Jewelry making can be a lot of fun! In this jewelry making guide you’ll learn what jewelry making tools you need to get started and I will provide you with basic jewelry making instructions on the use of these tools.
- Bead(ing) Board
- Round Nose Pliers
- Chain (or Flat) Nose Pliers
- Bent Nose Pliers
- Chain and/or Wire
- Jewelry Findings
- Beads, Charms, and Pendants
- Bead(ing) Board – This basically gives you a guide for measuring and keeping beads in place while designing your jewelry.
- Round Nose Pliers – Pliers with rounded tips to shape wire into curles and loops (example of use in scrapbooking)
- Chain Nose (or Flat) Pliers – Pliers that are rounded on the outside and flat on the inside to bend and hold wire and small pieces while working on them.
- Bent Nose Pliers – Pliers that are similar to chain nose pliers, with the tip being bent for use when the chain nose pliers aren’t as comfortable.
- Cutters – Used to cut wire easily. Many types are available, but the standard side cutters will work when starting off.
- Crimper – Crimps special “crimp beads” for closing off the end of necklaces and bracelets that have been beaded and to also make a loop for a clasp to go through.
- Chain and/or Wire – There are so many different thicknesses, finishes, styles, and types of chains and wire. When it comes to wire, if you want to make a decorative piece/charm, you need something thicker, and if you need to make a draping necklace, you need something much thinner and that hangs more than it bends. You can pretty much get the idea based on what you’re making.
- Jewelry Findings – There are a lot of subcategories here depending on what you aren to make. For example, when you’re making earrings, you’ll need earring backings. These kind of necessary finishing touches are known as jewelry findings.
- Beads, Charms, & Pendants – These come in any color, size, and style you want, the variety is virtually endless. The possibilities are really only limited to your imagination. Look around the web (and Etsy) for inspiration and ideas.
Other Useful Jewelry Making Tools:
These are other jewelry making tools that are very useful, but are not essential to jewelry making for beginners.
- Memory Wire Shears – Used to cut memory wire because using regular cutters on memory wire will damage the cutters and won’t cut properly
- Wire Pin Vise – Thi is used to assist in curling wire smoothly and more precisely than just round nose pliers.
- Metal Hole Punch – Used to punch varying sizes of holes into metal. This is helpful for decoration, stringing a chain/wire through, etc.
- Glue Gun – Not always needed for jewelry making, but comes in handy when getting more advanced. This is also very useful for many other kinds of crafts so it’s a good thing to have with your jewelry making tools.
So there’s my basic jewelry making guide to jewelry making tools. This tutorial was mainly geared toward jewelry making for beginners, however, I will be posting more advanced jewelry making techniques in the future!