4 Pliers Every Beader Needs to Have

Every beader has their favorite tool.  They serve purposes from the mundane (Standard Flat Nose Pliers are kind of dull, ba-dum-bum!) to the down-right bizarre (Multipliars combos - are we beading or going camping?).  Even if you're sure you'll hardly ever use it, sometimes there is a very specific tool that you just have to have for your project.  It might just be that it's a trusty set of beading pliers.

There are precisely a gazillion different kinds of pliers so you'd be forgiven for not being familiar with all of them. But a favorite?

We couldn't possibly narrow it down to just one beloved set of pliers.  So here you have our selection of the four that every beader absolutely must have a shiny pair of on hand at all times. 

Chain Nose Pliers

No surprise here.  Chain nose pliers are an undeniable classic.  Flat on the inside, round on the outside, these versatile little beauties grip and manipulate wire like nobody's business.  That tapered nose isn't just for looks.  You'll need it to rescue needles, wire and beads when they end up getting themselves stuck in those hard-to-reach places.  Needle stuck behind too much thread?  Chain nose pliers to the rescue!

Of course, these tools are bound to be used more often than most of the others so you'll want them to feel cozy in your hands.  Fortunately, many chain nose pliers come with ergonomic grips for comfort, which is certainly recommended. 

Round Nose Pliers

      These little guys pretty much do just one thing but they do it really, really well.  Round nose pliers, with their characteristic tapered jaws, make loops.  You could probably use them for holding things in place or poking someone (please don't do that) but mostly you're just going to want to make loops with them.  

But that doesn't make them less valuable because loops are incredibly important!  With round nose pliers, you will end up with well-shaped, consistent loops.  Where you choose to bend the wire on the tapered jaw determines the size of the loop you'll make.  Nifty!

Crimp Pliers

Sure, you could just squeeze that crimp bead closed between your fingers but after a while, that's gonna start to smart.  Besides, there is an art to crimping.  Your jewelry designs are going to look much more professional if you use a nice pair of crimp pliers.

With a jaw that is at least somewhat reminicent of a grinning jack-o-lantern's, these pliers were built to both collapse the crimp and to shape it.  No sloppy bead work here, folks.  Just smooth, round crimp beads in only two steps. 

Memory Wire Finishing Pliers

If you're into wire projects, boy have we got the tool for you.  Designed for use specifically with memory wire, finishing pliers are used to create loops that complete your project.  Best of all, this pretty pair comes with two different sized rounding ends, 4mm and 2mm.  

Since they're made to work with memory wire which can be quite stubborn when bending, memory wire finishing pliers are able to get a nice grip on the wire in order to manipulate it into shape.  These nice, heavy duty pliers are a perfect addition to a beader's tool chest.