Need bead cutting advice

I have a pattern I like to tie, many of you have seen it, that uses a spaghetti bead to make the shape of the body under a crocheted lace. The problem I have is that cutting the slot in the beads to get the on the shank takes a LONG time and is rarely a good cut right off the bat. This leads to more cutting, trimming and cleaning up the cut to get it to go onto the hook shank.

I also will take the bead and literally sand off 2/5 of the bead to expose the hole through the middle to put it on the hook shank. This takes even more time than cutting them but less time cleaning them up.

I have tried a Dremel but it melts the bead too much and makes a bigger mess. Small hand saws for hobby work are okay but the slot is often too small for larger hooks.

Anyone have any suggestions to speed up either technique? I like to use both for different ties and different body shapes but 5 minutes a piece or more just to get the bead ready really makes it hard to tie any real numbers of the jigs and flies. Not to mention my shaky hands make everything so much harder to get just right.

Only thought I have had and not tried it taking some sort of string saw, inserting it into the bead and cutting from the inside out. Problem is I can't find the string saw blades anywhere now that I actually want to find them.

Don't have a clue. That sounds like a tough job for a tie to me. I have never tried doing that so I can't be much help. I did a search for string saw blades and didn't find much. I did find some discussion and also another site had some talk about China.

Sorry, but will keep looking and ask some guys to see if I can help.

Skip

U

That does sound like a tough job, seems like its hard to get the shank over the bead!

Fish

This what your looking for Proforce Commando Wire Saw Carded 71010

You could try making a wood base with a hole cut out for the shape of the bead - put it in the slot and then use a wire saw or better yet a coping saw with a fine blade to make the cut. As fast as they go through wood they should go right through a bead.

That may just be the trick right there for cutting the slots at least. Cut one end off and thread it through the hole to make a nice clean cut in perfect line instead of the lousy cuts I make with a saw from the outside.

Now to figure out how to make it easier to cut them in half or at least cut of most of it for my half ones.

Had a long reply typed out above. Don't know what happened to it. In short I had asked if the beads were plastic and if it was possible to just bore out the holes to slide over the hook point and up the shank? Is there enough beef on the beads to make a precise melt of the slot? Dremel w/ cutting disk?
Just throwing out ideas.

Dremel melts them too much but cuts easier than a hand saw. The beads are spaghetti beads, long and thin so not much chance of boring out the hole to make them slip on.
Shipwreck Beads - Search: spaghetti
I have thought about contacting the company that makes them and see if I can order them as halves instead of put together. Would solve the part of using the half beads for some ties.
A table top scroll saw might make it easier but holding this little things that close to a fast moving blade gives my fingers the creeps. I have tried holding the beads with pliers but it puts pressure on them so when the cut gets through it pinches them and rips them out of the pliers using a Dremel breaking a large % of them.

Is just one of those things, a good idea that has one catch making it take a long time. Good thing I like tying them jigs and flies so much otherwise I might think it wasn't worth the effort. But the beads give the entire tie a different look and really makes it look like a sand shrimp which was the purpose of the tie in the first place. Some of my smaller ones look a lot like grass and smaller shrimp species with their translucent nature all the way through.

Man......
Wish I had one to feel. If they're plastic like a Mardi Gras bead plastic it prob won't work but Try one of these.
http://img.tapatalk.com/a6937398-776f-4955.jpg
Craftsmen handi cut
I use em at work for cut aaaaallll kinds of stuff.
Still throwing out ideas.

By the way, I would love to see a harsh shrimp imitation.

Marsh Shrimp maybe? Should be too hard but isn't gonna larger than maybe a 7-90 count shrimp size.

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...hetedjigs1.jpg

All I would need to do is use peach and light pink colors or a cream color instead of the darker colors to imitate it.

Was supposed to be "grass" shrimp.

Those do look cool though! I see why you go through the trouble.

Shouldn't be too hard making a grass shrimp either. If I used mono filament to tie it the whole thing would be clear without any dark colors in it. A clear pink bead with the right colors larva lace should do it just fine.

Unexcelled Fishing - Body Material

Maybe the shrimp color and the pink shrimp crocheted together in the larva lace would make a nice glass shrimp pattern. Either a regular sizes spaghetti bead or a small one depending on how big you want it.

This is the sand shrimp I tied it after:
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...hostshrimp.jpg
Deep Sea Photography

I will see what I have in the light colors if anything. I have some I will tie one and see what I can come up with.