Have you decided to embark on a journey of jewellery design? If yes, you will need some travel companions: the essential jewellery making tools.

When you are just beginning, choosing the best set of tools for the jewellery making kit for beginners can be daunting. A wide range of tools is available in the market, most of which are for specific purposes depending on the type of jewellery you wish to make. However, there are some basic tools for jewellery making that every aspiring jewellery designer should own.

In this blog, we will cover everything about the essentials of a beginner’s jewellery-making kit, the purpose of each tool, tips on choosing the perfect tools, and more. And if you’re interested, we’ll look at some of the best academic courses in jewellery design for you to get started. Let’s begin!

Why Do You Need Specific Tools for Making Jewellery?

While you might have earlier used tools like pliers, cutters, saws, etc., as these are tools found in most people’s toolkits, the tools needed to make jewellery are a bit different from the regular ones.

The standard pliers and cutters are supersized versions of what you need in your jewellery making workshop. For instance, a normal wire cutter might cut the jewellery wire, but the precision and sharpness of the jewellery wire cutter will be missing. Similarly, regular flat-nose pliers have teeth in the jaws, which can put scratches on the jewellery making raw materials like gold or silver.

Just these common tools are not enough to serve the purpose of detailing and finishing needed in exquisite jewellery pieces. Hence, investing in a good jewellery making tool kit is necessary to bring your designs to life with precision.

Basic Jewellery Making Tools for Beginners

You can purchase the tools required for jewellery making quickly from any crafts store, even hardware stores or online retailers of jewellery making supplies. However, let us first understand the usage and necessity of some basic jewellery making tools for beginners.

A comprehensive course in jewellery design, such as the  1-year Diploma program in Fine Jewellery Design offered at the JD Institute of Fashion Technology, can help you gain expertise in operating these tools and using them to manifest your jewellery designs. Read this blog to learn more about a professional course in fine jewellery design and the career opportunities post-completion.

Wire Cutters

Wire cutters are one of the most important tools in a jewellery making kit for beginners, used for cutting head pins, stringing wires used to attach charms for jewellery making, and more. These wire cutters are specifically used for jewellery-making purposes to avoid dents and scratches caused by using regular wire cutters.

Bead stopper

While stringing beads for jewellery making, you will need bead-stoppers in your kit to hold the beads in place. They prevent the beads from sliding here and there on the wire while you are working on the design.

Flush Cutters

Flush cutters are somewhat similar to wire cutters but have a thinner appearance and provide more precision while cutting. They are especially effective when your jewellery making design ideas include finer and more delicate detailing, as they cut thinner components more accurately.

Round Nose Pliers

You will need this tool to create loops and other rounded elements. The round tip of these pliers is perfect for positioning the wires to achieve the required loop size with precision. Here’s a pro-tip: mark the plier jaws with a marker to get similar-sized loops if there are multiple in the designs.

Flat Nose Pliers

The non-tapered and flat tip of flat nosed pliers helps you grip the jewellery wire with much ease. You can use this along with a chain nose plier to hold the wire while you shape the wire with the latter one.

Chain Nose Pliers

Also known as snipe nose pliers, these are of medium length and have flat jaws. Moreover, there are no serrated edges, which helps you manipulate the jewellery without putting any ridge-like impressions and scratches. They are equipped to handle small jewellery components and can easily access smaller spaces to add perfection.

Nylon-Tipped Pliers

When you are a beginner, this is your go-to tool. The nylon covering on the jaws helps reduce the damage to wires, metals and other jewellery making raw materials, which are inevitable when you are starting. These gentle pliers are especially useful for bending or straightening delicate pieces without leaving any marks.

Jewellery Wire

You will require a wide range of jewellery wires in your kit to work with, such as sterling silver, gold, copper rose gold and more. They come in different gauges- 24-gauge wire is used where you need extra strength. 26-gauge wires are thin enough to ease wire wrapping and strong enough to securely hold jewellery elements. You will need 28-30 gauge wires while working with tiny precious beads and stones, which have minute holes.

Brass Hammer

This tool comes in handy when you want to shape metal discs. Brass hammers are suitable for this purpose because they are strong enough to work on soft jewellery making raw materials without damaging them with the after-effects of normal hammers.

Jeweller’s Saw

When you need to make intricate cuts on your delicate jewellery designs, a jeweller’s saw can help. You can use blades of different size ranges to make cut-like impressions or completely part the metal.

Ruler for Measuring

There is no need to mention this, however. You absolutely need a ruler in your kit to operate the other tools with more precision. It’s even better if the ruler is transparent with good graphing.

What to look for while purchasing jewellery-making tools?

There are some features you should keep in mind while selecting tools for your jewellery making kit for beginners.

Firstly the tools should have foam or rubber cushions on the handles. Cushioning provides more flexibility and comfort while working with the tools. Next, you should look for a spring mechanism between the tool handles as they help the handles spring back in position without having to do it manually.

Finally and most importantly, make sure there are no teeth on the plier jaws. Smooth jaws help avoid scratches and other damage while working on delicate jewellery designs.

Wrapping Up

These are some essential jewellery making tools you need in your beginner’s workshop. From wire cutters to pliers and hammers, there are so many tools required for jewellery making. But do not get overwhelmed by the numbers. You can learn how to operate these tools and use them to create finished fine jewellery designs and the other nuances of jewellery making with a professional jewellery design course.

So why wait? If jewellery making has your heart, enrol in the  1-year Diploma program in Fine Jewellery Design offered at the JD Institute of Fashion Technology, one of the best design schools in Bangalore. Visit the website today!