PLIERS FOR JEWELLERY WORK

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Jewellers pliers are supplied in a range of shapes, forms and sizes. They are often used to hold strips of thin sheet metal or round sections, when the material is being worked on. Some of the most common jewellers pliers are shown below. Pliers are versatile tools and important to engineers, jewellers, cabinet makers, sheet metalworkers and many more skilled people.

Important: The jaws / faces of pliers being used for jewellery work, should be polished (smooth). If they are not polished, any scratches will be transferred to the metal held between the jaws. Metal to be shaped and formed, should be annealed, so that it is soft and pliable.

STEPPED PLIERS

Stepped pliers are very useful when forming wire into rings or eyelets. The wire is first trapped between the round jaws and then twisted by hand, until a ‘circle’ is formed. This is repeated, depending on the number of rings required.

DIAGONAL CUTTING

Diagonal cutting pliers are used to ‘snip’ the wire, into separate rings / circles / eyelets, or to cut wire to accurate lengths.

FLAT NOSE

Flat nose pliers are ideal for folding / bending flat strips of soft metal. The metal strip is gripped between the jaws and the pliers are turned to form the required angle, in this case 90 degrees.

If two flat nose pliers are used to hold the ends of a flat strip, the strip can be formed into a twist. This is achieved by rotating the pliers in opposite directions.

SLIM NOSE and NEEDLE NOSE

Slim nose pliers are ideal for bending curves and detailed shapes into wire and metal strips.

BENT NOSE

Bent nose pliers are useful when picking up very small pieces.
They are essential when positioning wire in readiness for soldering.

WIRE CUTTING / TOP CUTTING

Wire cutting / top cutting pliers are ideal for cutting from above or when access to both ends of the wire is not possible.

They are also useful when cutting thin strips of sheet metal into smaller lengths.

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