Necessary Items For Jewelry Making

By Rod Buchanon


If you are interested in jewelry making, there are a few items you must have in your tool kit before beginning. If you have the correct tools, then you will save a lot of time and be super efficient when working on your pieces. Although you could buy all the cool gadgets and clever tools that allow you to do fancy work more easily, you can achieve the same results with a little diligence using the basic set of necessary tools.

The most vital tool for any jeweler to have by far is a pair of pliers. Many different types of pliers exist, but the truth is that, without pliers, nothing can be achieved. Pliers for jewelry making are not like normal pliers for using around the home for repairs. They are much smaller and have smoother work surfaces instead of teeth to grip. This is because working with soft and delicate wires requires careful handling.

Flat nose pliers are the most fundamental of all pliers. They are also called chain nose pliers. They are used for a variety of techniques and applications when making pieces that use beads and wire. The jaws of these pliers are shaped like a beak, which is able to bend and straighten wire, close jump rings, or simply keep things steady as you work.

Round nose pliers have jaws with a conical shape. The jaws get narrower closer to the tip. There are no grooves in this type of pliers, in order to not scratch or nick any metal or wire whilst working. Round nose pliers are used to create different sizes of loops. They can close and open jump rings and produce consistently smooth lengths of looped wire.

Other pliers available to you, but not as vital as those already mentioned, are the crimping pliers, the wire looping pliers and the nylon tipped pliers. The first of these three works for crimp beads, by flattening them smoothly without damaging the attached loop. The second set is great for quick and easy loop work with wire. The third set of pliers has a special soft tip that can be replaced, which is good for handling particularly delicate materials.

If you are going to work with wire then you are going to definitely need to get a pair of cutters. You can choose between flush cutters or bevel cutters. Bevel cutters are less expensive, probably because it requires more work to finish the project after cutting wire at an angle. This leaves a wire tip that often requires you to file it down to finish. The other kind, however, cut to provide a flat finish to the wire tip.

Any rough tips or edges left by a pair of cutters will need filing, so a file is also a necessary item. Files can be used on beads as well as on wire. They come in sets with a variety of sizes so that the right size can be used for the right project.

Finally in the list of necessary jewelry making tools are a pair of tweezers, needles and thread. Tweezers will help with precision work. Needles and thread will be necessary for beading, although thin wire can also be used instead of thread. It is advisable to get a range of sizes of needle. Glue should also be purchased for a tool kit, as it is an indispensable tool to have for all sorts of work.




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