Wirework Tools

I thought it might be useful to show you some of the tools I use for making jewellery with wire. There are a variety of tools available, each designed specifically for particular types of work.

I use a set of pliers and wire cutters, which I bought from Beads Direct: http://www.beadsdirect.co.uk/tools/jewellery-pliers/. I was attracted to the purple sparkly ones, but they also do a limited edition set in pink sparkle. London Jewellery School have recently started selling a pink set too, which looks to be good value for money, although it does contain slightly fewer tools: http://blog.londonjewelleryschool.co.uk/2012/12/14/ljs-pliers-kit-and-other-gift-ideas/
If you do a search online I'm sure there will be many other places you can buy the tools from.

Here's some information about each of the different tools I use. There are others you can get but these are some of the main ones:

Wire Cutters

This is a pair of side cutters, used to cut soft wires and threads. They tend to provide a neat and smooth edge.

End cutters are another type of wire cutter you can use, although not as common as side cutters and I don't own any of these. They can be used for work with thicker wire and metal.

Chain-Nose Pliers

Chain-nose pliers are essential for jewellery making and are used for bending wire and opening and closing jump rings. They have small flat ends.

Flat-Nose Pliers

Flat-nose pliers have a flat surface like chain-nose pliers but are wider. They are good for holding and bending wire and for straightening any kinks in the wire.

Round-Nose Pliers

Round nose pliers are really useful for creating loops and bends with wire. You can use them to create coils and they are perfect for adding charms to jewellery. You can buy different sized round nose pliers to make various loop sizes.

Bent-Nose Pliers

I tend not to use the bent-nose pliers so much but they can be useful for getting into hard to reach places to hold wire in place.