Why you should measure your jewelry making tools

Coming from an engineering background, I have an appreciation for precision and repeatability in my art. Careful measurement and mastery of your tools gives you the precision to create your artistic vision with intention rather than by accident. Repeatability especially comes in handy if you like the idea of matching earrings. I like a pair of funky artsy mismatched earrings as well. But again, I want them to be mismatched to my intended specification. The specific materials and tools you use, along with how you personally tend to use them, can impact precise wire length measurements.

Why measure wire length precisely?

• Reduce waste - Every little bit of material trimmed is material wasted. Okay, so this isn't the biggest deal, especially since you can save trimmed scrap wire for smaller components. But you still need to estimate if you have enough wire to complete your component. If you start with too short of a piece, you may run out of length before the component is complete and end up having to throw away the whole thing, not just a tiny scrap.

• Save time and effort - I will often make an initial bend a precise length from the end with the intention of forming an eye as the last step. The eye will look awkward if formed with too much or too little length. You could always plan for there to be excess length and trim later, but then you would have to measure and cut again.

• The design requires precision - Sometimes the final position of the end needing trimming is in too difficult a position to file or hammer, requiring the end to be finished before placed in its final position.

Why measure your tools?

If you want to accurately estimate how much wire you need for a component, it is important to start with accurate tool measurements. Tool measurements are not always exactly as the manufacturer describes. For example the diameter of some of my looper pliers are off by as much as 0.5mm. This means each loop could require 0.5 𝝅 or 1.57mm more wire than estimated. If the design requires multiple loops, it starts to add up.

Estimate how much wire you need

 You can use tool measurements to more accurately estimate how much wire you need to perform a series of steps. I developed some formulas for estimating how much wire you need to complete certain steps depending on the thickness of your wire and the specific measurements of your tools (see Wire Length Experiments).