Which pliers should I use for Chain Maille jewelry?

Bail making pliers

Bail Making Pliers

Making wire coils of small or big inner diameters for jump rings for Chain Maille jewelry are very easy to form by wrapping wire around the jaws. These pliers are composed of two long cylindrical jaws with different diameters on each jaw of the pliers which allow you to form Jump Rings coils of 25 mm to 38 mm length in multiple sizes.

These bail making pliers has jaws sizes:

•  1.50 mm & 2.50 mm

•  4.00 mm & 6.00 mm 

• 7.00 mm & 9.00 mm

Opening and closing jump rings 

 Is one of the most basic and common techniques used in Chain Maille making.

• Flat nose pliers are used for thicker wire ( e.g. gauge 16 - 1. 32 mm, or gauge 14 -  1. 63 mm).
• Chain nose pliers are used for thinner wire (e.g. gauge 21 - 0.71 mm, or gauge 22 - 0.64 mm).

For better leverage to open or close jump rings it is better to use two pairs of pliers of the same type, or you can combine them, using the Flat nose pliers in your left hand and the Chain nose pliers in your right hand.

**Note: always pull the rings towards your body to open them, never pull them apart from side to side because they will get out of round shape, and to close them in the opposite way you will hear a clicking sound when you reach the ring ends.

Opening Jump Rings