Hobby Hammer ideal Models, Kits, Dolls Houses, Crafts

Brass Faced Palm Size Pliers
Similar to Flat bed pliers, but a more specialized tool as this pliers has internal brass face plates to minimize any pliers damage to your work. These pliers have flat parallel ‘beds’ Ideal for jewellery wire, thin plate work, Clock & Watch repair or other tasks where you don't want to leave pliers marks. These pliers are a bit easier than using a cloth inside a set of pliers!  These are one of our most popular set of pliers. Fitted with Red plastic coated handles for ease of identification.    

Needle nose pliers
Slim non - serrated tapered jaws. Fitted with Green rubberized coated handles ensures comfortable grip and with springs.  Great for holding small parts.  Overall length 150mm 6" (approx)

The Repouse hammer is a especially designed hammer for hardening, flattening and smoothing of wire, forming and shaping of sheet metal by hammering (planishing / chasing) Suitable for use with a Doming block, Anvil or Sand bag, the Ball pein head is also suitable for light riveting. Its a good idea to keep the hammer face smooth, as any marks, dents, or scratches on the face of the hammer will transfer to your work,  so it’s best to keep a separate hammer for this purpose. These Repouse hammers are listed in the Tools section of our Ebay Shop.

Swiss Pattern Hammer

Jeweller's / Watchmakers / Silversmiths / Goldsmiths

·         One flat striking surface and one Chisel Shaped end.

·         Fully Hardened, Tempered High Carbon Steel Head.

·         Head length 65mm, Weight 70g

·         Face diameter 10.95mm, cross pein 12.5mm

·         Hardwood Handle, length 180mm.

·         Perfectly Balanced Light Hammer

General notes

The thicker the wire the stronger and better it is at holding its shape. As a general rule use a thicker wire first and use a finer wire if you then feel it necessary, the choice of size is often down to if it going to be handled. We sell wire in a range of sizes; Gold & Silver plated, Solid Copper, Coloured Copper, Solid Brass and soft Coloured Aluminium.

There are three defined standard methods of measuring wire, the American Wire Gauge (AWG) and the Standard Wire Gauge (SWG) and the Metric system, although the American Wire Gauge system is not normally used in Europe.

Most wires are now sold using the Metric sizes or Standard Wire Gauge (SWG) and for information purposes we have listed the closest SWG size in our listings. We stock wire in a range of sizes from 0.2mm (finest) up to 2mm (thickest) in our ebay shop, with 0.8mm being roughly the thickness of standard size paper clip wire and the most popular size.

Shown below is a wire gauge which can be a useful tool to have. To use simply slip the wire in the slots on the gauge until you find a slot that is just snug, but not tight or loose. This shows the thickness of the wire or sheet metal. Measurements are shown in both Metric and Standard Wire Gauge (SWG) On one side the gauge shows the measurement in metric and on the other side it shows the size in Standard Wire Gauge (SWG) i.e 20 gauge = 0.91mm. The sizes are clearly etched markings on the gauge. The gauge approx 85mm (31/2") and made of Stainless Steel.

For most jewellery projects the most popular sizes are 1mm & 0.8mm the thinner sizes of 0.6mm and 0.4mm are popular for bead work, wire wrapping, binding and twisting together. The 0.4mm Brass, is also a good wire for beading and is used to create lace effects when threaded through beads. Our Brass Wire is solid brass and has a yellow / gold tone which is a colour match of 14K gold. The very fine 0.2mm Silver & Gold plated and 0.3mm "coloured" copper wire are used for jewellery binding and wire wrapping, wire Stitching, Sewing, Embroidery, Weaving and Crocheting.

The thicker sizes of 1.2mm and 1.5mm are some of our best selling wires, although these thicker sizes are a little harder to manipulate, they hold their shape very well and make attractive bold, chunky design jewellery (especially in Copper) and these sizes are very popular for Cake Toppers, Wire Sculpture, Model making etc.  For beginners using larger sizes we would recommend experimenting with copper wire, as it’s softer and more flexible than plated wires. The largest wire we sell is 2mm Aluminium, it’s a new product and has a special anodized coating for corrosion resistance, this anodizing changes the microscopic texture, making it smoother and improving the reflected colour of the wire, the anodized coating is also harder than aluminium itself and is less likely to crack or peel and  comes in a wide variety of colours, this wire is very popular with University students for Arts & Crafts, Sculpture and Model making projects.  

Wire hardness

Wire is made to either dead soft, half-hard, or hard, with dead soft manufactured to a hardness rating of 0, half-hard to a rating of 2, and Hard to a rating of 4. Dead soft wire is extremely soft and pliable (like soldering wire) is easily bent and can make rounded shapes including a spiral, the disadvantage is that it's easily bent out of shape. Hard wire on the other hand, is difficult to work as it tends to spring back when bent. No wire is perfect for every application and in an ideal world, a wire would be easy to bend until in its final shape and then be very stiff, but no such wire exists. All our wires are half - hard which is a good compromise for jewellery & craft work.  Copper is a little softer compared to plated wire of similar size and brass wire being a little stiffer than the Copper wire.

