DIY Network

Crystals and Glue by Jackie Guerra From "Jewelry Making" episode DJMK-401

	Host Jackie Guerra shares tips on what tweezers and glue to use when working with crystals.
	Figure A

Jackie's Tips for Working with Crystals and Glue

• Crystals cost more, so you may want to work with larger rhinestones for practice. That way, you won't feel bad if you mess up the first couple of times.

• You need good tools for gluing crystals, etc. and the tool to have is tweezers. There are a lot of different tweezers available that are very useful:
  1. This one (figure A ) is designed so that you don't have to keep squeezing to hold on. You squeeze to release and that is a relief when you are gluing a lot of crystals at once.

  2. Curved tip tweezers lets you see what you are doing while you are doing it.

  3. There are tweezers that are real sharp and you have to be careful with them, but they are useful when you are placing crystals in a small crevice.

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Figure B

• All-purpose tweezers have rounded ends to keep you from scratching the setting.

• Finally, a small pair where you can regulate the tension are nice to own.

• A nice glue to use is Hypo-cement. It has a tiny nozzle, which really lets you control the flow. The top has a needle that fits down into the nozzle when you are through, preventing the glue from clogging when you need to use it again (figure B).

• Another good glue is E6000. It's an excellent glue with flexibility and it's thicker. Don't use Duco glue for gluing rhinestones that have a mirrored backing. Duco is a great household glue, but something in it turns the backing on the rhinestones black.