Tool Talk: Why Lindstrom RX Pliers and Cutters are My Favorite Jewelry Making Tools

Tool TalkJewelry Making
Written By Michelle Pajak-Reynolds
Whether you’ve been making jewelry for decades or just starting your creative adventures, having the right tools that help take care of your hands are a must for every jewelry studio. These Lindstrom RX Pliers and Cutters are some of Michelle Pajak-Reynolds’s favorite jewelry making tools and have helped save her wrists from carpal tunnel pain.

Whether you’ve been making jewelry for decades or just starting your creative adventures, having the right tools that help take care of your hands are a must for every jewelry studio. These Lindstrom RX Pliers and Cutters are some of Michelle Pajak-Reynolds’s favorite jewelry making tools and have helped save her wrists from carpal tunnel pain.

Tool Talk is a new Journal series where Michelle Pajak-Reynolds shares her favorite jewelry making tools collected over 3 decades of creative practice. The following information is shared to help educate readers on the jewelry making process and to help fellow jewelers at all skill levels, especially students, find quality tools. Michelle Pajak-Reynolds and Michelle Pajak-Reynolds Studios LLC are not affiliated with or compensated by any of the brands or vendors mentioned in these articles.

An artist’s tools, no matter the materials they work in, are an extension of their body and their soul. Lindstrom’s RX Pliers and Cutter set from Rio Grande (item 111057) are some of my favorite jewelry making tools.


I invested in this set of ergonomic handle pliers after suffering carpal tunnel pain in my right thumb and wrist 18 years ago while working on my Petals Collection. By switching to pliers and cutters with large ergonomic grips and replaceable BioSprings, the pressure needed to operate the tool is evenly distributed and reduces hand fatigue and stress on finger joints and wrists. I use these pliers hundreds of times a day for a variety of tasks. They’re my favorite and most comfortable plier set for wire-wrapping and pin-setting the 11,532+ gemstones featured in my collections and custom orders since 2014.

I LOVE these Lindstrom RX Pliers and Cutters because I’ve been able to work pain-free fo almost 2 decades and they pack easily allowing me to set-up a creative space anywhere. (Yes, I’ve even taken them on vacation because a vacation that doesn’t include some art-making in no vacation at all. LOL )

Michelle Pajak-Reynolds

Michelle Pajak-Reynolds began designing jewelry at 5 years old after being inspired by the power bracelets and tiara worn by actress Lynda Carter in the Wonder Woman television series. And her history with jewelry goes back even further as her parents met and fell in love across a jewelry case; Michelle's mom was a jewelry department manager and her dad was a police officer.

As a young child, Michelle used her babysitting money to teach herself basic beading and wire-wrapping techniques with supplies from her local craft supply store. Her formal jewelry and metalsmithing training began in a high-school jewelry class and she went on to perfect her artistic and business skills via a BFA in Jewelry from Kent State University and an MBA in Entrepreneurship from Baldwin-Wallace University.

Michelle founded her eponymous jewelry company in 2001 and specializes in small collections of one-of-a-kind designs. Handcrafted in gemstones, pearls and ethically sourced precious metals in her Ohio studio, Michelle’s creations are elegant and ethereal art to wear that stirs the soul. In addition to designing her signature collections, Michelle works one-on-one with collectors to create breathtaking custom designs.

michellepajakreynolds.com
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