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Tools glossary
Needles, cutters, pliers, hammers, and more are defined
Published: Friday, April 24, 2009
Beading needles
Beading needles are used for off-loom stitches and loomwork. Unlike sewing needles, the eye of a beading needle is almost as narrow as the shaft. Both
Japanese and English beading needles are available, with the English needles being more flexible than the Japanese. The needles are numbered, and most
frequently found in sizes #10 - #16. The thinner the needle, the higher the needle number. To choose a needle, consider your bead and thread sizes, the
number of passes you'll make through the beads, and the beading technique. #10 needles are usually used with size 6/0 to 11/0 seed beads, #12s with 8/0 to
13/0 seed beads, #13s with 11/0 to 15/0 seed beads, #15s with 15/0 Charlottes, and #16s with 16/0 to 24/0 seed beads. Several hybrid beading needles, such
as #12 longs (often used for loomwork) and #12 sharps or betweens (usually used for bead embroidery) are also available.
Big Eye needles and Small Big Eye needles have a large hole in the center of a flexible shaft. Use them for loomwork, macram, crochet, and transferring
beads, or for tight spots in off-loom bead stitching.
Twisted-wire needles have a large collapsible eye at one end, and are thin and very bendable. Use them for stringing and transferring beads.
Cutters
Bevel cutters are economical cutters that can cut through both thin and thick gauges of wire. As the name implies, they leave both ends of the wire pinched at
a slant.
A craft knife or utility knife has a small, pointed, very sharp blade. Use it to make small, accurate cuts in paper, polymer clay, or metal clay.
Diagonal wire cutters are the most widely available type of wire cutter, and
are used to trim flexible beading wire and narrow gauges of wire to the
desired length. These cutters trim the wire at an angle, leaving a point at the
tip of the wire.
flush cutters
Scissors and thread snips are used to cut thread and cord. The best scissors
or snips have sharp blades and small pointed tips that can reach into tiny
spaces.
Tissue blades are long flexible sharp blades, somewhat similar to a razor
blade. They are popular with metal clay and polymer clay artists for cutting
clay.
jeweler's saw
Pliers
Pliers are used for holding, bending, and shaping wire and for opening and closing loops and jump rings. Keep in mind that there is a difference between the
rough, grooved pliers you'd pull out of your toolbox and jewelry-grade pliers, which won't mar your work when used properly.
Chainnose pliers have flat jaws used to bend and shape wire and open and close jump rings. Flatnose and bentnose pliers are close relatives of chainnose
pliers, featuring the same smooth inner jaws to help grasp wire or components without leaving marks. The specialized shapes allow a comfortable grip in narrow
or awkward spaces.
chainnose pliers
bentnose pliers
Crimping pliers are used with crimp beads and flexible beading wire. They
compress tube crimps into narrow cylinders that hold strung projects in place.
There are several different types of crimping pliers available. Micro crimping
pliers are used with micro crimps and the thinnest beading wire, often for
making illusion necklaces; standard crimping pliers are used with standard
tube crimps; mighty crimping pliers are used with large crimp tubes to hold
multiple strands; and Magic crimp-forming tools are used with a standard
tube crimp and create a decorative round instead of a compressed cylinder.
Nylon-jaw pliers have a protective layer on the jaws, which keeps them from
marking soft metal or wire. They can be used to hold pieces while you work
with other pliers or for straightening wire.
nylon-jaw pliers
Roundnose pliers have round jaws that taper to a point. They are used to
shape wire and form loops.
roundnose pliers
Split-ring pliers make it easier to open split rings without damaging your
fingernails. The bent tip slides between the layers of the ring, holding them
apart as you add components.
split-ring pliers
Hammers
Ball-peen and cross-peen hammers are the most common jewelry-making
hammers and feature a flat head on one end and a domed head on the other.
They are used for shaping and texturing metal and wire. Chasing hammers
are close relatives of the ball-peen hammer, but they are more commonly
used to strike stamps or punches to mark metal.
ball-peen hammer
Mallets are hammer-shaped tools made of a material that will not seriously mar metal, such as rubber, nylon, rawhide, or wood.
mallet
Planishing hammers have two flat, round, smooth heads, and are used for
flattening and smoothing metal.
planishing hammer
Riveting hammers have angled heads and are designed to hammer the
rivets used in cold connections. They can also be used to add texture to metal
or with tools like punches.
riveting hammer
Additional tools
Alligator clips are hinged clips with serrated edges, often used to clamp wires during electrical work. In beading, they are used to clamp the end of a strand of
flexible beading wire, to keep the beads from sliding off. Because of their serrated edges they can damage threads. See also Bead Stoppers and hemostats.
Anvils are steel or iron work surfaces used by metal workers such as jewelers or blacksmiths. A traditional anvil has a flat surface on top and a round or curved
horn on the front. You can use an anvil for hammering and shaping metal and wire. See also bench block.
Awls are pointed tools used to pierce solid materials (such as leather), to mark or score softer materials (such as metal clay), and to place or pick apart knots.
