Kitiki pliers and cutters successfully combine materials, size, precision, alignment, hardness, sharpness, and ergonomics. Those shown here are about 120mm long, easy to use, and comfortable to hold.

The pliers and cutters shown in the photo above are the six most popular. Although, in theory, the pliers partly share their uses, in practice, one is just easier to use for one task, and one for another.

Kitiki flush cutters are used to cut wire, strips, chains, and clasp links. The cutting edges are hardened and align perfectly, and the cut is nearly straight rather than oblique or vee-shaped.

Kitiki flat-nose pliers have tapered rectanglular jaws, and are used to position and adjust jewellery findings, squeeze and close links, bend wire and strips at angles, and shape paper-type metal clays.

Kitiki round-nose pliers have tapered circular jaws, and are used to shape jewellery findings, re-shape links, and bend wire and strips into curves, circles, and ovals.

Kitiki bent-nose pliers sometimes called pointed-nose, have tapered semi-circular jaws, and are used to shape jewellery findings, re-shape links, and bend wire and strips into curves, circles, and ovals.

You'll enjoy using good tools rather than continually improvising. They'll help you manage a creative and efficient work environment. And they'll last a long time.

To look at the photos, hold your mouse over the zoom buttons below. The photos are 480px x 360px and about 60KB so, if you're not on a fast internet connection, they'll take a short while to download.

Kitiki Cutters.

Kitiki Flush Cutters.

Kitiki Flat-Nose Pliers.

Kitiki Pointed-Nose Pliers.

Kitiki Bent-Nose PLiers.

Kitiki Round-Nose PLiers.

Before dismissing the word ergonomic, remember that the palm of your hand has around 1700 nerve endings and, every time you hold a hand tool, 42 muscles are put to work. The continual strain of using an awkward tool makes delicate work less accurate and more difficult, and can lead to strain injury or numbness.

Designing and making precision hand tools that work smoothly and accurately, and feel comfortable, is a complicated, expensive, precision process. So, here are some general comments:

Very few shops sell high quality pliers and cutters for delicate work: most pliers and cutters are designed to undo rusted nuts and cut fence wire.

Economy pliers and cutters usually use regular mild steel, inadequately hardened, and laquered to hide the poor finish. The laquer will soon wear away and the metal will rust or stain. They're often rebranded, repackaged, and repriced, with different coloured handles: so it's hard to know what you're getting.

Economy special-offer boxed sets appear to be good value. However, once opened and used, the poor quality will soon become apparent. Buying like this is unpredictable and replacing one of the set, or buying a different shape, is usually impossible as the brand will have disappeared.

Poorly machined, aligned, and hardened cutting edges will cut at an angle or unevenly, and will soon go blunt or get notched. Poorly machined and aligned jaws will make it diificult to hold small shapes reliably.

Jaws might have high spots, serrations, or roughly finished edges that will mark soft metals such as silver, copper, and gold. Jewellery pliers have smooth jaws, and are precision engineered for careful work.

If they're uncomfortable to hold, the handles can nip your skin whilst squeezing, and the sprung release-action might need too much continual pressure: tiring during precision work. Tight hinges won't release unless you use both hands.

Scissor-style hinges, rather than box-style hinges, will gradually loosen and twist as you bend and cut, making delicate work less accurate and more difficult.

Jewellery cutters are not designed to cut spring steel or stainless steel wire or strips. If you want to work with these, or other hard materials, you need special snips: mail or call.

Cherry Heaven is a shop in Corfe Castle village, in Dorset, South-West England. The surrounding countryside includes green farmland, dramatic cliffs, pretty cottages, historic buildings, sandy beaches, protected coves, open heathland, hill-top panoramic views, and peaceful villages. And lively seaside resorts. To look at some photos, use the dorset link.

Cherry Heaven is an EU distributor for Paragon Kilns, and has been commended for an outstanding performance as one of Paragon's top-selling distributors over 2007 to : a pleasing outcome since the UK is only one third the area of Texas and one fortieth the area of the US.

Paragon Industries started as a family business in 1948. It's now the world's leading manufacturer of electric kilns and furnaces, and has built over 420,000. The 4,800 square metre site, in Mesquite, Texas, USA, has over 70 full-time staff.

During manufacture, every kiln is checked at every stage by a technician and signed-off before shipping. They're simply but robustly engineered, and you're buying a comprehensive, versatile, safe, low-cost kiln: a kiln with a future.

Paragon kilns conform to the demanding UL 499 standard in the US, and are CE Marked for the EU. Paragon is Greek for Model Of Perfection.

The Kitiki Studio provides a comprehensive Art Clay educational programme, as classes, masterclasses, workshops, and Art Clay Level 1 and Level 2 certification courses. If you're interested, mail or call.

The on-line shop link is below the menu bar near the top of the page, on the right: you won't have to create an account, register, log on, look up your membership number, remember a password, sign up, join a club, or agree to be emailed. And the total won't be more than you expected because VAT and UK-mainland delivery are included.