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.

The finished product....

I'm working on making my own 925 silver endcaps with rubber inserts.  Will let you all know how it goes!

So here's how I make a christmas beetle out of a rectangular strip of titanium.

Step One. Acquire titanium.

Step Two.  Stick down the design.














Step Three.  Cut out the design.














Step Four.  Bend and fold!





















































Finito!  (Apart from cleaning up and colouring, of course!)