GTF Diamond Lanyard Bead, Vintage Detroit Micarta, Brass Tube, Made in USA (GTF-BEAD-DIAMOND)

Polished, rounded, and turned by hand in Iowa out of vintage Detroit Micarta.

Gabe makes these beads at home with his son, one at a time. Each carries a brass lanyard tube, and because they are turned by hand rather than run off a machine, no two come out the same.

Specifications

• Maker: Gabe, Gabes ThrowFiles
• Shape: Diamond
• Material: Vintage Micarta, Detroit stock
• Finish: Polished gloss
• Lanyard Tube: Brass
• Construction: Hand turned
• Country of Origin: Made in USA (Iowa)

The Diamond

The Diamond carries its widest point at the center and eases away in both directions, coming to a soft point at each end without ever turning into an edge.

It is the shape with the most movement in it. The wall angle changes as it runs, so the linen layers in the Micarta read as curved bands rather than straight ones.

Glossy and Smooth

Every one of these is polished to a gloss and rounded over everywhere. There is not a sharp angle on it, so nothing catches on a pocket, a sheath, or your hand.

This is a bead that adds some elegance to a lanyard rather than armoring it.

Vintage Micarta from Detroit

Micarta is cloth saturated in resin and cured under pressure. It has been made that way for more than a century, and it shows up in electrical panels, machine parts, and knife handles because it does not swell, rot, or care about moisture.

The stock Gabe uses here came out of Detroit, and it is vintage material rather than something ordered new. Polished up it runs warm, brown through amber, with the weave of the cloth showing through the gloss. When a slab runs out there is not another one exactly like it.

What to Pair It With

Blue is what makes this Micarta pop. We would put it on a New Mexico 550 paracord lanyard, which is one of the colorways we tie in house.

The Brass Tube

Every bead carries a brass lanyard tube through the middle, and it does two jobs.

It gives your cord a smooth metal bore to run against instead of wearing into the Micarta, and it leaves a ring of brass showing at each end that will patina with handling while the Micarta stays where it is.

Each One Is Different

These are turned one at a time by hand. Expect small differences in profile and in how the Micarta figures from bead to bead.

That is not a flaw in the process. That is the process.

About Gabes ThrowFiles

Gabes ThrowFiles is Gabe working out of Iowa, making these alongside his son. This is the first run of his beads we have carried.

Proudly carrying American