- Body Jewelry

BASIC HOW TO OPEN CAPTIVE BEAD RINGS
AND CLOSE CAPTIVE BEAD RINGS.


* SNAP FIT STYLE: The ball for a Snap-Fit style ring is completely smooth. The dimple that the ring sits in is actually on the inside of the ring itself.	* TENSION STYLE RINGS:** The ball is held in place by the tension/pressure of the ring. The ball has indentions, or dimples, that the rounded ends of the captive bead ring fit into. TIP:** Captive Bead Rings (tension style) typically have a 1mm smaller gap then ball size. ie. 14g 1/2" CBR with a 5mm ball has a 4mm gap between the two ends of the ring. This smaller gap allows the ball to be held firmly in place.	TIP: By opening the captive bead ring wider, you can easily put in bigger size balls. It is always best to go only up or down one size-- for example, if your ring comes standard with a 5mm ball. You can go to a 4mm or 6mm ball without too much distortion. Going to a 8mm ball will make the ring look wider, but there is nothing stopping you from doing this.
	HOW TO OPEN A CAPTIVE BEAD RING

Step 1: Gather all the tools you need for the job. Here is a list of all the tools in the picture. These tools can help you insert and remove captive bead rings. Small Ring Closing Plier Large Ring Closing Plier Ball Grabber Tools Small Ring Opening Plier Large Ring Opening Plier	Step 2: Take your Ring Opening Pliers and slide the captive bead ring over the tips of the plier so that the ring rests on the grooves. Gently squeeze the handles together until the captive ring is secure and not moving around.	Step 3: Expand the teeth of the Ball Grabber Tool so that they grab hold of the ball. As you still gently squeeze on the Ring Opening Pliers, slowly apply pressure with the Ball Grabber Tool until the ball becomes loose and falls out. Since the ball grabber is holding the ball, you don't have to worry about losing the ball NOTE: Do not squeeze too hard with the Ring Opening Pliers. This will distort your ring. Only a small amount of pressure is needed to release the ball.

Step 3a: Another angle of what it looks like with the ball grabber and ring opening pliers.	Step 4: Here you can see the ball is out. Now release the pressure on the pliers and hold the captive bead so that it doesn't fall as you remove the pliers.	Step 5: Very simple. As you can see, the captive ring retains its shape and the ball is out.
	HOW TO CLOSE A CAPTIVE BEAD RING

Step 1: Gather all the tools you need for the job. Here is a list of all the tools in the picture. These tools can help you insert and remove captive bead rings. Small Ring Closing Plier Large Ring Closing Plier Ball Grabber Tools Small Ring Opening Plier Large Ring Opening Plier	Step 2: The ring closing pliers shown here can be used in case you have opened the ring too far, are changing the ball size, or are generally changing the opened gap of the ring. Place the Ring in the grooves of the closing plier. Begin to apply a small amount of pressure." Large Ring Closing Pliers (what you see in the picture) : These are good for your larger diameter Captives. Typically 5/8" and larger.	Step 3: Small Ring Closing Pliers (what you see in the picture) are good for 1/4"-1/2" Capitve bead rings.

Step 4: Take the ball grabber tool and hold the captive ball with dimples facing out. Take your ring opening plier and apply a little pressure so the ring stays firmly on.	Step 5: Gently squeeze the captive ring open and slide the ball grabber tool with dimple ball into place between the rings ends.	Step 6: Once ball is secure between the rings end. Release the ball from the ball grabber and slowly release pressure of the ring opening pliers.