Types of jewellery pliers and their uses

Jewellery making is a meticulous craft that requires precision, patience, and the right set of tools. Among these tools, pliers are indispensable for manipulating wire, metal, and other materials. When I started my jewellery making journey in 2007-2008, I did not know what type of pliers are required, what their functions were and where to buy them. I collected them over  the course of several years, with both love and hesitation. Read how I bought my jewellery making tools in the begining in this old post. Understanding the different types of pliers and their specific uses can significantly enhance the quality and efficiency of your jewellery projects.

15 Types of Jewellery Pliers and their uses

Jewellery pliers are hand tools designed for tasks involved in creating, repairing, and manipulating jewellery. They come in various shapes and sizes, each tailored to specific functions. This includes bending wire, forming loops, cutting, and gripping small components. Here’s an overview of the different types of jewellery pliers and their key characteristics:

The absolute must haves

If you are just starting out with jewellery making these are the 3 types of pliers that you must buy

1. Chain Nose Pliers: These are multitasking pliers. They are characterized by long(ish), tapered jaws that come to a fine point. They are used for bending wire, opening and closing jump rings, and gripping small components.
2. Round Nose Pliers: These have conical jaws that taper to a point. They are perfect for forming loops and curves in wire, making eye pins, and creating loop in wire jewellery.
3. Flat Nose Pliers: Featuring broad, flat jaws, these pliers are used for holding and gripping components, flattening and straightening wire, and making sharp bends. The flat jaws can create sharp, precise bends in wire and strips of metal.

The quality risers

These improve the quality of work by increasing your efficiency. Buy them when your hobby turns into a business.

1. Looping Pliers/round stepped pliers: Also known as bail-making pliers, they have jaws with multiple round sections for creating uniform loops and bails in various sizes. By wrapping wire around the plier’s jaws, you can form uniform jump rings in various sizes. I recently found an Indian alternate to my much loved Eurotools step pliers.
2. Crimping Pliers: Designed for securing crimp beads and tubes, they have notches for crimping and rounding off the beads, commonly used in beading. The first notch crimps the bead or tube into a secure fold. The second notch rounds off the crimped bead, creating a smooth, finished look.
3. Nylon Jaw Pliers: Equipped with soft, replaceable nylon tips, these pliers protect delicate surfaces from scratches and are used for straightening wire and gently shaping metal. Use them with coated and annodised metal sheet and wire without the fear of scratching off the coating.
4. Nose pliers – They are similar to chain nose pliers but do not have a chain (spring) or tension tabs connecting the jaws. Unlike the smooth jaws of the chain nose pliers, regular nose pliers have “teeth” which can help you grip your components better.

Task based tools

These are tools that you can live without. However, they will be helpful in performing specific and specialised tasks.

1. Concave and Convex pliers – helps form metal into gentle curves. Various variations of this pliers are available in the market. They include concave with round taper, concave with stepped or concave with parallel forming.
2. Mandrel pliers – these pliers can have round (cylindrical), rectangular or triangular jaws for shaping wire and forming metal. Big round ones such as these are great for forming braceelts.
3. Synclastic and anticlastic pliers – for forming and curving metal and great for making rings, bangles and bracelets.
4. Bent Nose Pliers: With jaws that are angled near the tips, these pliers are ideal for accessing tight spaces and offering better visibility and control when positioning components.
5. Split Ring Pliers: Featuring a small tooth on one jaw and a corresponding groove on the other, these pliers are used to open split rings easily.
6.  Needle nose or long nose pliers – The fine tips provide excellent control during beadweaving and bead embroidery.
7. Combination pliers – these are combination of 2 types of pliers where one jaw is in one shape and the other is diiferent. Examples include flat and half round, convex parallel, nylon and round, stepped and flat and so on. A one step looper combines actions of looping and cutting.
8. Stone setting pliers – These flat parallel pliers help you set your gemstones in bezel cups settings with one squeeze of your hand.

Key Characteristics of Jewellery Pliers

You do not need expensive pliers to begin with. However, there are some attributes that you can keep in mind while buying tools that will last you for several years.

• Weight – It is important to buy light weight tools that can be held in your hand for a long duration. If your tools are heavy, you will develop repetitive strain injury. Indian tools are on the heavier side, so pick small sized tools.
• Smooth Surfaces – Choose pliers with smooth or polished surfaces to prevent marring or scratching delicate materials. However, do not use coated pliers with heat (during soldering or enamelling).
• Precision Tips – The tips of the pliers must close exactly without gaps.
• Ergonomic Design –If you can afford them, work for long hours with pliers or have issues in your hand, invest in ergonomic pliers. They are expensive as the yare unavailable in India and you have to import them. These pliers often have cushioned handles to provide comfort during prolonged use, reducing hand fatigue and improving control.

Each type of plier serves a specific purpose in jewellery making, contributing to the precision and quality of the final piece. By selecting the right pliers for each task, you can enhance craftsmanship and streamline your workflow.

Tell me about your favourite plier brands or frequently used pliers in the comments. Are there any more types of pliers that I could add to the list?

I hope you find it interesting

Cheers