What is a Crimp for?

If you want to retain Beads in a certain position on your cord(wire or Supplemax clear Nylon) then you will need a crimp. If you wish to creat a loop in the cord and fix the end, you will need a crimp. They are small round pieces of soft metal with a hole through the centre. When squashed, the crimp grips the cord tight - stopping beads from passing it, or holding pieces of cord together.

What are the different types of Crimp?

Crimps come in different types and sizes - but there are mainly three types;

1. Crimp Tubes - small cylinders in different diameters. Typically Tube Crimps give the neatest finish.The manifacturer, Beadalon, make crimp tubes in 4 sizes. See the table later.
2. Crimp Beads - Spherical metal balls with a hole through the centre - the most commony used type of crimp. Generally made in two sizes - see the table later.
3. 'Torpedo' or 'Twist' crimps. These are like Crimp Tubes but have a helix cut into the outer surface. When flattened, they have a nice striped finish which can be a feature.

Crimps may be made from solid or plated Gold and Silver and alos in different colours - Black & Bronze for example.

How to Make Crimps

The easiest way is to sqush the crimp with a pair of flat bladed Pliers. Make sure that you try to arrange the crimp so that it is paralell with your cord before squashing so that it looks neater.

The best way is to use Crimp Pliers - but make sure you sue the correct sized crimp tool for the crimps you have. Cheaper crimp tools are often a bad fit. Using crimps and a crimp tool from the same manufacturer is your best bet! Crimp Tools are really easy to use and result in a very neat crimp. First you close the crimp with the inner jaw of the tool - this creates a 'crescent' shaped crimp. Then using the outer jaws, you squash the crescent shape. The result is a nice neat round finished crimp that is attractive in its own right!

Crimp Sizes

Crimp Beads

Size #1    Internal Dia. 1.3mm     Outer Dia. 2.0mm    Use with cord 0.25~0.33mm
Size #2    Internal Dia. 1.5mm     Outer Dia. 2.5mm    Use with cord 0.6~0.66mm

Use 'Standard' size Beadlon Crimp Pliers for both sizes of Crimp Bead

Crimp Tubes

Size #1    Internal Dia. 0.8mm     Outer Dia. 1.3mm    Use with cord 0.25~0.33mm
Size #2    Internal Dia. 1.3mm     Outer Dia. 1.8mm    Use with cord 0.33~0.60mm
Size #3    Internal Dia. 1.5mm     Outer Dia. 2.0mm    Use with cord 0.60~0.66mm
Size #4    Internal Dia. 2.0mm     Outer Dia. 2.5mm    Use with cord 0.66~0.81mm

Use 'Micro' size Beadalon Crimp Pliers for Size #1 crimp tubes, 'Standard' size Beadalon Crimp Pliers for Sizes #2 & #3 tubes, 'Mighty' size Beadlon Crimp PLiers for size #4 tubes.

Where to find Crimp Beads, Tubes and Crimp Pliers?

No surprise! Please come visit our Shop- and for lots of data on Crimps, I recommend the Beadalon Web Site.

I would welcome any feedback on this guide and hope you have found it useful :-)