Where to Get Silver Head Pins Cheap?

[Anakin's Glass Eye]

Hi everyone. I'm in need of lots of sterling silver head pins. I'd like to find some 2" long with 2 or 3 mm smooth silver ball on the end. I need a few hundred for a couple of very special pieces I'm working on. I know of the usual sources like Fire Mountain and Thunderbird. I'm just curious if there's a better place to go for a large quantity and not a lot of $$$.

Thanks in advance for your help and advice.

[Julabula]

You could try artbeads.com, not sure if they carry the ones with the ball, I cannot remember...

[alexm]

If you need that many of them, why don't you just make them? All you have to do is cut sterling silver wire to the desired length plus a little bit more, then place the tip of the wire in the flame of your torch for a moment. The silver will melt and ball up. You will notice that your silver headpin is not silver any more because it's all covered with firescale. Not to worry, just soak in jeweler's pickle, then rinse. Voila, you have as many headpins as you want at a fraction of the price if you were to buy them.

Make sure that you do this in a very well ventilated area, as the silver will give off fumes that are very irritating to the lungs.

My favorite place to buy silver wire and jeweler's pickle is www.thunderbirdsupply.com

[Anakin's Glass Eye]

Thanks for the info. It had not occurred to me to ake them myself. I will try it.

I think for this project, since I need so many, I will just buy them and save myself a lot of time. I was PM'd by someone who's gonna help get some cheap.

But thanks so much for the input.

Brad

[Jacinthe]

You could always contact our very own metal workers, Barrie and McDuck :D

[Penguintrax]

Best prices I've found are through South Pacific (www.beading.com). Check the sales pages first!

[McDuck]

I usually buy 100 for around $9-10 pm me if you wanna know where!

[Teague]

You can also buy fine silver wire and then you don't get much firescale.

Teague