New Crimping Tool

I picked up a new crimping tool for myself.  Do you ever have trouble getting your crimps even and tight on the wire?  I do.  The traditional crimper is a two step process that requires you to apply pressure on the crimp, and then to turn the wire on its side and apply pressure at a 90 degree angle to what you did in the first place.  Ideally this causes the crimp to fold tight onto the wire and to look very even and nice.

Along comes the Bead Buddy crimper.  This tool is a little intimidating to look at, but it works like a charm.  The Bead Buddy crimper allows you to crimp in  a one-step process.  There is a small groove into which you place the crimp bead or tube.  You then press the handles together.  In one step the crimper pushes the crimp down in the middle creating a small crease in the metal.  Then two small arms come together the opposite way and complete the crimp.  OK - if you are scratching your head with my attempt to describe this mechanical process, take a look at this video from Bead Buddy.

I had to practice on this to get the crimp centered on the tool, so I wasted about 5 crimp tubes.  Use inexpensive ones for practice.  Then I tried it on one of my lanyards.  I am still not perfect, but it is a good solid crimp done very quickly.

I purchased my  Bead Buddy crimper at Joann's Fabric and Craft Store, and used a 50% off coupon.  Joann's has lots of coupons for 40% and 50% off right now.  Some are good this week, and some are good later.  This brought the price down to make it reasonable to give it a try.

Let me know how you like using this tool.  I'm pretty happy with it.