Overview of Mandrels for Jewelry Making

	Stepped And Plain Wooden Ring Mandrel Set With Steel Base For Metal Clay SKU: XTL-0156 $25.99
	The Beadsmith 6-Piece Wooden Mandrel Set For Wire Forming - Includes Storage Case SKU: XTL-0164 $9.99
	Solid Steel Metal Ring Sizing Mandrel 1-15 Wire Wrapping Tool SKU: XTL-0153 $20.99
	The Beadsmith Ring Sizer And Mandrel Kit Light Weight Plastic Size 1-15 SKU: XTL-9024 $7.29
	The Beadsmith Budget 2 Piece Mandrel Set - Wire Looping Tool - 10 Different Diameters SKU: XTL-5037 $9.25
	Artistic Wire, Conetastic Wire Tool, Creates Wire Cones (1 Piece) SKU: XTL-6003 $24.99
	The Beadsmith 6-Piece Wooden Mandrel Set For Wire Forming - Includes Storage Case SKU: XTL-0164 $9.99
	The Beadsmith Multi Right Angle Wire Mandrel - Wire Looping Tool - 4 Shapes / 48 Sizes SKU: XTL-9029 $7.99
	Steel Metal Ring Sizing Mandrel Sizes 1-15 W/ Work Bench 360 Degree Swivel Vise SKU: XTL-0154 $65.99

Note: This audio transcript is auto-generated and may not be completely accurate.
Hi, this is Julie with beadaholique.com and for different purposes and i want to walk you through just a small selection of the mandrel available the first ones i want to talk to you about are basically for wire forming or creating nice uniform small loops i have this wood set here you can see there's many different pegs they're very easy to hold on to they're smooth they come in a nice case I love the set I have it for myself personally so each peg is going to be a different diameter which is going to allow you to create a different size loop you can also use these to bend filigree around if it's soft enough you can just go ahead and use your fingers to just push the filigree into this shape that you want the curved shape so this is a really nice set if you are doing things with soft metals or wire I really love that set now if you want to create smaller uniform loops there are these smaller stepped type mandrels so whereas you have the wood set here and each peg is a fixed diameter on these ones you actually are going to be able to get many different sized loops out of the same mandrel and it's stepped so that you'll know exactly what size you are creating and a little quick tip is if you're having trouble wrapping your wire make it so that it butts right up against that lip and that's going to really hold it in place and allow you to wrap it very easily these two are very easy to hold on to and very manageable but perhaps you don't want to just make round shapes well there's a tool such as this which actually has four different heads all that go on to a fixed base and these will create as you can see ovals squares circles and triangles and again these two are stepped which is going to allow you to create different sizes of those shapes and then finally another one in this category is the cone tastic this is something that's been put out by artistic wire and I actually have the back page here that one to show you to show you what these are going to make they're going to make these wonderful little spiral cones of wire and you see there's different tips and a little tool that's gonna let you switch the tips in and out and we do actually have videos on most of these that I'm showing you that will actually go into detail of how to use them and exactly what your finished piece will look like so that's if you're going to want to form wire in different shapes or do some curving of some soft metals now if you're going to be making rings there's a wide variety of ring mandrel out there for all the way from a really lightweight plastic one you can see it's got sizes on it which I'll show you I do want to make a size 7 ring you're going to line up whatever it is you're forming right along that seven line there's aluminum there's a really heavy metal one and then we even have wood ones as well so which one do you want to buy which one do you need well if you're doing something like just sizing or you're working with something really soft like artistic wire the plastic one is going to do just fine if you want something a little sturdier there's the aluminum one you're not going to want to pound anything on this though because it is aluminum and it will dent so again you're going to want to be doing something with a softer wire or a softer metal that you're not going to need to hammer but if you do want to do some hammering you're gonna want a steel one or a solid metal one and these are going to be able to take that tough pounding of the hammer but maybe you don't want to hold one well there's a solution for that we have ones that have fixed bases and you can actually see that this just comes on and off so you can pick it up work with it or you can mount it I have this one over here which actually has a swivel head so you would have fixed this to your work table it's got a clamp and it would stay stationary and then it's got the swivel head and you can work with it in that fixed position which is sometimes a lot easier but with this one too you can just unscrew it and work with it and this is going to be able to take a lot of wear so if you're going to be doing a lot of metalwork and hammering this is definitely something to consider these wood ones over here you could do could use again with some wire rapping shaping of some filigree or these are actually really good for PMC and PMC artists so that's something to conserve for that these two do come on and off of their mounts and you'll see it's got a smooth one and a stepped one so lots of variety there and then kind of similar process with your bracelet manuals if you're making a soft bracelet perhaps a textile based bracelet something that's using leather cord a wood mandrel would be a great idea this would also be really good if you were going to form some wire maybe some thicker wire you want to form to make an adjustable style bangle bracelet a wood mandrel would be a great choice it doesn't have sizes on it but it is tapered so if you have a smaller wrist you're going to want to be working up towards the top here and then if you have a wider wrist down towards the bottom what I've actually done with these type mandrels is I've measured the diameter at different intervals and I've actually gone ahead and put a little piece of tape along the side here with what size it is just as a size guide for myself again you're not going to want to hammer on the wood so if you do when I do a lot of metalworking you're going to want to consider a mandrel such as this and this is heavy it's really hard to convey that in a video but this is a very solid heavy tool and this will be able to take a lot of wear so you could do everything that you would do on the wood mandrel on this metal one but the middle one will also allow you to hammer on to it but for ease of use if you don't think you're going to be doing a lot of metalworking I would recommend the wood one just because it is a lot lighter weight and for me personally it's a lot easier to work with because it is lighter weight but if you are doing the hammering then you are going to want something that is steel or solid metal these are just some of the mandrel available I hope that helped to kind of explain the differences between them what you're going to want to be looking for when you're choosing so really think about what purpose are you going to be using your mandrel for are you making wire loop so you rings are you making bracelets and then what type of material are you gonna be working with because that's really going to dictate the type of mandrel to purchase you