A while ago I made a beader with an edge guide from a stitch groover. It worked OK but not great. The guide adjustment needed a pair of pliers to tighten and loosten. The tip I made didn’t do a very good groove.
I have a couple projects coming up that need a good one. A push beader works beautifully but they work pushing them away from you.
I wanted one that worked well pulling it toward me. It looked like it would be easier to make a whole new tool than to modify any existing one. As a proof of concept, I bought a beader online for $10. It looked like a stinko design but it had the potential to be modified for my purposes. After a few days it arrived and yes, it truly was stinko. I feel sorry for new leather workers that get scammed into wasting their money on one of these things.
Since a push beader works well, I figured that one with the tip made at a 45 degree angle to a push beader would be good. After grinding, filing and polishing, the newly shaped tip worked as hoped.
For a holder, I took the barrel off a swivel knife that was a junker that felt like it was full of gravel. I unscrewed the finger cradle and jammed a bolt into the handle for the stinko beader, retaining the thumb jam nut. Then I reshaped the handle and screwed it into the swivel knife barrel. A hole drilled through the barrel worked for a guide and the handle bolt tightens against that to lock it into position. A flat filed on it made it so it wouldn’t turn. The thumb jam nut keeps the handle tight on the guide.
I modified the tip from the beader so it would fit into the barrel. I did have to make the handle considerably smaller but otherwise it was good.
The guide had to be inline with the tip, too. All went together fine and worked right.
A quick test showed the design is a good one. It was easy to do parallel beads. A twist of the handle loosens the guide and another quick twist secures it. The lock thumb nut from the swivel knife helps to keep the handle from coming loose in use.
I'm pleased with this design. It works really well and I can make another tip when I want one a different size.