Photon Lanyard Bead

From left to right: Electroless nickel plated 6061 aluminum, HAIII natural aluminum, raw titanium, anodized titanium (Prometheus Blue), aluminum bronze, "Costal" finish aluminum bronze, and black zirconium.

Accessorize your accessories with the Photon Lanyard Bead

Notes on finishes:

• Electroless Nickel: This is my standard EN finish that matches all my other EN stuff :)
• HAIII Natural: .002 Type III applied by a certified anodizer
• Raw Titanium: Ceramic tumbled (stone washed)
• Anodized Titanium: I'm only doing Prometheus Blue because I hate anodizing
• Aluminum Bronze: Ceramic tumbled (stone washed)
• Costal Finish Aluminum Bronze: Light forced patina to "knock the new off"
• Black Zirconium: This is a sample run of 5 pcs...flame oxidized

I gave myself one condition if I was going to make a bead (since everyone and their mother is making beads) : make a bead design that's never been done before. Here I'm dressing up my Southard Knives "Tolk" and the G&G Hawk "Griploc" knife.

I guess I jsut like playing dress up. Raw Ti bead with the Alpha ICE Titanium and an Electroless Nickel plated bead to match the EN on the Alpha Carbon. The bead has a 1/4" through-hole to accomodate 550 paracord, but you can also use smaller cord if you know some fancy knots...or like me, know someone else that does :)

I've been toying with this idea for over a year and I finally decided to get it done before someone else did :) I'm going to be honest though and give credit where it's due. I was inspired by my favorite flashlight maker, Fred Pilon over at Photon Fanatic. His work is INSANE. The most beautiful lights I've ever seen without question, and also the namesake of the bead. What, you didn't think I was some sort of creative genius did you? The Photon Bead is my homage to Fred's vision and I've started making this bead design with his blessing.

I also wanted to take advantage of my Haas ST10-Y's milling capabilities. The 30 grooves are cut by side-milling with a 3/32" 6 flute carbide keyseat cutter from Harvey Tool. This process is fairly slow and takes a significant amount of time to machine each bead. It's the longest run-time part that I make on the lathe. However, I'm really happy with the result and I hope you are too!