It sounds so obvious… But this week, I realised the importance of having the right tools. I have been making jump rings for my necklace, by hand, out of silver wire. And not doing too badly I might add, but terribly slow!
Now my hands are raw and painful from making 120 of these little rings! I realised now, more than ever, what a good pair of pliers would mean. A softer handle, better fitting in my hand would probably mean I could hold them for longer without my hand going red. And a less stiff spring or any kind of spring probably means I don’t have to hold the pliers quite so tight.
Well at least I worked it out after 100 or so jump rings. I think it might be time to shop for some new pliers… Off to the shops with me!
Reblogged this on Mark Bowden's Jewellery & Silversmithing Classes and commented:
What I do is, wrap the wire that is to be the jump rings, round a piece of dowling, the both of them have been held firm in a vice. Dowling & wire are (when setting up) parralel to each other, then pull the wire to a right angle & wrap it round tightly, forming a spring. Then I have pierced them on the dowling so that they dont fall everywhere.