How to Make Jewelry - Essential Tools Pt 2

Ok we're back with part two of the how to make jewelry essentials toolkit list. In the last post, the bulk of the tools were various specialty pliers that any self-respecting beader should have with them. Since the bulk of the beading tools were listed in the other post, today’s post will be a little light reading. Following is a list of the last few tools that one should have:

Flush cutter

Now you may be asking yourself what is a flush cutter and why would I ever need one because you already have 11 different types of pliers that you went out and bought from the last post. A "flush cut", as you may or may not be aware, is one where the wire, after cut, is not left burred.

You need a good flush cut for making proper jump rings, or for making any kind of chain from rings for your jewelry designs. The flush cutter is commonly V-shaped on one side and flat on one the other. Once again it all comes down to how professional you want the piece to be.

Wire cutter

While you may ultimately have specialty cutters for specific wiring types such as metal, it is never a bad idea to have some plain old wire cutters for your handmade jewellery projects. You can use them for the more pliable beading wire –basically none of the metal wiring.

Ultimate Craft Scissors

In the last post I mentioned how the chain nose pliers are the most versatile of pliers; well the next versatile tool in the bunch would be some sturdy utility scissors. These can be used for a myriad of tasks related to your beading projects. You can use the utility scissors for things like cutting plastic, elastic items or even beading thread.

Beading Needles

Beading needles may be pointed or ballpoint and straight or curved and are perfect for beaded jewelry designs. The size of the beads and the thread will help determine the needle size, which, as with tapestry needles, is lower when the needle is thicker and higher when it is thinner. They are longer than standard sewing needles, enabling you to string multiple seed beads and other beads.

Twisted wire needles come five to a packet. Beading needles are very thin, flexible needles most often used for seed bead work. The advantage to using this type (rather than regular sewing needles) is that their eyes are the same width as the rest of the needle, so there's no added metal width to get in the way as you pass through seed and other small-holed beads. Beading needles are long, thin and flexible.

Now to find a tool box for your beading tools!! At this point, you have setup your room to be organized with all of your beading materials and you have now added to the storage an effective arsenal of beading tools with which to create beautifully designed jewellery for yourself to enjoy or sell making the learning process on how to make jewelry fun.

Starting a new hobby can be intimidating so if you're still not ready to start, you can still save money with your jewelry purchases.

How to Make Jewelry - Essential Tools Pt 1.

Jewelry Making Must Have Tools

In the last post you found out got tips for best managing your setting up your storage space for your jewelry making hobby; next of course is a list of the important tools of the trade that you must have as you discover how to make jewelry. As with your storage considerations, there must be some time put into what kinds of tools you should get.

 This is most important when you are first starting to learn how to make jewelry. The following is a list of what I think to be the most important tools to start your collection with and as time goes on you can add more specialized pieces to your toolkit:

Bent chain nose plier

Bent chain nose pliers are extremely useful for opening and closing jump rings, positioning and working in small areas difficult to reach with straight chain nose pliers, and tucking in small sharp wire tips in your wire work. Bent Closing pliers serve the same purpose but have angled jaws for easy leverage to work with smaller loops and jump rings.

Bent chain nose pliers have a 45 degree bend for getting into tight places. They are typically used to create angled bends in wire, close bead tips, open and close jump rings, and form loops, for picking up small parts, and opening and closing jump rings.

Chain nose plier

I have listed the chain nose pliers because I have found them to be the most versatile and effective of all my pliers for jewellery making. The reason for this is because you can open loops that have been closed, things getting stuck together that your fingers cannot pull out, bending wire and many other useful functions. Chain-nose pliers have smooth flat jaws that taper to a point. Unless I’m completely off base you will be using these pliers all the time!

Chain nose pliers are great for closing bead tips and crimping in tight places. They are a good tool for wire wrapping; chain nose pliers are quite similar needle nose pliers without the grooves on the inside of the jaws. What this does is allow you to manipulate the wire with out fraying or in any serious way, damaging the wire.

Crimping pliers

Some novices to beading may mistakenly think that stringing beads on wire and then simply squeezing the crimp tubes closed is the correct method. This is not correct as you can sometimes find that the crimp tube is not sufficiently closed off. This is where crimping pliers come in handy.

They have two oval holes in the nose. The oval closest to the handle also has a depression in it, for keeping the wire round. Crimping pliers of this type, i.e. Such a gauge, which is usually provided in the form of an adjusting mandrel, has to be made available in this connection for all adjustment measurements of the crimping mandrels.

Round nose pliers

While you could probably use the chain nose pliers in place of the round nose pliers, their primary purpose in the jewellery making world is to give your pieces that professional look and feel about them. I challenge you to bend loops with the chain nose and then to do the same with the round-nose and you will see that the finished products will be a cleaner looking piece of jewelry. Round-nose pliers have smooth cylindrical jaws that taper to a point. Quick tip: Since these pliers have a tapered design you can make loops of many varying sizes based on where you place the wire on the pliers.

As I mentioned the round nose pliers look similar to the Chain Nose pliers are but are used to give a professional finish to the handcrafted jewelry. You may have to go to a specialty store since these may not be readily available at the local hardware store since these are specialty pliers created for the handmade jewelry making industry.

One particular brand, Beadstrom Round Nose Pliers, have ergonomic handles and precision tips, Double leaf spring action creates less stress on hands and provides and always open pliers. Beads of choice are glass beads, semi-precious with large holes, and lamp work beads.

I think that will about do it for this first post on the essential beading tools that any true beaded jewelry enthusiast should own as they are learning how to make jewelry. By now you’re probably sick of talk about pliers anyway, but they are a versatile tool that can be used for all types of jewelry projects including making your own earrings. Until next post…

If you aren't quite ready to jump into making your own jewelry you still don't have to miss out on fun projects. Other fun DIY projects could be learning how to make your own homemade candles.