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Dermatitis is a group of skin conditions that may often be contracted by exposure to chemicals and metals. These may include scaling, splitting, eczema and so on. Dermatitis is a real hazard for jewelers. Metal workers suffer high rates of skin disorders.... (2002) Complete Story
Boy these people are really good at what they do. I’d love to watch them drawing sometime. Like their previous work ‘The Art of Jewelry Design’ this book belongs in your collection if you are interesting in drawing jewelry and need some basic design principles and information, especially about commercial conventions in design. It is without any doubt the best illustrated reference available for methods of rendering commercial jewelry and particularly gemstones. The designs are really heavy on the gemstones and the authors truly know their subject. This book also has what seems like more rendered metal surfaces and chains than the previous volume. It is really unsurpassed for its examples of rendered gemstones and stones in settings. Designing suggestions and conventions are discussed in the text.... (1996) Complete Story
Dust is small particles of a material. There are dusts you can see in the air; these can be breathed in, and because the particles are fairly large, they end up in the upper portions of the lungs. Some can be cleared from the body by its natural mucus where it is bound up, and brought up into the esophagus. From there it is swallowed and so exposes the stomach tissue to whatever chemical was ingested. Jewelry polishers may have elevated rates of stomach cancer as a result of this. With dust in the air, however, it is the smaller, invisible particles that are the most dangerous, and these stay in your lungs.... (2002) Complete Story
The "General Safety Rules for Tools" article applies here too, as with all power tools. Read the instruction manuals and directions most carefully. Plating and stripping solutions usually contain cyanides, bases or acids which, if mixed together, are used improperly or carelessly or come in contact with a cyanide plating solution can release hydrogen cyanide gas, which was used by the Nazis in the gas chambers and is still used in gas executions in the United States.... (1998) Complete Story
Enameling involves the firing and melting of suitable glasses onto and into metals for decorative effects. It is done at fairly high temperatures, from 1200F (649C) to a high kiln temperature of 1700F (927C) or so.The primary dangers involve dusts, the particle size of the enamel used, the chemical constituents of the enamel (older enamels frequently contain lead and other toxic metal oxides and chemicals), the infrared radiation of the kiln and sundry opportunities to burn oneself. Enamelists in factories have even been killed by scalds from water when molten enamel was dumped into it.... (1999) Complete Story
