Beading Tools
Posted on Saturday, January 29th, 2011 at 11:25 am
Will I still get good results from cheap beading tools?
This is actually for my wife, but I’m helping her do research.
There seemsto be a wide variety of prices for the basic beading hand tools. I can’t see them in person since we are going to mail-order, but I want to know if the cheap sets will do the trick.
Any experiences or recommendations are welcome.
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I have been a jewelry designer for over ten years and believe or not I still use my first set of pliers although I do own 6 or more different sets (I had a bead store and of course kept different sets for myself to test out).
When selecting her pliers you need to consider the size of her hands. If she has large hands then a set of small pliers may be cumbersome and may tire out her hands faster. The same goes if she has tiny hands and tries to use a large set.
The choice in selecting pliers is dependent on the amount of time she spends on making jewelry. That is where the comfort of holding and using these hand tools will make a big difference not necessarily in the quality of her work but in the comfort of holding and working with them for any length of time.
If she is doing mostly stringing and uses her pliers for cutting flexible beading wire, flattening crimps, or making the odd wrapped loop for earrings or dangles then a cheaper set will be all she needs.
The quality of your round nose and needle nose (also called chain nose) will not make a difference in the quality of her work. Quality in her work comes in knowing how to use her tools properly.
The only pliers I have HAD to replace over the years are my cutters. Especially cheap ones, they dull fast and get nicks in the blades easily if I use any hard wire.
I now use two different cutters, one for cutting harder wire (28 gauge to 14 gauge) and one JUST for cutting flexible beading wire (also called tiger tail or beadalon). If she uses memory wire at all then either use memory wire cutters or an old pair of cutters from your tool box. Do not use jewelry pliers to cut memory wire or you will definitely ruin them.
A great site to check out for making, designing and selling jewelry is:
http://www.beading-design-jewelry.com
The whole site is a home based jewelry business and design guide with hundreds of ideas and tips to inspire you to design and create unique bead jewelry designs that will give you an edge in the market place. A great resource for inspiration and innovation in marketing and designing handmade bead jewelry.
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Tools & Supplies for Making Beaded Necklaces : Using Crimp Beads for Making Beaded Necklaces
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Beadalon Bead Crimp Tool, Mighty $10.50 Larger #3 and #4 crimp tubes can be securely closed with this specially sized crimper tool. The larger surface area provides a full crimp on bigger components without compromising the professional finished look of the closure. Measures 5 long. Comes a comfortable blue grip…. |
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Round Beading Tool Sharpener $54.00 Brass Block with 12 tempered steel points… |
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Silvertone Beadable Cheese Knife Set – Beading & Tools & Essentials Silvertone Beadable Cheese Knife Set. Twist off end add beads and reattach. Fits beads with 3mm holes and most large hole beads. Assorted. Metal. (4 pcs. per unit) 6 OTC… |
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SE 30 pc. Plastic Storage Container Set $7.28 Super handy organizer case for small parts, arts and craft supplies, beads jewelry findings. Great organizing tool for shop, home, school, and office; tough clear acrylic…. |
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SE Bead Crimping Plier – 5 $6.00 Bead Crimping Pliers are a new low cost hand tool for forming a smooth crimp. They eliminate the sharp-edged crimp formed by using conventional pliers. Works well with either round or tube crimps. This model has curved jaws…. |
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SE Table Magnifier Lamp – 5X – Fluorescent Light (Black) $13.50 This lamp is a terrific accessory for the craftsman, hobbyist, mechanic and jeweler. It puts shadow-free lighting around a 3½ in. diameter, 5 power lens to let you see small parts and fine details, and is excellent for precision work. With a compact base measuring only 7½ in. x 6 in., it takes up very little room on your workbench. The goose neck lets you put the light and the magnification wher… |
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Shany Cosmetics Feather Hair Extension Kit, 8 Ounce (100 Piece Feather Hair, Hook, Beads, Feather Grizzly Solid Mix All-In-One) $12.99 100 piece Shany feather hair extension. Shampoo it, iron it, and even cut it. Synthetic feather extension. Complete kit that brings you all you need to get the job done. The set comes with 10 grizzly strips at least 18 inches long and up, mixed colors feather extension, 5 medium size one of a kind rooster feather in assorted colors and styles, and 5 fashion animal print feather extension just like… |
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Donegan OptiVISOR The Donegan OptiVISOR is a hands-free, headband binocular magnifier that has optical glass lenses that are ground and polished into prismatic lenses for quality and clarity, and is available in multiple dioptric strengths (indicated by the number in the model) which provide specific magnification power (X) at specific focal lengths, or distance from object. This magnifier enhances the si… |
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Microring Links Bead Loader, Looper and Threader for Hair Extension and feather Installation tool $0.55 This tool is great for micro links and hair extension installation. You can also speed up your time when loading beads!… |
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5pcs VENUS Stainless Antistatic Antimagnetic Watch Jewelry Tweezers Repair Tool $29.99 - Set of 5pcs high quailty VENUS watch jewelry tweezeres assortment sizes. - All tweezers are antimagnatic antistatisc stainless steel. - Usage:are special for watch,jewelry,electronic,hobbies,beading,etc repair. - Quantity:set of 5pieces sizes:#2-SA/#3-SA/#4-SA/#AA-SA/#27-SA. - Dear customers,if you interested in only one model ,please contact me with which one you interested in and i will give y… |