Jewelers of America

Jewelers of America

Year 1

Bench / Manufacturing, MJSA Journal Archives

Modify Pliers to Securely Hold Short Wire Sections

Wire Minders

Repurpose old pliers to create sturdy wire holders

By Helen I. Driggs

Gripping short sections of wire to file the sharp or deformed ends caused by nippers can be a real chore. I regularly use 12-, 14-, 16-, and 18-gauge wire and rod for hinge pins and rivets in my cold-connected work, so I repurposed a rusty-but-trusty set of my dad’s old Sears pliers to create these sturdy wire holders—and I haven’t lost or bent one piece of wire since.

To create your own set of wire-minder pliers, you’ll need an old set of flat-nose pliers that open wide; some steel bristle brushes and abrasives if they are really rusty like mine were; a separating disc; some grinding bits; a good, slippery lubricant (preferably oil-based for steel); some drill bits or ball burs; and a ruler.

1. Strip off the plastic grips and remove the springs so you can gain maximum access to the inner surfaces of the plier jaws. This will also help reveal all the rust spots to clean off.

2. Remove all the rust spots and clean the steel’s surface with a steel bristle brush and some flexible abrasives. This will allow you to better see what you’re doing in the next steps.

3. Using a Sharpie, mark wire bays along one side of the plier jaws. Here, I marked four wire bays that correspond with the wire gauges I use most often for rivets and pins, marking their locations every 5 mm.

4. Use painter’s tape to lock the pliers closed for drilling or burring them.

5. Next, use drill bits to drill shallow divots where the two sides of the jaws come together and at the locations of the bays. I chose a #45 for the 12 gauge, #52 for the 14 gauge, #55 for the 16 gauge, and #59 for the 18 gauge. If you don’t have drill bits, there is no reason ball burs won’t work—just try to match diameters with your chosen wire sizes. Use a good, oily or very slippery lubricant to avoid dulling your drill bits or burs on the steel.

6. After marking the locations of the bays, remove the tape and open the pliers wide. Mark straight lines on the inside of both plier jaws to connect to the drilled or burred divots you started at the edges. Use a separating disc to cut a straight groove on each marked line and on both plier jaws.

7. Carve the bays where the starting grooves are located using whatever grinding tips you prefer. I used rigid abrasive stones with an oil-based lubricant and tested the diameters of the bays as I progressed with each of the wires to ensure the ground surfaces perfectly matched the wire gauges.

8. Once the wire bays are ground, sand all the surfaces of the plier jaws with 400-grit abrasive paper for a final time.

9. To use the pliers, insert the wire sections into the corresponding bay and squeeze the jaws shut. The wire will remain straight, securely held, and ready to upset, file, sand, or sharpen without slipping, twisting, or bending.