Vintage Lucite Cabochons
Cabs? They have no holes! What can I do with them?
In the 18 years I’ve been working with beads, I’ve heard this question more times than I can count. It was in fact, a question of mine as well when I began with beads. Well, the Forrest Gump way to answer the question (in the ‘Shrimp is the fruit of the sea…’ fashion) is, you can…
*Seed Bead Bezel Cabs
*Free-form Wire-wrap Cabs
*Wire Cage Cabs
*Glue or Use An Adhesive to Mount Cabs
*Drill Cabs
*Embed a Wire Shank in Cabs
…I could go on and on.
We have classes in beadweaving & wire-wrapping cabs in our shop. However, I consider myself more of an instant gratification designer. If I see a component I want to use, I want to use it quick and now. Since we specialize in vintage lucite cabs & have a hee-uge collection of them, I’m going to focus on cabs made of lucite vs. gemstones and glass. Here are a few quick simple ways to use a cab or cabochon:
How to Drill a Lucite Cab: You can easily drill a hole using a Dremel Tool & some jewelry sized drill bits. You don’t need to use
Vintage Lucite Cabochons
With a Simple Dremel set-up you can make your own custom components
diamond tipped drill bits: they’re expensive & you want to save them for drilling your glass, shell or stones. However you may need a collet adapter or ‘chuck’ in order to make your tiny sized drill bit fit into your drill. Even though it’s not imperative that you drill lucite under water (such as it is with glass, shell and stone), I still prefer to. This way I know my drill bit won’t get to heated and break. And I like to keep the debris floating underwater vs. airborn. So grab a low-sided dish (a small casserole dish works well) and fill it with a couple inches of warm water. Find a piece of wood or foam to use as a base to drill into. Now have at it. You’ll get your groove after drilling a few pieces. Cabs and flat pieces all have varying thicknesses so you’ll find that some pieces will drill easier than others. Don’t be scared! Grab a Dremel and try this! You’ll be amazed at how quickly you can turn cabs into quick to use jewelry components different than many others will have in their jewelry designs.
Mounting Cabs Using Adhesive: While there are countless ahesives, glues & epoxys out there, my favorite for mounting lucite cabs and components is E-6000. This is because it adheres and stays. It doesn’t dry fast. And I know, I said I was an ‘instant-gratification girl’. But I want my pieces to last. Even though it takes an hour or so for this glue to set up and then almost 24 hours for it to hold fast, you can glue almost any material to another and know it’s secure: think glass to metal, lucite to wood, sequins to shell, etc. Your tube of E-6000 will last forever. Make sure you are careful not to puncture the tube: just a little air and it will be useless very soon. I like to use a toothpick or darning needle to apply my adhesive in small amounts. There are countless mounts and settings you can adhere lucite cabs to. But that’s a topic for another blog.
Vintage Lucite Cabochons
Don’t overthink what to do with your cabs. It’s amazing how when you allow yourself to play with a few new simple techniques, a whole new world of components opens up to you. “Anything with a hole in it can be considered a bead.”
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