Transforming flat-nosed pliers into prong-pulling pliers

By Jimmy Butts

Pliers are very useful tools at the bench. However, there are times when they should be modified to best fit the job at hand, such as when you have to adjust a setting or remove a stone to move it to a new setting. This is particularly true with prongs: Pulling on them could result in damage and make proper setting more difficult. Prong-pulling pliers are available from many suppliers, but here’s an easy way make your own from a standard pair of flat-nosed pliers.

1. To begin, find a quality pair of flat-nosed pliers. (Cheaper pliers are often made of inferior metals and can be problematic during this process.)

2. Heat both tips using a torch until they turn a red color.

3. Let the tips air cool until they’re cool to the touch.

4. Cut off approximately the top third from one of the jaw tips.

5. Using a rotary hand piece, round off the cut side.

6. Heat the long jaw of the pliers until it begins to turn red. Then hammer the end over the tip of the shorter jaw. When the end becomes slightly hard to move, reheat it and continue hammering it until the curved side is where you desire it to be. It is okay if the ends don’t mate perfectly.

7. Trim the end of the curved piece so it is slightly longer than flush with the backside of the shorter jaw when the pliers are closed.

8. File both tips simultaneously to a nice shape and pre-polish the ends. I like to make mine narrow but it is a cosmetic choice.

9. Reheat both ends until they start to turn red, and then quench them. This will harden the tips.

10. Polish both tips to a semi-shine.

11. Once the pliers look the way you want them and are shiny, reheat the tips with a soft fluffy flame slowly until the metal turns tan. Be careful not to go too far and anneal the metal, or you’ll have to reheat and quench the pliers again. This step is to normalize the metal so the tips are neither too soft nor too brittle.

12. After a final re-polishing, the modified pliers are now ready for use.

Jimmy Butts is a jeweler with Sholdt Designs in Seattle. A professional archer, he has been a custom jeweler for 27 years and is a two-time Smart Show Bench Pressure Challenge winner.