Creating beautiful jewelry, especially friendship bracelets, is a rewarding craft that requires the right tools. If you’re using a kit like the Gionlion Clay Bead Bracelet Making Kit or another friendship bracelet making kit, understanding the purpose of each tool can enhance your crafting experience. Below is a list of essential beading tools and what they’re called, so you can get to know them better.
1. Jewelry Pliers
Jewelry pliers are versatile tools used for bending, shaping, and cutting wire. They come in various types, including chain nose, round nose, and flat nose pliers, each serving a specific function in jewelry making. These pliers are essential for working with jump rings, crimp beads, and other small components.
A bead board is a must-have for organizing your beads and planning your design before you start stringing. It features grooves and compartments to lay out beads and arrange patterns, helping you visualize the final product.
Jewelry cement is a strong adhesive used to secure knots and attach beads to your design. It’s particularly useful when working with elastic string, as it ensures that your knots won’t slip or come undone.
A beading needle is a thin, flexible needle designed to pass through small bead holes easily. It’s an essential tool for threading beads onto your string, especially when working with tiny seed beads or intricate patterns.
Crimp beads are small metal beads used to secure the ends of your stringing material. After threading your beads, you crimp these beads to hold everything in place, ensuring your design stays intact.
Crimp bead covers are small, rounded pieces of metal that snap over crimp beads, giving them a polished, finished look. They also help prevent the crimp bead from snagging on clothing or skin.
Lobster clasps are secure fasteners commonly used in bracelets and necklaces. They are easy to open and close, making them a popular choice for finishing jewelry pieces. When paired with a jump ring, they create a reliable closure for your bracelet or necklace.
Flat head pins are long, thin pieces of metal with a flat end, used for stringing beads to create dangles or drops. They are often used in earrings and pendants, where beads are added, and the pin is then bent into a loop to attach to other components.
Jump rings are small metal rings used to connect different components of a jewelry piece. They are essential for attaching charms, clasps, and other decorative elements to your bracelet or necklace.
A binder is used to secure the ends of your bracelet or necklace, providing a neat and professional finish. It’s especially useful in creating multi-strand designs where you want to keep all strands together.
Bead spinners are tools that make stringing small beads faster and easier. They work by spinning the beads, allowing the needle to catch them quickly, making it a time-saving tool for projects with numerous small beads.
Understanding the tools you use in jewelry making is crucial for creating professional-quality pieces. Whether you’re using the Gionlion Clay Bead Bracelet Making Kit or another friendship bracelet making kit, knowing how to use these tools will enhance your crafting experience and help you achieve the best results. Happy beading!
1 comment
Aubrey
I need help tieing the clasps
I need help tieing the clasps