Basic jewelry tools

To create the jewelry in the above posts does not take a lot of tools. You may already have them. Just make sure you use quality tools. You can skimp on some things, but tools should not be one of them. Also, do not buy the mini versions. They do not work most of the time for the stuff you want to do. Some places on eBay will sell you an entire pliers kits. If you do get one of those, make sure you get a pair of chain nosed pliers without serrated jaws. Some pliers have serrations (ridges) on the inside of where you clamp. It is to give you a better grip. Most of the time, you do not want to use them on jewelry since it will scratch and dent it.

If you have a coupon, The Blue Moon round nosed and chain nosed pliers are pretty good. I like the grip on them. The chain nosed pliers are little short for some applications. You can see my red gripped ones where the jaws (or whatever you call them) are longer. The cutting pliers do not really matter. Just get a good pair from the hardware store.

The second picture is of a bench block and hammer. I own several hammers. For hammering wire flat, you need a flat head hammer. Do not use rounded or rawhide. They will not work well for flattening. You will see nice little dents in the flattened wire - desired. I bought the bench block from Volcano Arts.

If you buy the bench block from there, then get the pounding mat at the same time. You will save yourself a lot of noise and vibration. I get a lot of stuff from here for working with metal. Take a look at site before buying just the bench block. You might want to go to eBay and price shop. Just pay attention to size. Do you want one that travels with you or a larger one that you keep at home. Also, some of them are not mounted well to the piece of wood. You do not want it to separate. I have had my bench block for years now and it still works great. I buy my mini screws and nuts from here. She also carries a great oxidizing solution that does not stink like liver of sulfur. It is also on this page. Sorry, got carried away.

Email me if you have any questions.