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Beading Tool

Beading Tool Kit - Jewelry Making

Where to buy Jewellery Tools Online

    

           As with everything, the quality and durability of Jewellery Making Tools can vary greatly from place to place. This isn't really a problem if you are buying them over the counter and have the chance to inspect them first and ensure that they are going to meet your expectations. When buying tools for jewellery making, however, the vast majority of retailers are now based solely online and those that aren't are so thinly spread it is not really practical to shop around for the best deal. It is therefore important to find online jewellery tool retailers who are reputable and you can trust them to deliver the quality and value for money you are looking for - not to supply an over-priced low quality product and then become un-contactable.

After many years working in the jewellery industry I have heard dozens of horror stories about poor quality products, poor customer service, and large amounts of wasted money, mostly from people who have bought online from a company they have never heard of. In an attempt to help stop this happening I have put together a list of ten reputable online jewellery tools suppliers that I have used whilst working for Hanfords of London found to be reliable and can be trusted to deliver. A lot of them specialise in different areas of jewellery making so between them they can supply just about any jewellery making tool you could possibly require. 

1.       Gem Craft

A wide range of gemstones and jewellery making tools.

www.manchesterminerals.co.uk

 

2.       Suttons Tools

One of the best Jewellery tool retailers around.

www.suttontools.co.uk

 

3.       Proops Brothers

A very good supplier of Jewellery and other tools.

www.proopsbrothers.com

 

4.       The Crystal Phoenix

A wide range of beading materials and tools.

www.thecrystalphoenix.com

 

5.       HS Walsh

A huge selection of Jewellery making tools.

www.hswalsh.com

 

6.       Jewel Toolcraft

A large range of tools and materials for all aspects of jewellery making.

www.jewel-toolcraft.co.uk

 

7.       Jewels & Tools

All the materials and tools you will need for jewellery making.

www.jewelsandtools.co.uk

 

8.       Jewelry Supply

A US based supplier of jewellery materials, tools and packaging.

www.jewelrysupply.com

 

9.       Beadbiz

A beading specialist with a wide range of beads, especially pearls, and beading tools.

www.beadbiz.co.uk

 

10.   Spoilt Rotten Beads

Bead specialists who also have a range of beading tools.

www.spoiltrottenbeads.co.uk

 

I hope that you have found this list useful. For more information on jewellery making processes and techniques you can follow my Handmade Jewellery Blog.

About the Author

About the Author

 

 Michael Dennison is the Director of Jewellery Design for Hanfords of London. Since joining the company in early 2010 Michael has worked tirelessly in updating the Handmade Jewellery Collection, whilst bringing new ideas and techniques to the manufacturing process. He also writes Free Jewellery Tutorials for the Hanfords Online Jewellery School and is directly available to members to offer support and advice. Despite his busy schedule, Michael has kindly agreed to write a weekly jewellery blog about his work at Hanfords, including all aspects of the design process, the techniques that they use, news about new pieces and products, as well as all other aspects of the company. For more information about Michael and other members of the Hanfords team please visit their Handmade Jewellery Designers page.

Will I still get good results from cheap beading tools?

This is actually for my wife, but I'm helping her do research.

There seemsto be a wide variety of prices for the basic beading hand tools. I can't see them in person since we are going to mail-order, but I want to know if the cheap sets will do the trick.

Any experiences or recommendations are welcome.

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I have been a jewelry designer for over ten years and believe or not I still use my first set of pliers although I do own 6 or more different sets (I had a bead store and of course kept different sets for myself to test out).

When selecting her pliers you need to consider the size of her hands. If she has large hands then a set of small pliers may be cumbersome and may tire out her hands faster. The same goes if she has tiny hands and tries to use a large set.

The choice in selecting pliers is dependent on the amount of time she spends on making jewelry. That is where the comfort of holding and using these hand tools will make a big difference not necessarily in the quality of her work but in the comfort of holding and working with them for any length of time.

If she is doing mostly stringing and uses her pliers for cutting flexible beading wire, flattening crimps, or making the odd wrapped loop for earrings or dangles then a cheaper set will be all she needs.

The quality of your round nose and needle nose (also called chain nose) will not make a difference in the quality of her work. Quality in her work comes in knowing how to use her tools properly.

The only pliers I have HAD to replace over the years are my cutters. Especially cheap ones, they dull fast and get nicks in the blades easily if I use any hard wire.

I now use two different cutters, one for cutting harder wire (28 gauge to 14 gauge) and one JUST for cutting flexible beading wire (also called tiger tail or beadalon). If she uses memory wire at all then either use memory wire cutters or an old pair of cutters from your tool box. Do not use jewelry pliers to cut memory wire or you will definitely ruin them.

A great site to check out for making, designing and selling jewelry is:

http://www.beading-design-jewelry.com

The whole site is a home based jewelry business and design guide with hundreds of ideas and tips to inspire you to design and create unique bead jewelry designs that will give you an edge in the market place. A great resource for inspiration and innovation in marketing and designing handmade bead jewelry.

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