Jewellery Making For Beginners: Advanced Toolkit

The next stage is wire work, so fasten your seatbelts people!For this extra tools are required. Along with your basic pliers and wire cutters, a larger pair of wire cutters for memory wire are needed. Never cut memory wire with you flush wire cutters, it blunts the blades. A third pair of pliers called chain-nosed pliers are also recommended. These are similar to flat-nosed pliers but taper towards the end and have a rounded jaws. That gives you five tools in total.A chasing hammer (I used a one ounce jewellery hammer) and steel jewellers bench block to hammer on.If you choose to go into ring making then a ring mandrel with all the ring sizes on the side is required to shape the rings properly.Recommended but not essential: a hard-plastic mallet to work harden the wire. Jewellery 'needle' files to remove tool marks.Many other jewellery tools are available e.g. jewellery saw, extra long pliers, bent-nosed pliers. I recommend that you work out what projects you would like to do and then buy the tools you need. It is all too easy to buy things you think will be useful then never use them.Household items like a measuring tape, pillow for the bench block, polishing cloth and permanent marker pen will also be useful.This brings me on to wire. You can get this from most craft shops or online. It comes in different materials and thicknesses (referred to as the gauge). A good wire for jewellery is 20 gauge (0.8mm), as it is not too chunky but sturdy. Thinner wires: 24 gauge (0.6mm) and 28 gauge (0.4mm) are used as binding wires around the thicker wire. And thicker wire: 18 and 14 gauge (1mm and 1.5mm) are tougher to manipulate and may take practice but make chunky jewellery.Silver plated and gold plated, copper and brass wire is cheaper and easier to use. Sterling silver and precious gold can be bought and is sold in measured lengths, price dependant on the weight.When using the wire, the more you manipulate it the more toughened and brittle it becomes and it loses some flexibility. This is called work hardening. Some degree of work hardening is recommended as is makes the piece stronger but overdoing it will have the opposite effect of weakening it. With practice you will get a feel for the way wire changes.Then the fun begins...


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