So this is how I've gone about making a stickpin stopper similar to this.

I start with some 2mm PVC cord and some 3mm chenier.

Anneal the chenier and feed the cord through.


























File the end to a taper and draw through a drawplate.  About 5 holes does the trick. (Mental note: buy a pair of draw tongs! These pliers just don't cut the mustard!)


























It now looks like this with the PVC held securely in place.













I carefully squeeze up the end with round nose pliers.  This is necessary to keep the PVC in place.   In my first attempts I just filed and emeryed the end round leaving the rubber exposed.  I found that when the pin was pushed in it had a tendancy of pushing the PVC out the end.













File the end round, emery. Mark and cut to length.







































Clean up the end and very carefully drill a guide hole into the centre of the PVC.  This is possibly the hardest part.  The PVC is quite spongy and the drill bit has a tendancy of slipping over its surface.  Drilling straight helps too, unless you like the wonky look of a skewif stopper!


























And we're done!  Macro photography for dummies using my magnifying light.  I reckon it works pretty well.


























Everything in its right place.