DIY jewelry making is a fun way to stay creative and design a beautiful piece of jewelry. As with other DIY activities, you’ll need certain tools to efficiently design these jewelry, as well as quality wholesale gemstone beads. The post highlights some of the best tools you’ll need in your jewelry kit.
Pliers
Yup, that’s right, you’ll be needing different types of pliers. Pliers are great tools for cutting wire and since you’ll be working with and manipulating wires, it’ll always come in handy. For easy cuts and wire manipulation, you’ll need to get different types of pliers.
To make clean wire cuts without rough edges, a chain nose plier should be in your arsenal. Flat nose pliers are used to hold tiny beads in place or manipulate them into an angle to allow for the passage of wire. When making or bending the jewelry pattern into a circular shape, round nose pliers are effective in bending wires. Lastly, bent nose pliers helps guide wires into bead holes.
Rulers
You’ll need to take measurements every once in a while. Rulers are still the best tools to give accurate measurements of lengths and diameter. A jewelry ruler is a special type of ruler designed to accurately measure these dimensions. If you’ll be working with a jewelry ruler, it’s best to settle for the transparent type. It allows for better visibility when taking measurements.
Crimp tool
This is where things get a bit technical. Since these jewelry wires are too tiny to effectively work with the fingers, you’ll need a tool to join wire pieces together. This is where a crimp tool comes in. The tool can also be used to shape the bead when there’s a need for it.
Wires
Jewelry beads are held together by strings of wires. There are different types of wires, and it’s advisable to have as many of them as you can. These wire types includes 24-gauge, 26-gauge, and 28-gauge wires. They have different uses and applications. You may also need to include some practice copper wire.
Needles
Beading needles are particularly useful when working with small beads. They work better than regular needles because of their design and function. They have relatively smaller needle eyes and are not as thick as regular needles. These beaded needles come in different shapes and sizes. Some of the popular beaded needles for jewelry include twisted, English, big eye, and Japanese beaded needles. They each have their unique features.
Soldering tools
At a point one would begin to thing these are tools for engineering projects. Since wires are a major tool for jewelry making, you should have soldering irons and torches in your kit. There may be times a crimp tool is not helpful since you need to join wires together cleanly. A solder iron or torch is the best way to permanently and neatly join wires together.
Conclusion
Above are some of the essential tools you need in your DIY jewelry making kit. These tools will make your work easier and more efficient. Of course, you can always improvise with other materials and objects, but these are must-haves for anyone serious about making their own jewelry.
