New Thunderbird Looping Tool?

They're the Swanstrom WireLooping pliers, right?? Rio Grande had them last
fall and I ordered a pair. I'm not that impressed with them. I think they
leave too long a 'neck' between the loop and where you're supposed to start
wrapping the wire around. I also had a problem with them crossing the wire
over itself - you have to be pretty careful not to squeeze too hard! And
if you want a loop larger OR smaller than a 2mm ID, you have to order the
accessory kit that has other pin sizes (1.5, another 2.0, 3 & 4mm along with
a spiral plate and tools to change out the pins) for another $10-$12. If
you work with different sized wire you'll need the other pins. Of course, I
had to have the whole shebang and ordered the tool and the accessory kit.

However, they don't take much in the way of hand strength to close and I
suppose if I'd really sat down and played with the darn things with some
copper wire instead of jumping right in with silver, I might've be able to
make them work better. So take this opinion with a grain of salt. YMMV!

Mj

--
=================================
Marjean Cline - Certified Bead Enabler
Halsey Trading Company
eBay ID: ladymorgause
http://stores.ebay.com/Halsey-Tradin...ny?refid=store
=================================

"Kathy N-V" wrote in message
.com...
I've finally figured out why I am having such a horrid time with
wirework, when I manage to beadweave even complex things without a
heck of a lot of problems. It's because of the stupid Prednisone and
the tremors I'm having: my hands are too weak and shaky to do the
job right, and if I can't do it right, I'd rather not do it at all.
(ask me about all the pieces I've ripped to shreds because I couldn't
fix a mistake)

I got a Thunderbird catalog the other day, and lo and behold, there's
an ad for a tool that _makes_ the loops for you! I strongly prefer
wrapped loops, so my thought was to use the tool to make the loops,
then move the wire to my "third hand," and wrap from there.

The tool is a pricey $40, which would be fine with me if it does all
it's supposed to do. What I'm asking to the group is if it really
does form nice, even loops without a ton of hand strength. If it
doesn't, it's not worth the money to me. I'll just save up and buy a
real looping tool, used from one of the Providence, RI jewelry
places. (lots more money, but totally foolproof)

So, has anyone tried this, or even heard anything third hand? It
seems to be a totally new item out there, and I've been unable to
find any opinions on it at all.

Kathy N-V

I second everything MJ just said. I saw them demoed at Rio's catalogue in
motion, and had to have them. I've only had mine for a month or so, and
only worked with them a little, but so far, I'm underwhelmed. And I tried
them with the copper wire, too, didn't seem to make much difference. The
only thing I can figure is that I don't have the loop plate set at the right
place, but since I didn't get any directions on placement with mine, I'm
shooting in the dark.

Kathy, you might have some trouble with bending the wire to start (place
through hole in side and bend), and since you're supposed to hold the wire
in the pliers while you wrap, I don't think the transfer to the "third hand"
is going to work.

If anyone has these pliers and has managed to make a nice loop without that
long neck, please tell me what I'm doing wrong.

Lois

"Mj" wrote in message
...
They're the Swanstrom WireLooping pliers, right?? Rio Grande had them
last
fall and I ordered a pair. I'm not that impressed with them. I think
they
leave too long a 'neck' between the loop and where you're supposed to
start
wrapping the wire around. I also had a problem with them crossing the
wire
over itself - you have to be pretty careful not to squeeze too hard! And
if you want a loop larger OR smaller than a 2mm ID, you have to order the
accessory kit that has other pin sizes (1.5, another 2.0, 3 & 4mm along
with
a spiral plate and tools to change out the pins) for another $10-$12. If
you work with different sized wire you'll need the other pins. Of course,
I
had to have the whole shebang and ordered the tool and the accessory kit.

However, they don't take much in the way of hand strength to close and I
suppose if I'd really sat down and played with the darn things with some
copper wire instead of jumping right in with silver, I might've be able to
make them work better. So take this opinion with a grain of salt. YMMV!

Mj

--
=================================
Marjean Cline - Certified Bead Enabler
Halsey Trading Company
eBay ID: ladymorgause
http://stores.ebay.com/Halsey-Tradin...ny?refid=store
=================================

"Kathy N-V" wrote in message
.com...
I've finally figured out why I am having such a horrid time with
wirework, when I manage to beadweave even complex things without a
heck of a lot of problems. It's because of the stupid Prednisone and
the tremors I'm having: my hands are too weak and shaky to do the
job right, and if I can't do it right, I'd rather not do it at all.
(ask me about all the pieces I've ripped to shreds because I couldn't
fix a mistake)

I got a Thunderbird catalog the other day, and lo and behold, there's
an ad for a tool that _makes_ the loops for you! I strongly prefer
wrapped loops, so my thought was to use the tool to make the loops,
then move the wire to my "third hand," and wrap from there.

The tool is a pricey $40, which would be fine with me if it does all
it's supposed to do. What I'm asking to the group is if it really
does form nice, even loops without a ton of hand strength. If it
doesn't, it's not worth the money to me. I'll just save up and buy a
real looping tool, used from one of the Providence, RI jewelry
places. (lots more money, but totally foolproof)

So, has anyone tried this, or even heard anything third hand? It
seems to be a totally new item out there, and I've been unable to
find any opinions on it at all.

Kathy N-V

Snippity

I had been using split
rings, but my hands aren't able to open the wretched things any
longer, even with the pliers.

Kathy N-V

Honey, I can't open them hardly ever, and my hands don't generally tremble. So
don't chalk that completely up to tremors--the dang things are HARD!

~Candace~
Orphan Beads Low cost and bartering for the financially challenged beader
http://snipurl.com/6s4t

I got a Thunderbird catalog the other day, and lo and behold, there's
an ad for a tool that _makes_ the loops for you! I strongly prefer
wrapped loops, so my thought was to use the tool to make the loops,
then move the wire to my "third hand," and wrap from there.

I recently purchased this Swanstrom tool and have played with it a
little bit. I think it's really cool ! I've only tried it out with
24 gauge artistic wire which is a bit soft but I still got it to work
really nicely. I was able to make a really nice loop and wraps right
on the tool. I did have a bit of a problem with the plate wiggling
around too much so I sent email via the Swanstrom web site and the
next day had a called from a guy who explained some of the features of
how it worked and why the plate moved around. It's so you can use it
for any gauge of wire. There's a hex nut that attaches the looping
plate to the tool and I tighted that a bit. Not so tight that the
plate didn't move at all but tight enough so that it didn't just slide
every which way when I didn't want it to.

I'm planning to try it out with some silver wire if I can find some.
I don't do a lot of wire work so I only buy small amounts at a time.

I've heard several negative comments about this tool but I really like
it. I'll try and post pictures of my loops later today or tomorrow.

--Caren
www.beadedgarden.com