#sponsored For this week’s
#tooltalktuesday, I am excited to show off the Swanstrom Link Forming Pliers Set (item #111000). Exclusively available from our friends at
@riogrande, these specialty pliers allow you to create a jig for forming various shapes. The tool has a coil spring that is tempered to hold its hardness and spring back to its original shape after being compressed, plus a jaw stop that allows you to achieve even, repeatable pressure with no over-extension of the tool. I had a lot of fun experimenting with this tool! I found I could form links with up to 12g wire; however with thicker wire, it takes a more gradual stretch to get your piece into its final shape. I also found the steel jig is more ideal for larger links, because you need to be able to fit a ring over at least two pegs, therefore the ring needs to be large enough to do so. For example, I measured out a wire a little over 4” in length for the large rounded triangle sample I created. This tool also has a Delrin Jig and this is where you can customize by drilling into the Delrin and using the included pins to make a custom jig. My main tips here are to only drill halfway through and make sure you drill straight. For my sample I wanted to make a jig for small oval links because I love creating handmade chain with those. Now that I’ve created the jig I can make identical jump rings and I know each oval link will be the same in seconds. I still have plenty of room to create other patterns on my Delrin Jig as well, I will have to experiment more! Huge thank you to Rio Grande for supporting our community with this sponsored post, they are offering these pliers for $110.85 (regularly $132.99) with code MTLSMTH7 now through 12.31.21. so you have the whole year to take advantage of this deal, please note the code is a one time use! If you have these please share pics on how you use them and tag me!!
#riojeweler #jewelrytools #chainmaking #linkforming
