Instructions in closing the gap in a jewelry wire loop using the bent closing pliers jewelry making tool:
In the pictures left and right, you can see two views of how to use bent closing pliers to close an opening or small gap in a loop of jewelry wire. In this case, the pliers have closed the gap in a "P" loop by gently squeezing the loop until the gap is closed. In the picture at right. you can view the grooves in both jaws of these pliers. The jewelry wire for the loop or jump ring is held in the grooves on each jaw of the pliers. This keeps the wire from slipping thereby avoiding having the pliers scratch the wire.
We recommend using bent closing pliers like the ones shown here because the bend in the jaws of your pliers means that your wrist will be straight as you grip the wire.
These same pliers are used to close a gap in a jump ring or to convert a jump ring from round to slightly oval. These pliers are not used for opening and closing jump rings or "P" loops. When you open and close a loop, you use bent chain nose pliers (without the grooves in the jaws), because your chain nose pliers have flat, smooth jaws for grasping the loop and bending it up or down in order to open or close the loop. Once the loop is closed, if there is a slight gap in the loop that won't be closed by bending the wire up or down, that is when you use these bent closing pliers to remove that gap by squeezing the jewelry wire until the gap is closed.
When using open jump rings, many wire crafters like to convert a round jump ring to an oval jump ring, with the opening of the on one side of the oval. The reason that you do this is with an oval jump ring, the jump ring will naturally adjust so that the tension on the jump ring will not pull directly on the gap or opening of the jump ring. The jump ring shown at right in the pliers is round. The jump ring shown at left, is slightly oval with the long axis of the oval being vertical and the short axis of the oval being horizontal. As you can see, you want the opening in your jump ring to be on the short axis of the jump ring.
Summary of jewelry making technique
We believe that these bent closing pliers are the best type of "loop closing pliers". We recommend them as an essential jewelry tool for every jewelry makers tool box.