Silver & Gold Plating
A question we are often asked is what carat Gold is used and the gold content All our Gold plated wires are drawn from 24 Carat gold and both our Gold and Silver wires are plated onto a quality copper base. With all Gold and Silver plated wires all that varies is the thickness of the plating. The proportion of gold used in gold plated wire is quite small, being only plated a few molecules thick. Our gold plated wire is drawn on average from one ounce troy of a gold per 1500 yards of wire which equates to 16 grains of gold per one metre of wire (approx). Gold prices are always on the increase with Gold bullion currently costing around £500 per troy ounce (2008) Exactly the same Gold plated wire is sold in many craft shops and Internet shops for over £5.50 per coil. Due to our bulk buying power and low overheads we can pass on these savings, and Gold prices are always on the increase

Recommend Tools
This is a difficult question as it’s a matter of personal choice. It’s a bit like asking a Chef to name a couple of ingredients for the store cupboard. The list could go on and on.  I would suggest just 4 basic pliers to get you started. Round nose pliers, side wire cutters, brass face flat pliers (or Flat nose pliers) and a pair of bent nose pliers. If you wanted to buy more then buy a flush (top) cutting pliers, Needle nose pliers, flat nose pliers and a pair of combination short point pliers. If you are doing Bead work, then a Crimping pliers is a must have tool.

Other useful tools are a Wire Gauge a Jewellers Repouse hammer and Anvil (excellent tool for hardening, texturing, flattening and spreading wire) Then if the list went on to power tools, a Dremel multi tool which is very useful tool and for which we sell Diamond burrs, Tungsten Carbide burrs, cut off discs and range of polishing accessories in our ebay shop. A bench grinder with one side converted with a 6” buffing wheel is very handy and we sell everything from buffing wheels & adaptors to specialist polishing waxes in our ebay shop. The list could go on as we sell everything you might need from Micro drills, Micro pin chucks, pin chucks, micro cutting broaches to jewellers screwdrivers,  magnifiers, eye loupes and puffers as well as items like Clock and watch oils, all available from our Ebay shop.

• Very Fine Wires
• Wire Stitching, Embroidery, Weaving and Crocheting
• Jewellery binding, wire wrapping
• 0.2mm available in Silver plated & Gold plated
• 0.3mm only available in "Coloured" Copper (choice of 15 colours) in our Ebay Shop

A very fine and popular wire commonly used for sewing and embroidery work as well as for fine wire jewellery binding & wrapping.

• Fine Wire
• Wire stitching, Embroidery, Weaving and Crocheting
• Bead work, Wire wrapping
• Available on Solid Brass, Solid Copper, Silver & Gold Plated in our Ebay Shop

0.6mm wire (22 gauge / 0.0253)

•   Medium Fine Wire
•   General beading work
• Wire-wrapped loops, headpins, eyepins, rings, ear-wires and cake toppings
  
• Available on Solid Brass, Solid Copper, Silver plated , Gold Plated & Coloured copper (choice of 14 colours) in our Ebay Shop
  

A very popular and versatile size wire that has many 1000's of uses, although not recommend for structures that may bend under pressure. Most commonly used for general beading work  it is also suitable for stone wrapping of smaller crystals, semi-precious beads and freshwater pearls. Delicate jump rings can be made with this gauge wire. Also suitable for making wire-wrapped loops, headpins, eyepins and ear-wires. This size is popular for creating scrolls and coils on Cake toppers and is normally used together with 1.2mm. The Brass wire in this gauge is ideal to make Fishing floats.

0.8mm wire (20 gauge / 0.0320)   (roughly the thickness of standard size paper clip)

• Medium Wire
• General Purpose Jewellery wire
• Creating links, clasps and to create structure
• Model making, suitable for making and adding structure.
• Available in Solid Brass, Solid Copper, Silver plated & Gold Plated in our Ebay Shop

This is the most popular size wire used in jewellery making. If you are new to wire jewellery this is the wire to start with. Used for making rings, tiara's, creating links, clasps, armatures, eyepins, earwires, wrapping Austrian Crystals and transparent semi-precious beads and most glass beads (but not all) are manufactured with a hole that is 1 mm in size and will accommodate 0.8mm wire. The largest possible wire that can go through the beads is generally chosen because beads, and gemstones, are much harder than the wire and over time they will saw into it. The thicker the wire the longer it will last.

1mm Wire (18 gauge / 0.0403)

• Medium Thick, General Purpose Wire
• Medium - Heavy duty Jewellery making
• Model making and Wire Sculpture work
• Available on Solid Brass, Solid Copper, Silver plated  & Gold Plated in our Ebay Shop

This wire (and larger sizes) are very popular for making rings, earring components and quite chunky jump rings which are unlikely to pull apart. Also suitable for making clasps, frameworks for beaded cuffs, wire wrapping beads with large holes, chain-making as well as  for making wind charms, gift wrapping and making Christmas decorations. All the large sizes are popular with Model makers, Model Train / Railway enthusiasts etc.

1.2mm & 1.5mm Wire (1.2mm - 16 gauge 0.0508) (1.5mm - 14 gauge 0.0641)

• Heavy wires
• Bracelets, Rings and Neckwire components
• Wire sculpture, Wedding & Special Occasion Cake Toppers
  
• Model and Art Sculpture work
• Available in Solid Copper and Silver Plated in our Ebay Shop

These heavy gauge wires are our best selling wires. These wires are a little harder to bend so you may need to use heavier duty cutting tools. Generally used for making rings, bracelets (especially copper) and neckwire components. Very popular for making wire sculptures and Cake Toppers,  and  unsupported shapes. Both size wires are  popular for model making, model railways, Dolls houses, scenery supports and lots of varied craft projects. The 1.2mm gauge is normally used as the main base wire for cake crowns in combination with 0.6mm wire to create the scrolls and bind your beads.

2mm Wire (12 gauge / 0808)   NEW PRODUCT

• Thick - Soft Aluminium Wire
  
• Heavy Jewellery Wire without the heavy weight
  
• Wire sculpture, Wedding & Special Occasion Cake Toppers
  
• Floral & Bonsai Craft, Modeling and Art Sculpture work
• Available in Anodized Aluminium (choice of 13 colours) in our Ebay Shop