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How you set up your shop, your working procedures and workspace can affect your safety, comfort, stress level and efficiency of making. If your shop is well planned you will be more efficient. The more efficient you are, the faster you work and the more creative time you will have available to you. It pays to spend some time on organization. The more you think about, and plan your workspace and what you do in it the easier life as a craftsperson will be for you.... (2000) Complete Story
The next time you sit down at your bench, don't think of it as just a bench. Think of it as the cockpit of a plane. That's right, a plane. Sure, there are differences: Instead of dials, switches, and throttles, you have files, saws, and burnishers. But the same principle applies: Just like a pilot doesn't want a crucial switch out of reach, you don't want to have to move out of your way to get a tool. Your setup should be carefully designed to avoid problems and to make working easy and fast.... (2001) Complete Story
This is a mixture of potassium sulfides which has traditionally been used to darken or 'antique' silver and bronzes. This is usually called 'oxidizing' the surface though it has nothing to do with oxygen, what is really happening is that sulfur is reacting with the surface to produce the grays and blacks. So if you call it 'oxidizing' as most jewelers do just remember that is untrue. Most people who make jewellery are quite familiar with its use.... (2002) Complete Story
Chasing and repousse is carried out on various surfaces using steel punches to strike and manipulate sheet metal or cast objects. Flat pattern chasing or stamping sheet metal can be done on an anvil, or the bottom of an old iron which makes an excellent surface to strike on. Sometimes thin double-sided carpet tape works well to stick a piece of metal onto a flat surface for stamping or chasing like this. Most chasing and repousse however has more dimensional relief than flat chasing and is often done with the metal fixed onto pitch. Various pitch types and hardnesses are available from most tool suppliers.... (2005) Complete Story
To begin with I highly recommend this book of technical information and procedures for anyone wanting to learn wax modelling techniques (as always given patience and practice in carrying out the exercises). There is very little available in English on jewellery oriented professional wax working and this text contributes to the field. A good half of the currently available books are by Japanese authors (Wada for instance). This is interesting when one considers that Japan did not have a tradition of precious metals jewellery using gems until after the Americans (and later DeBeers) introduced the concepts after World War II.... (2005) Complete Story
