What Everyone Ought To Know About Resin Jewelry Findings

You’ve made a beautiful resin charm. And now you want to turn it into jewelry. But how do you do that? That’s where resin jewelry findings come into play.

Findings? Like I didn’t realize I lost something.

You didn’t.

What are jewelry findings?

Jewelry findings are a generic term for the components you use to assemble your resin charms. They can come in any kind of metal or even non-traditional components like plastic or rubber. They include bails, clasps, jump rings, eye pins, and other connectors.

And I have no idea why they’re called findings.

When exploring findings to use for resin jewelry, you’ve got two options:

Option 1: Glue-on findings

Glue-on findings are cool because they are easy to use. As the name implies, all you need is glue.

When using glue-on findings for resin jewelry, pick ones with pads to fit the back of your resin charm. Use adhesive, like E6000 or some of your mixed resin. Apply the adhesive to the resin charm and the flat pad area, then press the two pieces together. Let it dry for 24 hours, and you have a wearable charm.

You can see how to glue on findings here:

 

Here are two reasons why gluing findings to resin charms is awesome:

1. You don’t need to invest in any equipment. All you need is a bit of glue and your jewelry finding. This is perfect for beginner resin jewelry makers.

2. If you are using glue-on bails, they will already come ‘balanced’. That means the bail opening will position evenly over the resin charm. You don’t have to worry about whether your charm will hang too far forward or backward when you wear it.

Option 2: Findings that require a drill for application

If you love your tools, you’ll be happy to know you can use one to apply resin jewelry findings. Grab your rotary tool or flex shaft to drill into cured resin to apply your finding.

Eye pin findings

They have a loop at the top and a screw piece at the bottom. Drill into the top of your charm, then screw the eye pin into the epoxy resin.

💡 Pro tip: You want to use a slightly smaller drill bit (in diameter) than the screw part. That way, when you screw the eye pin into the resin, the pin ‘grabs’ into the resin charm. Add a dab of adhesive to ensure your finding is secure.

The downside to using this resin jewelry finding is that you can see the eye pin through clear epoxy. You may want to use it where the stem is ‘hidden’ in your charm.

Here’s why:

Jump rings

These are the small rings that let you loop charms together or add them to ear wires. You can make these resin jewelry findings yourself, but they’re inexpensive to buy.

💡 Pro tip: When drilling holes for jump rings, make sure the hole is large enough for the ring to have a little ‘wiggle’ room. For example, a jump ring made from 20-gauge wire is the same diameter as a size 60 drill bit. But you want to go with a little larger drill bit. That way, you’ll give your charm room to move on the jump ring. Otherwise, it will hang stiff and won’t move.

Prong bails

You’ll drill completely through the resin. Then, put prongs into place and squeeze them shut. Some prong bails come with a ring on top to allow you to hang with another jump ring.

You can see how to attach a prong bail here:

What’s the best advice for resin jewelry findings?

Think ahead when making your resin charms about how you want to finish them. You want to be sure the finding you use to complete your charms compliments your resin jewelry mojo.

Want ideas on how to use finding options for resin jewelry?

Get a copy of the ebook Resin Jewelry Making.  It teaches you how to make resin jewelry like a pro. Buy the PDF book now and get several projects you can make this weekend.

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