Page 25      Jewelry Making with Beads and Wire -- What a Beginner Needs to Know

1.  Learn to grip the wire firmly and tightly so that it will not slip, but not too tight.  The proper gripping pressure is a skill that needs to be learned and will minimize marks on your wire.

2.  Minimize use of your round nose pliers to those applications where they are absolutely required like making loops for bead dangles and for wrapped bead links.  Use Chain Nose or Bent Chain Nose Pliers for gripping wire and holding wire. 

3.  Use the right tool.  Consider purchase and use of the following tools:

• Fine Step Jaw Pliers or Round/Flat Pliers for making the initial loop in a wire component.  (Fine Step Jaw Pliers are preferred when you have them.)  The round jaw of these pliers will leave a mark, but this mark is  on the inside of the loop where it can not be seen.  The flat jaw spreads the force of gripping so that they do not mark the wire.
• Nylon Jaw Pliers for gripping, compressing and hardening wire components.  The nylon is softer than the metal in the wire and will not mark the wire. 
• Bent Closing Pliers for closing the small gap in loops.  The grooves in these pliers help to hold the wire without letting it slip.

4.  Use your tools properly.  On the following web page we will show how to use your Fine Step Jaw Pliers or Round-Flat Pliers to make initial loops. 

5.  Consider filing the edges of your chain nose or bent chain nose pliers.  With inexpensive pliers you may have some minor imperfections in these edges that can cause marks in your wire.  Any file with a fine surface like our Needle Files - Economy will do.