how to make diy bead spinner

A bead spinner is a must for any beaded flower maker! It helps you load beads onto the wire FAST. Who has time to put beads on the wire one by one? Please, don’t do that!

Sure, you can buy the wooden ones but honestly, if I weren’t making video tutorials, I would not even own the two big beadspinners that I have. LOL. I mean, I do need to use something that is readily available for most people, right?

The first bead spinner I ever owned was an electronic my husband made for me. You’d know I was beading because it was loud. And then he made me one a quiet one that I’ve been using for over a decade.

This one is not an electronic one. But honestly, I haven’t used the electronic feature for so many years. I don’t need it. It was taking up a lot of space on my work tray so when he found that out, he made it his mission to make a smaller one.

Features:

The most important thing about this bead spinner is the ability of switch out colors easily by placing another cup on top. These hummus cups stack on top of each other and that made it perfect to switch out colors easily. When some of my fellow designers work, they will have 3 to 10 traditional bead spinners out at a time with their colors. Me? I’m just sitting here with my 10 hummus cups stacked on top of each other and one bead spinner.

The other thing that my husband suggested that I do is to tape around the top spinning part so that it would give it more grip. The other option is to hot glue some vertical lines all around it so that when the glue dries, you’ll get some grip when you spin.

I do plan on painting the base to make it purdy. Well, sometime. It works so I don’t know…why bother? Maybe when I don’t have a book deadline.

Photo courtesy Svetlana Sapegina of Super Biser

Materials:

• VCR (if you don’t have one, ask friends or buy one at the second hand shops for cheap. I got mine from my friend Sue)
• Plastic container (I used a cup that held hummus from Costco. Other ideas are plastic apple sauce cups, or other fruit cups)
• Base (My husband bent a piece of hard plastic. You can also use wood)

Below is the video of how he made it. Since it’s his first time making a bead spinner of this kind, it’s not really a tutorial. It’s more of a documentary of how he made it. So if you grasp the concept and willing to play around with different materials, you can also make your own. Or if you’re like me who’s a doof when it comes to tools and electronics, maybe you have a spouse, parent, or friend that will be able to help.

My children are also in the video. They like to help Papa with his projects. They don’t eat things like coins, batteries, or beads. Only food. They love food.

DIY Beadspinner VS Traditional Beadspinner

I did do a timed test to see which bead spinner is the fastest.  I used a mini beadspinner vs a regular sized one because the mini is comparable in size with the diy beadspinner. I do prefer the mini vs the larger wooden beadspinners anyways. 

I was able to get 17 inches of beads in one minute with both spinners.

BUT… the DIY beadspinner wins because:

• the ability of change colors
• and no flying beads

If you do end up making this beadspinner, let me know! I’ve love to see it!