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Swanstrom Spiral-Forming Pliers

Creating a Sprial Component

Use Swanstrom spiral-forming pliers to easily create perfect wire spirals for necklace, earring and other designs—even widely spaced or double spirals—with plenty of wire left at the end for adding beads and other omponents. For ease of use, these pliers incorporate Swanstrom signature features (such as Soft-Touch™ ergonomic handles, Scrivet® joints and anti-glare finish). Made in the USA and available exclusively from Rio Grande.

800.545.6566 www.riogrande.com

Overall Length: 7.50" (190mm)

Patent Pending Jaw angle locking screw

Jaw angle adjusting screw

Large hole

Small hole

1. Loosen the jaw angle locking screw (located on top of the pliers) with a hex wrench. Lay a piece of wire between the forming plates and lightly close the handle (just enough to hold the wire between the two plates). Tighten the jaw angle locking screw.

2. Adjust the forming plate parallelism by turning the jaw angle adjusting screw (located on the side of the pliers). Once the jaws are parallel, tighten the jaw angle locking screw. The spiral forming plates should be per-fectly parallel to each other for best results.

Adjusting the Pliers to Match the Wire Thickness

Jaw angle locking screw

Jaw angle adjusting screw

1. Make a 90° bend in the wire 2–3 inches from the end. Open the pliers and insert this short end into one of the two holes in the forming plate and up and out through the knob. The long length of the wire should extend out between the forming plates.

Forming the Spiral

2. Close the pliers and run the long length of the wire back along the plier handles. Hold the wire down firmly with your thumb and turn the knob clockwise form the spiral. Please Note: For best results, begin by applying firm thumb pressure as you start the spiral and less as you finish.

Small hole

Large hole

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800.545.6566 www.riogrande.comSharing your passion for making jewelry.

Products. Service. Know-how.

Swanstrom Spiral-Forming Pliers

3. Open the pliers and carefully remove your formed spiral from the hole in the upper forming plate.

Making a perfectly formed spiral like the one shown here may take some practice. Experiment with the amount of thumb pressure you apply on the wire and the speed at which you turn the knob. We recommend practicing with copper before moving on to precious metals.

A World of Wire-Making Possibilities!

Wire-Looping Pliers Small #111-154 Large #111-149

Small Kit #111-132 Large Kit #111-131

EarWireFormingPliers#111-199

Combine these spiral-forming pliers with other innovative Swanstrom tools to greatly increase your wire-working capabilities! Use the Swanstrom ear wire forming pliers (#111-199) and create a perfect spiral at the end of a French ear wire. Or use Swanstrom’s wire-looping pliers (#111-154 and #111-149) to create loops for adding beads and other components at the end of your spirals.

Small kit includes accessory set with four different-sized pins and spiral plate.

Forming the Spiral (continued)

Forming a Twin-Spiral Component

Add Spacing to Spiral Components1. To add some space

between your spirals, begin by bending a length of of wire in half.

2. Form a 90º bend in the wire (at the bent end) and repeat steps #4 and #5 from the front page.

5. Using wire cutters, clip the remaining wire at the bent end of the double spiral and carefully separate the two spirals.

3. Open the pliers—you now have a double-wire spiral.

6. The two separate spirals you’ve created will not be a matching pair. To make matched pairs, you need to make two sets of double spirals, then match one spiral to another from each double spiral set.

4. Carefully remove the double spiral from the forming plate.

1. After making the first spiral, leave a few inches of excess wire at the end (the size of the second spiral depends on how much excess wire you leave). Form a 90° bend at the end of the excess wire and insert it into the appropriate size hole, keeping the first spiral outside of the spi-ral forming plates.

2. Close the pliers and turn the forming knob counter-clockwise. When complete, open the pli-ers and carefully remove your twin-spiral compo-nent. Again, practice will improve your technique.