Straightening Wire

Among the first steps in jewelry making is straightening the jewelry wire. This step is mandatory because jewelry wire is sold in coils or on spools and develops a natural curl as a result of the way it is packaged.

There are many jewelry tools to help in straightening jewelry wire. One of the simplest and easiest to use is a piece of leather. Fold the leather in 1/2 and use it to hold the wire. Pull the wire through the leather several times while squeezing the leather in your fingers.

The jewelry tool that we prefer to use instead of leather, is nylon jaw pliers.  Instead of pulling the jewelry wire through leather, pull the wire through the jaws of nylon jaw pliers while squeezing the pliers closed. Select here to view a video of how to straighten wire using nylon jaw pliers. Sometimes when jewelry making you will find the the jewelry wire is too slippery to allow you to get a good grip for pulling the wire. Should this be the case, you may find that it will be easier to pull the wire if you make a loop in one end and hold the wire by that loop while pulling it. Select here to view a video with instructions on how to make a loop.

We also have detailed pictures of how to straighten wire in our online book "Wire Design Basics". Finally, you can view the four steps in straightening wire with nylon jaw pliers below:

Step 1 (start with a loop in your wire)	Step 2 (grip the wire with your nylon jaw pliers)
Step 3 (pull the wire through your pliers several times)	Step 4 (check to see if the wire is straight.)

Finally, please select here for more pictures on how to straighten wire.