Pendants Jewelry Making

What are the basic tools required in jewelry making?

I want to make my own jewelry from scratch, even the beads. What choices do I have as far as the materials I can use to make beads or pendants, for example, and what tools do I need to work with those particular materials?
Wow, y’all have great ideas! Thank you so much for the detailed answers. I can’t wait to get started.
Also, the rose petal idea sounds wonderful. If you wouldn’t mind sharing the recipe I would love to try it out!

You can make beads out of anything – soft metals (like copper sheeting or copper wire – rolled and snipped), wood (carved or molded out of wood dust and white glue), synthetic clays like Fimo and Sculpy, natural clays (if you live in the right area you can even dig your own clay if you learn how to prepare it), various resins and acrylics (melted and cast), pebbles, semi precious stones, bone, horn or antler, shells, paper (rolled as in quilling or papier mache – you can also soak paper in white glue and roll it) – you can even make beads out of dried rose petals (a Victorian technique – the beads give off a fragrance when warmed against the skin. I’ve often thought that felted wool would make interesting beads – just knit bobbles on a string and boil them to felt, dry them in a hot tumble dryer and thread them on anything. Feathers.

The tools you need would vary widely – basic sculpting tools and a pasta maker for Fimo, sculpting tools and access to a kiln for clay, a tumbler for polishing rocks and semi precious stones, a Dremel tool (essential for just about everything) with various heads for everything from grinding and polishing to carving and etching and drilling holes, solvents and carriers for working with acrylics, paper tools for folding and quilling, carving tools for wood working, molds for resin or woodpulp, white glue or flour for papier mache, bodkins (or long needles or wire) for forming holes (either by piercing or forming around before baking), inks and dyes for etching and colouring, varnishes and sealers for protecting, cloths and oils and waxes for polishing.

Then there are the actual jewelry tools – essential are a good pair of needle nose pliers (I like bent ones), fine tweezers, metal snips, and a work surface with good light. If you work on a tray with curved edges you won’t lose beads. I also find a Dremel extremely useful for lots of things.

You need basic findings, too – jump rings, clasps, spacers, head pins and eye pins. Settings to put stones in (if not piercing them). Earring blanks. You might be able to make some of this yourself, but a lot would be way too fiddly to be worth it (unless you’re really a purist!). A good jeweler’s epoxy.

To string them you can macrame or crochet with cotton or linen string, use leather thongs, twine, raffia, wire, tiger tail, ribbon, yarn, chain from the hardware store, etc.

Just try to develop an artist’s eye – see the potential in unusual objects!

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