Jewelry Making Supplies

Having the correct jewelry making supplies means that you are able to make every piece as professional as possible. The supplies that are required for making beaded jewelry are basically jewelry wire, beads and findings.

Jewelry wire is in general brass, copper, silver, gold, silver-plated, gold-plated or gold-filled wire. This wire is sold in several sizes, called gauges, with the larger gauge wire being smaller in diameter.

Findings are jewelry making components like clasps, headpins, earwires or posts, jump rings, crimp beads or tubes and other manufactured or hand made components.

Needle-nose pliers or chain-nose pliers are the perfect all purpose tool that should be bought as soon as possible. They are among the most important jewelry making tool that you will need to begin any project. They are used to bend, cut, hold and manipulate all the wire and findings that you will be using. Once you have made a few pieces, you might also prefer to buy some round-nose pliers that make looping the wire a bit easier. Both these types of pliers should have a cutting edge, otherwise you can also buy cutting pliers to do this job instead.

Crimping pliers is a unique crimp forming tool which forms a smooth unobtrusive crimp. It banishes the unsightly sharp edged crimp formed by conventional flattening methods.

Beading needles are one of the useful jewelry making supplies that you should buy before you have even decided what projects you will attempt. When seed beads need to be threaded, there will be beading needles that make the task quite easy. The eye is not much wider than the shaft like regular needles and they are also flexible. English beading needles are the most flexible which allows you to get quite creative with different weaving techniques. The higher the number of the needle size, the finer the beading needle. Needles can be used when stringing beads onto ribbon.

Beading containers come in many different sizes. Fishing tackle boxes and nuts and bolts storage containers also make excellent bead holders and are well suited to the task. Make sure you buy one that can be transported if that is something you will be doing.

Beading boards are not essential jewelry making supplies, but they do make stringing much easier. They have a deep groove that you can use to hold and arrange the beads before you string them; this prevents threading the entire thread and then changing your mind about the order of the beads. The inbuilt measurements display the length as you design. They are most helpful when stringing multiple strands for a necklace or bracelet, as you can see the length each strand will before before they are strung.

Bead mats make beading so much easier; they prevent the beads from rolling onto the floor. They are approximately 13 x 11 inches in size and are the perfect surface to do all your beading. You can also roll your project up in the bead mat, if you are not finished. The bead mat also prevents scratching your work surface. If you don't have a bead mat, use a towel.