Pins can often be used as awls.
Bead mats are usually made of a soft or nubbed fabric, such as Vellux, and are used as a work surface for beading because their surface texture stops the
beads from rolling away.
Bead Stoppers are metal springs that clamp over the ends of beading wire, cords, and threads to keep strung beads from sliding off. See also alligator clips
and hemostats.
Bench blocks are solid, smooth work surfaces, usually made of steel, that can be used for hammering and shaping metal and wire. See also anvil.
A blender is a flexible, tapered tool used to smear and blend seams when working with metal clay.
A bone folder is a smooth, polished, blade-shaped piece of animal bone or horn, traditionally used in papercrafts.
A brass brush is a small scrub brush with short, tough bristles made of brass wires. It is used with soap and water in the first steps of polishing metal and metal
clay pieces.
A jewelry buffer polishes metal projects to a shine. Usually a soft cloth, like muslin or flannel, is attached to a motorized wheel.
A burnisher is a polished metal or stone tool used to polish (burnish) metal, including fired metal clay, to a high shine.
Calipers are used to measure sizes and distances. Bead calipers measure the outside diameters of beads and jump rings.
A design board has grooves and rulers to help you lay out and plan your
jewelry designs.
A dowel is a firm rod or tube, used as a core. Dowels are used to help tubular
beadwork hold its shape and as the core for making coils.
Emery boards have a rough, gritted surface over a cardboard core and are
used for filing surfaces or edges smooth.
Files are made of a hard metal and have a rough, serrated, or textured
surface used to smooth or shape surfaces or edges. There are many types of
jewelry files available, including long and mini files and round, half-round,
triangular, oval, and flat shapes.
Finishing papers are much like sandpaper, but have a very fine grit. They
are used near the end of surface finishing and polishing to bring the surface to
a uniform smoothness. See also sandpaper.
A kiln is a furnace used for firing materials (such as glass, ceramics, or metal clay) at a high temperature. There are many different types of kilns on the
market.
A lathe is a tool that spins an object in place while a craftsperson applies various tools to the spinning object to alter its surface.
A beading loom is used to produce a woven fabric of beads. There are many types of looms available. To learn how to weave on a loom, visit our Online Basics,
or watch a video. To learn about the different types of looms available, read this Online extra from our February 2009 issue.
A mandrel is a tapered shaft around which metal is pressed or hammered to change its shape. There are specialized types of mandrels, such as ring mandrels
or stepped mandrels. Mandrels can also be used as dowels to hold materials in a round shape when beading or working with wire. See also dowel.
A measuring tape or tape measure is marked with distance increments, such as inches or centimeters, and is either collapsible or can be coiled. For beading,
flexible fabric or vinyl measuring tapes (which can be used to measure round shapes) are more useful than rigid metal hardware measuring tapes.
Molds made from wax, silicone, two-part compounds, and other materials are often used for jewelry making. They allow jewelry makers to control the shape
and texture of a piece and to make multiple identical pieces.
Nonstick work surfaces, like flexible Teflon or Silpat sheets, are used with
metal clay to keep the clay from sticking to the work surface.
A pasta machine can be used to condition, blend, and resize polymer clay.
Pasta machines used with clay should be dedicated to that use only. To learn
more about conditioning polymer clay, watch this video.
Playing cards are often used to roll out metal clay to a consistent thickness
by placing the ends of a roller on equal stacks of cards.
Plexiglass squares are used by polymer clay and metal clay artist to roll out
long coils of clay.
beading loom
Polishing cloths are used to shine up finished jewelry and remove tarnish or
oxidation.
Punches are hardened steel tools used to decorate, texture, or form metal.
Sandpaper is coated with a gritty surface and used to grind out surface
imperfections. Different types of sandpaper are used differently:
Jewelry-grade sandpaper is finer than regular sandpaper, and some types of
sandpaper are designed to be used wet. Sandpapers are usually numbered;
the higher the number, the finer the grit. When using sandpaper, always start
with the coarsest grit and work to the finest grit.
T-pins are sturdy sewing pins with a bar across the head, giving them the punch set
shape of the letter T. They're useful for pinning materials to a work surface.
Texture sheets have a molded or etched surface, which is used to shape the surface of metal or polymer clay.
Toaster ovens are used to harden or cure polymer clay. It is advisable to use a toaster oven dedicated to this use only.
A torch is an open-flame heat source that can produce temperatures higher than the melting point of the metal being used. Simple one-part torches use
compressed gas and atmospheric oxygen; more complex torches combine compressed gas and compressed oxygen to reach higher temperatures.
A tumble polisher uses shot and a burnishing compound to polish and harden metal jewelry. The canister rotates or tumbles on an axis or a set of bars,
constantly shifting the contents to achieve a uniform shine on the finished pieces.
Tweezers have two fine tips that come together to grasp or pull. They are great for reaching into small areas or grasping fine materials. There are many
different types of tweezers available: hinged or V-shaped, steel or copper, etc., so it is easy to find the specific tool needed for each task.
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