Posts from — July 2009

You meet some of the nicest people in the jewelry making business, and Patti Bullard, owner of Wired Up Beads and the mastermind behind Wubbers pliers, is one of them. In the search for tools that didn’t hurt my hands after hours and hours of work, I decided to follow up on an ad for Wubbers pliers in one of my jewelry making magazines–I think it was Step by Step Wire Jewelry–and over the last couple of years Patti has gone above and beyond to help me out in my growth as a wire jewelry artist.

Anyway, chain nose pliers are the workhorse tool for wire jewelry, and I needed some better chain nose pliers, so I started with those. I didn’t want to spend lots of money on several tools if they weren’t any better than the tools I already had. Of course I had no idea how bad my first pair of chain nose pliers were until I bought my first pair of Wubbers! I’m hooked for life.

Overall, the classic Wubbers pliers have longer handles for better leverage while you’re working. Not only that, but the handles are nicely padded for comfort. And the classic Wubbers are great for larger gauges of wire. According to the information at WiredUpBeads.com, they “laugh in the face of 12-gauge wire.” I would have to agree with that. Yet the jaws are also great for fine work, too. The jaws of Wubbers tools are much less likely to mar your wire.

So after the chain nose pliers, I decided I’d buy some bail making pliers, because I was tired of using a ball point pen to make my bails. As good as a plain old ball point pen can be for making bails when you’re first starting out (they’re certainly inexpensive), I had no idea how wonderful some real bail making pliers could be until I bought my Wubbers. The Wubbers bail making pliers come in three sizes–small, medium, and large. I bought the large size first, but now I have the small and medium sizes as well, and each pair is perfect for making bails, uniform links (no more marking a line on your round nose pliers to get the same size every time), coils, you name it!

Recently Patti has come out with “Baby Wubbers.” These tools are smaller versions of their classic brothers and sisters, and they’re perfect for work with smaller wire, from 18 to 30 gauge (30 gauge wire is like thread, by the way). But they’re also great because of their portability. I like to use the baby wubbers as extra tools for students in my classes who may not yet have tools of their own. So far, the students who have used them in my classes have loved them and want some of their very own. The Baby Wubbers have all the same jaws the classics have: chain nose, flat nose, round nose, baby bail makers (so cute!), and more. WiredUpBeads.com sells the Baby Wubbers in sets and in a practical and portable zippered kit.

These tools aren’t inexpensive, but they’re not cheap, either. If you’re getting serious about your wire and bead work, Wubbers tools are worth the price.