Bead spinner

A bead spinner is a shallow bowl mounted on a base that spins, either by hand or with a small motor. Loose beads sit in the bowl, and holding a needle at an angle against the spinning beads lets them slide onto the needle in a steady stream instead of being picked up one at a time.

It is most useful for repetitive stringing projects that use a lot of one size and type of bead, like a long strand of matching seed beads or spacers, where picking up beads by hand would be slow and tiring on the fingers and eyes.

When buying, consider bowl size relative to typical project length and whether a motorized or hand-spun version fits the amount of stringing done. A common mistake is loading a spinner with mixed bead shapes or sizes, which tends to jam the needle or load beads unevenly instead of the smooth, single-file feed the tool is meant to provide.