Eggcorns are those little slips of the mind that can show interesting connections arising—especially as words become outdated, and lose relevance to current society (e.g. free rain; free reign for free rein—because so few people ride horses anymore) —the number one thing about beadalon that appeals to me its durability, which translates into longevity.
Beadalon is a trade name of one of the brands of nylon coated 19 to 49 stranded steel cable wire currently on the market—C-flex and Softflex are two others; they've replaced the seven-stranded acculon and tigertail previously marketed (and still available for the lower-end market).
I just love this stuff—it's strong, much more resistant to kinking than traditional 7-strand tigertail, shares with its predecessor much greater fray-resistance than thread, not to mention the fact it doesn't stretch. It's now available not only in colors (which by now may even be of roughly equivalent strength to the transparent coating) but in silver or gold metallic sheathing as well. About the only downside is the price, and the fact that it's not really suitable for knotting (though some people do).
What's not to like?
Well, the fact that the greater number of ends do ‘fuzz up’ more as you string (and abrade the end of your stringing material, trying to shove it through small holes)—this does make stringing with beads that fit very tightly over it somewhat slower. Use good, sharp nippers, and be prepared to nip off fuzzy ends fairly frequently during a long stringing job. Oh, and it costs more.
In the earlier version of this post I note that Fae Mellichamp of Chimera reports that Softflex has a softer hand than Beadalon, but I actually prefer the stiffer hand. And since my previous experience led me to believe that Acculon is a better brand than Tigertail, I was more inclined to purchase their brand of the new stuff. Besides, it's what Abeada Corp carries.
The original version of this post was written sometime on or before Mar 19, 2001. Update, 03dec05.
Unless otherwise noted, text, image and objects depicted therein copyright 1996--present sylvus tarn.
