Vaseline Beads and Cornerless Cubes from the BeadChest. I won a voucher to be used in their shop over at Claire Maunsell's blog some months ago. (The Next Bend/StillPointWorks). I have not been able to choose which beads in their shop to go for until now. There are a lot of lovelies there I tell you. I am happy with my pick.
A pair of Tronex Round nose pliers. I am planning to update my tools gradually over the coming period. One new tool a month is my idea. I am not good at all with good quality tools. So far that is. It is gonna be a big change there I tell you. I need the good stuff. I wonder if it is gonna do anything to how my jewelry making evolves from now on?
You saw Rebecca Anderson's, SongBead, all lovely tools just casually thrown in her bag? If not you have to go and check out her wonderful vlog immediately. Well worth seeing for a lot of reasons.
What more? Grey Griffon Silk of a thicker kind, hopefully perfect for a project which been waiting in a muffin form for a while now, waiting for the right silk. Some cute green czech glass flowers. Oh how I love those.
From Barbara Bechtel, Floridity, a good bunch of goodies. She's gone wild lately with all her new awesome designs that I can't resist. I can hardly go visit her shop anymore. The Erudite line and lots of other stuff too. I could get everything from her shop really. Pretty pretty pretty!
Now:
A question to all you beaders out there. On your round nose pliers, do the jaws come together completely when they are closed, or is there a little gap/space there. If so, is it even all the way or is it growing gradually towards the back of the jaws? Hope you understand what I mean! If you have experience of using differently designed pliers in that aspect, what kind do you prefer, and why? Please feel free to also leave any thoughts on the subject of round nose pliers.
Thank you very much!
8 comments:
Lots of pretty stuff there. I love the Vaseline beads.
I had to run and check my round nose pliers to answer your question. I have a cheap pair for making jewelry but it really does the job. It closes completely just at the tip, and then there's a gap which increases towards the handle end. Hope that helps
Happy Beading!
If there is no metal wire being looped, my round nose pliers closes at the tip. But there is a tiny, growing gap towards the handle end.
I use Lindstrom pliers for the most common work. I invested in a set of them some years ago as I have Chronic Pain Syndrome in my arms and hands. With the cheap pliers my hands start hurting. With these, never.
For heavy duty metal work, I use some other pliers that I bought from Kim St. Jean. And then I have some heavy duty metal cutters and hole punch pliers etc.
I have an extra flat nose plier by Lindstrom that I am willing to sell if you are interested.
Good topic for a post: tools...
Thank you! Seems like they are like that generally. No matter which brand or price range. However, I borrowed one from a friend some time ago and that one came together all the way. I liked it coz it grabbed the wire good. I haven't tried out the Tronex ones yet ...
Yeah probably a good idea to get some tools from the hardware store too, for the heavier gauges. I have thouht about it for the cutters, but actually not yet for the round nose pliers. Thanks for that tip.
I agree about that it is a good topic for a post. Could you? You seem to be a scientificly approached lady.
And thank you so much for the offer about the Lindstrom Plier. I will pass though. My flat nose pliers are the ones which are in least need of updating.
All my best,
Malin
Malin,
All the new items are just lovely.
I need to invest in some good tools too. All of mine are just cheap, cheap, cheap.
I have 3 pairs of round nose pliers and two of them have that same gap toward the larger part of the round. However, my newest ones (and my favorite ones) do not have the gap...and that's exactly why I bought them. Of course, they're still just cheap pliers.
Hi Malin,
I have those Tronex pliers and when they are laying on the table they are about 7mm apart ( the tips).
They don't work well after a while.
They don't hold the wire well the tips kind of slip past each other. I don't know if they have a warranty but you'll see. On a positive note they do have a nice grip and easy hand fatigue when you are wrapping a lot of wire.
Hope this helps,
Cilla
Hi Cilla, Thank you very much for your comment. Well, that is very interesting to hear. You see, I thought it was a sign of cheap crappy tools that made just that effect. But appearently not. What do you know. I did get a bit dissapointed when I open these ones I have to admit. I think I will make a call-out for people's experience with their round nose pliers, and which brands they have. I really don't like the slip-by-phenomena.
Well well. "The quest for the perfect pliers!"
Malin- round nose pliers should be thought of as "mandrels" because that is what they really are....things to wrap wire around. As such, it doesn't matter much if the tongs are close together or not. Rounds are used for shaping while chain nose should be used for grasping wire. What matters is 1) do they fit your hands? 2) are they perfectly round? and 3) can you actually grip wire at the tips for a tiny loop. I have seen people use awful pliers to do beautiful work, but in my opinion, good tools are always a joy and worth the effort to search out. Pliers work best and last longest when made of good steel, meaning, look for tools made in Europe, Japan, or USA. Some of the "third world" tools are improving as time goes by but the best are still made of the best steel. The Lindstrom and Tronex brands have been mentioned in previous posts. I own them both and they are nice tools but so much depends on the size of your hands. I find that the German blue handle rounds are the most comfortable for me because I have small hands(German red handle are slightly longer). I use those for general use but prefer the german red handle mini-rounds for earrings. (Allcraft, NYC has them). I use the mini-rounds or my Lindstrom for chain work. I have the long nose rounds for bigger work along with a bunch of other esoteric pliers that I couldn't resist. I have taught "wire" for many years and have found that people learn best with good tools.
This is one place where price is a very good indicator of quality. I do not like the ergo Lindstrom pliers as they restrict smooth motion. comfortable in the chain nose but not so useful for rounds where you need a smooth repetitive motion. This may be too detailed but I couldn't resist. Hope some of this makes sense and helps.
Linda!
I looove your answer! Thank you so much! I hope you will get around to read this, I did try to reply directly to you but it didn't work. Anyway, very useful thoughts there. Hm, mandrel. Well yes, I guess that's what I've been doing so far. But I never thought of it that way. I think it will make a change for me just to change my outlook on what I am doing. The reason why I have this thinking about the jaws coming together is that when I do larger loops, which I most oftenly do, I want to be able to grip the wire at first anyway. I find this most important when I do wirewrapping of beads. Or loops on the "other side", if you know what I mean.
Also, I want to not waste material, so I want to start looping at the end of the wire.
All in all I realize I should take classes with you on wirewrapping. I am completely self-thaught in that area so far. But I have always known I should probably need some good teaching. Question has been, where to find it. I will check your site out, and see if you might offer online possibilities. Like a Skype class or something. That would be great!
See ya, and thanks again!
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