Round nose pliers

With their gently tapering, smooth round jaws - these are the go-to tools for bending wire. These are indispensable for making wrapped loops and simple loops - a staple of most strung and wired jewelry.

But that's not all they do. Despite their curved jaws, you can use them to hold wire. When making a wrapped loop, after forming the loop - instead of switching to another pair of pliers - use these across the newly-formed loop - to hold it while you finish the wrap! This works for all but the thickest, gnarliest wire.

If you want to get loops of a consistent size - use a sharpie or other permanent marker to mark a place on the jaws. Consistently looping at that location will always give you the same size loop.

Tomorrow - final installment - the straight dope on chain nose, flat nose and bent nose pliers!