Jump Ring Jewels Lesson #1

The #1 recommended jewelry making tool

The key to making jewelry is having the right tools.

When I first started making jump ring jewelry, I bought a random set of pliers at a jewelry making store.

While they got the job done, I discovered that they scratched and nicked the jump rings and hurt my hands and wrists. Ouch!

After I discovered an amazing shop on Etsy that sold supplies, I realized I was using the wrong pliers. Once I bought the correct tool I saw a huge difference. My jump rings were still smooth as glass and my hands no longer cramped up.

I’m going to let you in on what pliers you should get in the video below. This is one of the top five tools I recommend every beginner jewelry maker have. 

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Video transcription: These are flat nose pliers. They are my favorite jewelry-making plier and my #1 recommended tool. They are used for almost every tutorial I share on the Linkouture blog.

Because of that, I think it’s important to get high-quality ones, especially if you intend to do any type of jewelry that involves opening and closing a lot of jump rings, such as chainmaille jewelry. You want ones that feel good in your hands and that won’t knick or scratch the rings.

Flat nose pliers, as the name suggests, are pliers that are flat on the end. They come in different shapes and sizes.

You can see that these ones [the blue ones] are a little smaller and the head is a little narrower, and in this pair [the small purple pair] the handles are smaller and the grip is different. As you can see, there’s a variety of flat-nose pliers.

I really like these [the big purple ones ] because they feel good in my hands. They are a little pricier, but for me, it was worth the investment. It really depends on what kind of jewelry-making you’ll be doing and how much of it. If you’re just starting out and you’re not sure, I would recommend starting with something smaller and less expensive. For me it was worth buying the mor
e expensive pair because I like how they feel in my hands.

The other thing to note with flat-nose pliers is you will need two pairs of flat-nose pliers to help you in opening and closing jump rings.

Purchase these jewelry-making pliers through this amazing Etsy shop (note: you’ll need to purchase two pairs).

In the next lesson, you’ll learn how to open and close jump rings the right way.