whatever, something that’s
00:04:27 –> 00:04:31 kind of awkward shaped you might not want to drill it from an end to end and you may
00:04:31 –> 00:04:37 not want to add like a bail on to the back so this would be a perfect case for a screw
00:04:37 –> 00:04:41 eye or something like this.
00:04:41 –> 00:04:49 This is a neat little piece of– it’s just from the Aurora Borealis Tutorial and this
00:04:49 –> 00:04:54 one would be a good one because you could just screw up a hole right into the top here
00:04:54 –> 00:04:56 and then the little cane there.
00:04:56 –> 00:04:58 Alright, so let me just show you how to do this.
00:04:58 –> 00:05:04 The best thing to do and this is the same if you’re adding a screw into wood or whatever
00:05:04 –> 00:05:10 you’re doing, is to drill a small pilot hole first.
00:05:10 –> 00:05:19 You do this for two reasons, as long as your drill bit is smaller than the shaft of the
00:05:19 –> 00:05:26 Screw Eye that you’re putting in, then what it does is the hole will will give you a place
00:05:26 –> 00:05:31 to start off because if you just try to screw it into the top here, it’s difficult to get
00:05:31 –> 00:05:38 in, it can skitter around and leave kind of a messy hole and if depending on how the pieces
00:05:38 –> 00:05:40 designed it could put a crack in it.
00:05:40 –> 00:05:43 That happens in wood especially you can get a crack in it.
00:05:43 –> 00:05:47 So you take a drill bit that is really tiny.
00:05:47 –> 00:05:53 Now I happen to buy a set here, this set was only like six dollars and there’s like a whole
00:05:53 –> 00:06:00 bunch of micro sized ones, they’re actually meant for all the different sizes of wire
00:06:00 –> 00:06:02 and it was only six dollars for the whole set.
00:06:02 –> 00:06:09 I got it at Contenti which is an online jewelry supply store but you can also find small drill
00:06:09 –> 00:06:15 bits I’m at a woodworking store or being a hardware store that kind of thing too.
00:06:15 –> 00:06:22 The drill bits are everywhere but what I would do is I would start a pilot hole in the top here.
00:06:22 –> 00:06:26 Hopefully, my fingers are out of the way and polymer clay is so soft that what I usually
00:06:26 –> 00:06:34 do to get started is just kind of push down on the drill to kind of put a little bit of
00:06:34 –> 00:06:41 a dent in the surface and then I just want to screw down straight in because if you go
00:06:41 –> 00:06:46 in crooked you’re going to end up with an eye pin–or the Screw Eye that goes in crooked.
00:06:46 –> 00:06:54 You also want to drill in a little bit shorter than your screw and like I said, that you
00:06:54 –> 00:07:02 want it to be a smaller hole so it has something to grab onto.
00:07:02 –> 00:07:08 So if you dri– drill then you can just sit– jumped in my hand– if you just take it you
00:07:08 –> 00:07:17 can just screw it right in with your fingers can take a little bit these are quite tiny
00:07:17 –> 00:07:18 and then it will just grab on.
00:07:18 –> 00:07:23 If you drill too big of a hole, what will happen is– is those little threads on the
00:07:23 –> 00:07:29 screw will not have anything to bite into and it’ll just pull out so I would screw it
00:07:29 –> 00:07:36 in first, get it right down to where I want it then I would unscrew it again and put a
00:07:36 –> 00:07:47 little drop of superglue, white glue, any kind of glue that’s going to just keep it
00:07:47 –> 00:07:48 from twisting out.
00:07:48 –> 00:07:52 So I’m just going to take this is a Glue I got from I don’t know, Rings and Things but
00:07:52 –> 00:07:59 I think a lot of those places have it and any super glue would work because your it’s–
00:07:59 –> 00:08:03 you’re not really securing the whole thing in there you’re just kind of keeping it from
00:08:03 –> 00:08:11 twisting because the the screw itself will hold in quite nicely into that soft polymer clay.
00:08:11 –> 00:08:19 So I’m just going to put a little drop of glue on there and twist that back in.
00:08:19 –> 00:08:23 I always like to twist it one time in and make sure they’ve got the thing in nice and
00:08:23 –> 00:08:28 straight before I put the glue in and also to decide where I want it.
00:08:28 –> 00:08:34 If this is a very large hole in the screw and you can string your cording or whatever
00:08:34 –> 00:08:42 it is that– your chain through it then you would have it go front to back like this but
00:08:42 –> 00:08:48 if you have– if it’s quite small, this one isn’t terribly large, you can turn it sideways
00:08:48 –> 00:08:53 like this and then put a jump ring in it.
00:08:53 –> 00:08:57 So in this case, that’s what I did here so i put a jump ring between the screw eye and
00:08:57 –> 00:09:04 the cording and then it’s easy to open and close and it’s facing the right direction.
00:09:04 –> 00:09:11 So, I hope that made sense for you, it will make a very very secure way to hold on to
00:09:11 –> 00:09:17 your charms, way stronger than just putting one of those flimsy little eye pins in that
00:09:17 –> 00:09:18 you just poked in.
00:09:18 –> 00:09:22 You don’t want it– you’ve done all that beautiful work on your polymer clay charm and you don’t
00:09:22 –> 00:09:28 want to lose it and I– so put in– you can find these little screws eyes in all kinds
00:09:28 –> 00:09:33 of places in lots of different sizes and finishes and with a little drop of glue, you’re going
00:09:33 –> 00:09:35 to have a very secure charm.
