How to make a bead jig from balsa wood.

A blasa wood jig requires a little more effort to make than a plaster jig, but a balsa jig is less fragile and is easier to use because the beads slide more easily into place.

Jig Pattern Cut a 12x10 cm rectangle from 3/8 inch thick balsa wood. Use the diagram as a guide to drawing six horizontal and eleven vertical lines on one side of the 10 x 12cm balsa wood block. Draw the horizontal lines at the positions indicated, draw the vertical lines 1cm apart. The grain of the wood should be paralell to the 12 cm edge.

Bead Wells Carve out the bead wells indicated by the diamonds in this diagram. The top row has nine wells and the other rows have ten wells each. The wells need to be only deep enough to put the hole in the bead at level of the surface of the balsa wood. Do this with a wood carving tool. You can make each depression with two cuts from the tool. Video: First Cut, Second Cut Keep your hands and other parts of your body away from the direction you are pushing the tool so that if it slips you do not injure yourself. If you prefer, instead of carving the bead wells, you can glue 1/16-inch by 10-cm strips cut from a 1/32-inch sheet of basswood over the eleven vertical lines drawn on the jig.

Dividers Next, place dividers between the rows and at the top and bottom edges. You can carve dividers from 3/8 inch thick balsa wood to a width of slightly less than 1 cm wide (adjust the thickness as necessary). For the top and bottom edges, carve a divider approximately .5 cm wide. Or, you can use 1/8 inch x 1/8 inch basswood strips. Place one strip on either side of each row. If you can find 1/4 inch x 1/4 inch triangular sticks, they make the best dividers when placed on top of 1/16 x 1/8 inch strips. Attach the dividers to the jig with glue.

Options If you want, you can add the following options to your bead jig:

Attach 3 - 4 mm thick "feet" under each corner of the jig to raise it slightly from the surface of the table. This will give you more room for the hand holding the threading rod when you use the jig.
Glue a piece of 1/8 inch thick basswood 1 inch high by 12 cm long to one edge of the jig to keep it flush against the edge of the work surface. This helps keep the jig steady during use but it also restricts how you can position the jig on the table.

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Jig Pattern		Cut a 12x10 cm rectangle from 3/8 inch thick balsa wood. Use the diagram as a guide to drawing six horizontal and eleven vertical lines on one side of the 10 x 12cm balsa wood block. Draw the horizontal lines at the positions indicated, draw the vertical lines 1cm apart. The grain of the wood should be paralell to the 12 cm edge.
Bead Wells		Carve out the bead wells indicated by the diamonds in this diagram. The top row has nine wells and the other rows have ten wells each. The wells need to be only deep enough to put the hole in the bead at level of the surface of the balsa wood. Do this with a wood carving tool. You can make each depression with two cuts from the tool. Video: First Cut, Second Cut Keep your hands and other parts of your body away from the direction you are pushing the tool so that if it slips you do not injure yourself. If you prefer, instead of carving the bead wells, you can glue 1/16-inch by 10-cm strips cut from a 1/32-inch sheet of basswood over the eleven vertical lines drawn on the jig.
Dividers		Next, place dividers between the rows and at the top and bottom edges. You can carve dividers from 3/8 inch thick balsa wood to a width of slightly less than 1 cm wide (adjust the thickness as necessary). For the top and bottom edges, carve a divider approximately .5 cm wide. Or, you can use 1/8 inch x 1/8 inch basswood strips. Place one strip on either side of each row. If you can find 1/4 inch x 1/4 inch triangular sticks, they make the best dividers when placed on top of 1/16 x 1/8 inch strips. Attach the dividers to the jig with glue.
Options		If you want, you can add the following options to your bead jig: Attach 3 - 4 mm thick "feet" under each corner of the jig to raise it slightly from the surface of the table. This will give you more room for the hand holding the threading rod when you use the jig. Glue a piece of 1/8 inch thick basswood 1 inch high by 12 cm long to one edge of the jig to keep it flush against the edge of the work surface. This helps keep the jig steady during use but it also restricts how you can position the jig on the table.