Using a bead reamer is pretty straightforward so I haven’t included any pictures of me futzing around with one. First choose the right tip, depending on whether you want to widen or deepen the drill holes in the piece. You basically hold the precious stone, pearl or bead in one hand and grip the bead reamer lightly in the other and use the tip to gently grind out the holes of the item. Don’t use too much pressure or you may crack the item! If the stone, pearl or bead is extra small you may want to put it in some sort of grip if it’s difficult to hold. I often find that the holes in precious stones and pearls don’t need a lot of grinding or pressure at all; it’s more like the hole was only drilled incompletely at one of the ends. So very little grinding is needed to get a wire successfully through; it’s not like you need to drill all the way through again!
When using the bead reamer, stop frequently to check and see if the work you’ve done is enough. Make sure to do the work on a surface that won’t be affected by the drilled dust that you’ll end up with. A paper napkin will suffice. It’s also useful to wet a corner of the napkin so that you can wipe the end of the bead reamer on it periodically as it gets a lot of dust on it. Also, make sure to either wash or wipe off any powdery dust off the stone, pearl or bead after you’re finished as it can be an irritant to skin to say the least.
I actually sometimes use a bead reamer tip without the grip. At a local swap meet, I actually found they were selling the tips only for a dollar! If you’re going to try to use it without the grip, simply hold the bead reamer tip between your index finger and thumb and gently roll it back and forth. You might be thinking, why bother getting only the tip when the whole bead reamer with nice handle costs only $2-3? Well, the diamond dust on the tip will eventually all come off in the action of grinding. So you’ll periodically need to get new tips anyhow. I find that using only the bead reamer tip is good for precious stone and pearl holes that just need a little touch-up for the wire to go through. And of course, it goes without saying to use the handle if you’re going to do a whole string of pearls or gems!