00:09:35 –> 00:09:40 Alright, so I hope that was helpful if it was do let us know if you liked that video–
00:09:40 –> 00:09:46 this video and if you’ve got suggestions for techniques that you don’t know about, questions
00:09:46 –> 00:09:53 you have, products you like me the demo and you can’t find a video in it that we’ve done
00:09:53 –> 00:09:57 on it yet, then make sure to leave your suggestions in the comments section below.
00:09:57 –> 00:10:01 Alrighty, so we’ll see you next time and bye for now.
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Resource Links:
- Related Video: Securing Eye Pins in Your Polymer Clay Charms
- Related Video: Polymer Clay Leopard Print Cane
- Related Video: Copper Foil Wrapped Pendants
- Related Video: Happy Camper Cane Polymer Clay Tutorial
- Related Video: Aurora Northern Lights Polymer Clay Tutorial
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Hi Cindy…I love that you have put me onto wonderful tools to buy for my polymer clay…I first got the big slicer from Lucy …then just got the “everything in the bag” extruder…really gotta quit this..but I can’t find a good site to tell what discs go with what…thought you could help. I know the heart one
as it is easy, but could you show some of the others? I think it is heard to tell what they are by just looking at them….thanks……………Jeanne
Hi Jeanne, I plan to do more with showing people which disks go with which ones, but there are only so many hours and there are lots of products and techniques that I also need to show everyone. You may want to check out the Lucy Clay website. They have done several patterns showing cool combinations of lots of the different disks which should give you plenty of ideas for now, until I can get around to making them myself.
Thanks so much for this and ALL your videos as I learn something new each time! I am new to
Polymer so every bit helps.
I have often wondered about my work space and how best to situate it and tools. Seems I’m always trying to find the best tool or item to start or finish something and can’t quite get my hand on it! Being short on patience, I’m forever arranging and rearranging the location of things.
Has there been any information of how you and others arrange things for working (or playing) with clay, or is it more of a personal choice?
Thanks again, B
Hi Barbara, thank you soomuch for your comment! I do have a video on how to organize your workspace into zones. I believe it is important to organize your tools and supplies according to what they are and how often you use things. This video should help you…
How I Organize By Zones In My Polymer Clay Studio
I’ve been using screw eyes for charms for a while now. I like using larger ones from hardware stores for large pieces that will become keychains or purse charms. The super glue idea is great! I love the idea of some additional security.
Also, the bead used for the illustration is gorgeous! Is that a variation of the aurora technique?
Thanks Krithika! No that is not an Aurora bead, but actually one made up of scrap translucent clay and crackled paint. I should put some thought into recreating that and coming up with a tutorial. I do like how it turned out too!
Hi Cindy
Thank you so much, I can’t believe I’ve been struggling al this time trying to keep an eye pin in my pendants, when the answer is so simple and easy. Also the fact that it can be added to rounded shapes is fantastic. I have a whole bunch of large round beads that I can get ‘screwing’ with straight away!
Happy screwing Marion! :)
Thanks for the video Cindy. I really never thought much about using screw eyes since you showed us that neat trick of securing the eye pins but I see this is much more secure. Such a clever teacher you are!
Thank you DIxie Ann! It feels good to be called clever! :)
Love this video on attaching the screw eyes. I would love to know where you got your little hand drill. I found something similar on ebay but was wondering where you got yours. I always look forward to your videos. They are always informative and they are very well-produced. I appreciate your hard work.
Oh, I think I just figured it out. Is that an xacto blade holder that you’ve put a drill bit in? If so, ingenious! If not, still curious about drill.
Hi Judy, you are right! That was an Exacto Knife handle. There are other options out there as well. They are called pin vises. You can get them that are double ended too, if you want to have two drill bit sizes at the ready.
Thanks for the reply. Sounds like you’ve been busy, so I appreciate it. I have a tiny pin vise somewhere in a drawer. I think I used it on a wire project many years back. I’m ordering those micro drill bits from Contenti after I explore that site a bit. Thanks!
You’re more than welcome!
Great timing!! Just had a student of mine wonder how to keep her eye pins secure! Screw eyes are great. I really Iike adding them after the piece is baked, too.
Also, just a quick question. I’m working on the color recipes and I’m placing all the color recipes on one page that belong to the palette. (The program I’m using is obsolete so I have to upgrade to Adobe Illustrator. A big job with 86 color palettes!) I’m missing a few colors due to not downloading them quick enough. On the new platform you are working on will I have access to all the A and B palettes? I would like to complete the whole collection. Hope you are seeing the light at the end of a very long tunnel!
Hi Catalina, sorry for the slow response… Willow’s engagement party was this weekend so I am a little behind getting caught up with the commenting.
In regards to the color recipes… when the new site is ready we will be adding the recipes in the new format and will make them available for purchase. So you will be able to get the ones that you are missing at that time.
I would also like to take this opportunity to remind everyone (as we have said several times before), to make sure and download your A-series color recipes now. Because when the new site launches, they will no longer be bundled together in the back issue packages.
Here is the link to more discussion on this.
And as far as seeing the light at the end of the tunnel… we can see the light but someone keeps adding new sections onto the end! :)