Video:Tools for Jewelry Making

Transcript:Tools for Jewelry Making

Hi, I’m Tammy Powley for About.com Jewelry Making here to show you some basic hand tools used for making bead and wire jewelry.

Tools for Shaping and Cutting Wire

There are just about an infinite number of tools available for jewelry making.

Round-nosed pliers have a tapered, cone-shaped nose. They are used for shaping wire. The round nose is especially helpful for making wire curls and loops. Preferably you want a pair of flush cut wire cutters to help get a straight cut when you cut off a piece of wire. Do not use these for cutting memory wire, or you can damage the blade.

Memory wire shears are designed for cutting memory wire. Memory wire is made of steel, so that’s why you need some heavy duty cutters. Chain-nosed pliers are flat on the inside of the nose and rounded a little on the outside & are used mainly for bending wire. Bent nose pliers are very similar to chain-nose pliers as far as function, but the end of the nose is bent at an angle. I particularly like working with bent-nose pliers because they feel like an extension of my hand.

Nylon Nose pliers - The nose of these pliers is made from nylon and flat on the inside. (As you can see, I use these a lot!) The nylon keeps them from making marks on the wire. These are really useful for straightening wire or flatting small wire elements.

Specialty Jewelry Making Tools

Crimping pliers are a specialty tool used to secure crimp beads on the end of a jewelry piece like a necklace or bracelet. These have grooves on the inside used for curling and then flattening the crimp bead.

Needle files are small files made of steel and come in different shapes such as round, square, and flat. These are used for filing the ends of wire.

A rawhide hammer and anvil are useful when you are trying to flatten wire or work-harden it. A rawhide versus a metal hammer will not mark the wire. These are just some of the more common tools used for making bead and wire jewelry. Most range in price from 5 to 20 dollars. Of course, you don’t need all of these tools, but at a minimum you will need chain-nose pliers, wire cutters, round-nose pliers, and a needle file to start making bead and wire jewelry.

Thanks for watching. To learn more about jewelry making, visit me at About.com.