Keeping Your Pliers Handy

by Marilyn Gardiner

You can't make jewelry if your tools aren't handy! There are many ways to store your tools, but it's important to keep your essential pliers nearby, or your productivity will really suffer. Here's a few simple ways to keep those tools at hand.

Instructions

Once I started making jewelry, my tool collection grew fast. Every task seemed to require something new, and I kept discovering better versions of tools I already owned. What began as a small set quickly expanded as my skills and projects evolved.

This is especially true with pliers used for chain mail. You can only work with two pairs at a time, but different ring sizes and wire gauges respond better to specific pliers. The right pliers can make the work smoother, faster, and far less tiring.

That is why I now have chain nose, flat nose, bent nose, and tweezer nose pliers, each in both heavyweight and lightweight versions. Each type serves a slightly different purpose depending on the wire and the scale of the work.

And that is still not the end of it. There are also short handles, long handles, padded handles, and ergonomic designs, all offering different levels of control and comfort depending on the task.

For my work table I've found two common kinds of holders for pliers:

One is a block with holes where the pliers stand upright. It's called the Wood Plier Block

Marilyn Gardiner's Keeping Your Pliers Handy - , Store Wire Jewelry, Tools, , Pliers Stand

The other is a rack with a wooden dowel where the open pliers are placed over the dowel.

Marilyn Gardiner's Keeping Your Pliers Handy - , Store Wire Jewelry, Tools, , rack with a wooden dowel

This is called a Wooden Plier Stand

Some ergonomic pliers have large handle ends that will not fit into standard holes.

There are blocks with larger holes designed specifically to hold these types of pliers.

My preference is a block holder for the pliers I use most often.

I use a rack-style holder for the rest of my collection.

Marilyn Gardiner's Keeping Your Pliers Handy - , Store Wire Jewelry, Tools, , wooden plier stand

Materials

No materials listed

Tools

Plier Stand - 6 Hole

HOL-315.03

HOL-315.03
Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
Price: $6.95
Gold Club Price: $5.21

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Plier Stand - 8 Hole

HOL-315.04

HOL-315.04
Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
Price: $5.97
Gold Club Price: $4.48

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Wooden Plier Stand

HOL-306.00

HOL-306.00
Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
Price: $10.97
Gold Club Price: $8.23

Add to Bag

Plier Stand - 12 Hole

HOL-315.06

HOL-315.06
Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
Price: $7.97
Gold Club Price: $5.98

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Category: Storage
Technique(s): Tools, Storage

Reviews

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Marilyn Gardiner

I am a teacher who worked for many years as a teacher librarian and educational computer consultant. As part of my job I taught teachers and principals how to use computers in the classroom and I developed curriculum modules.I love jewelry, color, pattern, and design. It is thrilling to create something new that others love too. And I truly enjoy breaking down something complex into an easy-to-learn sequence that I can share with others, whether in print or in a classroom.

During the past 10 years I have energetically and enthusiastically developed my beading and chain mail skills and used my teaching background with adults to develop bead work and chain mail kits with step-by-step instructions that really work. I know that the kits have good quality instructions because of the positive feedback from students I teach and from customers who buy the kits at shows and from my online store.I regularly teach classes locally in Toronto ON, as well as occasionally in Mississauga, Barrie, Temple TX and San Antonio TX.I have been a vendor at bead shows in Toronto ON, Guelph ON, Montreal QC, Ottawa ON, Calgary AB, Halifax NS, Milwaukee WI, and Tucson AZ - and I teach a full slate of classes at these shows. My website has details.

In 2007 I was "Folk Artist in Residence - Beadwork" at the Joseph Schneider Haus in Kitchener ON. This involved setting up a series of lectures, seminars, and demonstrations throughout the year. There was also a good-sized gallery exhibit of beadwork that featured my work and included the contemporary and historical work of many others. The residency resulted in several articles in the local media.

I later completed a bead work commission for the museum, and some of my work is sold in the museum gift shop.I have published projects available online at Beading Times, Bead Bugle, All Free Jewelry, and The Beading Gem's Journal. Some of my kits are sold online through Beadfx. Kalmbach Publishing published my first book, Modern Chain Mail Jewelry, in 2015.Most of my time at present is directed to creating new chain mail projects.

I am currently working on several new designs that will be ready as kits and for teaching this fall. Each of these will have an Argentium sterling and a copper or Jeweler's Bronze version, and a couple will be silver filled 925/10. This will bring my chain mail kit total to more than 150. (My husband makes all our jump rings and packages the kits. Good man!)

Website: www.marilyngardiner.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/GardinerDesign