Customize Your Tools


Sometimes jewelry makers need to make adjustments to standard tools to finish unique pieces. Our articles will help you customize your tools.

HomeJewelry MakingToolsCustomize Your Tools
Make Your Own DIY Rotary Burr

Make Your Own DIY Rotary Burr

Make your own high quality rotary burr from an inexpensive disposable lighter. By master goldsmith Charles Lewton-Brain. Filmed in full...
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How to Harden and Temper Tool Steel

How to Harden and Temper Tool Steel

Learn to harden and temper your own custom-shaped jewelry tools. By master goldsmith Charles Lewton-Brain. Filmed in full HD 1080p....
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Other Uses for a Pencil in Jewelry Making

Other Uses for a Pencil in Jewelry Making

Two surprising uses for a pencil as a tool in jewelry making. (1) Gain extreme control over the burr on...
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Make Your Own Cardboard Disc Sander

Make Your Own Cardboard Disc Sander

In this video, master goldsmith Charles Lewton-Brain will show you how to make a handy cardboard disc sander. You can...
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Method to Quickly Identify Tool Steel

Method to Quickly Identify Tool Steel

Learn how to quickly identify whether a piece of steel has the quality you need for making jewelry tools. By...
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Preparing a Hammer for Foldforming

Preparing a Hammer for Foldforming

Charles Lewton-Brain often hears about the difficulties novice blacksmiths encounter when using forging hammers for foldforming. See how he solves...
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Debunking Three Myths About Sawing

Debunking Three Myths About Sawing

In thinking about the daily tasks that I undertake at the bench, I realized how easy it is to fall...
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How to Make a Riffle File

How to Make a Riffle File

Every now and then when you are fabricating a piece or polishing a casting, a hole or hollow will pop...
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Giving New Life to Old Burs

Giving New Life to Old Burs

By Old burs can serve a number of useful purposes in daily bench work. Here are two tips from jewelers...
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Grinding and Shaping Onglette Gravers

Grinding and Shaping Onglette Gravers

This article contains the following detailed steps to give you a better understanding why grinding and shaping onglette gravers are...
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Recycling High Speed Steel Burs

Recycling High Speed Steel Burs

When I buy my high speed steel, 90 degree, under-cutting burs I always think of the words, "waste not, want...
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How to Customize Short Insulated Tweezers

How to Customize Short Insulated Tweezers

Customize a standard insulated tweezers to easily hold small objects much tighter...
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Optimized Saw Blade for Cutting Wax

Optimized Saw Blade for Cutting Wax

While many jewelers work directly in precious metals, many also work with wax, carving models for casting in silver and...
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Using Non-Jeweler’s Tools For Fabrication: How To Repurpose Painting Blades For Bezels

Using Non-Jeweler’s Tools For Fabrication: How To Repurpose Painting Blades For Bezels

Helen I. Driggs demonstrates how some non-jewelers tools give fabrication a new twist. My background is in graphic design, so...
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Tips for Modifying Vises

Tips for Modifying Vises

A good vise is a vital piece of equipment for any goldsmith because it can act as a third hand,...
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The Art of Tool Making

There are two properties which distinguish a good tool from a bad one. The tool must have the correct shape...
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Creating Beading Pliers Accessory Bezel Settings

Creating Beading Pliers Accessory Bezel Settings

Sometimes, holding on to really little parts is the greatest challenge of my day. I use tiny cabochons almost daily...
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How to Make Prong Notching Pliers

How to Make Prong Notching Pliers

These pliers notch round prongs easily to a given depth and replace a bur for the job. They are made...
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How to Modify Cross-Lock Tweezers

How to Modify Cross-Lock Tweezers

Often when soldering, it is necessary to use cross-lock tweezers to hold or steady the piece(s) being soldered. The pressure...
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Modified Split Mandrel for Finishing Round Bezels

A bench jeweler typically uses a split mandrel to sand and finish the inside of a ring. Various grits of...
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Homemade Flex-Shaft Guard

Homemade Flex-Shaft Guard

Homemade flex-shaft guard using a soft drink plastic bottle, a solution to the annoying and potentially hazardous problem of breathing...
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Modified Super Tools

Modified Super Tools

Down on your bench, look: It’s a file. It’s a bur. It’s Super Tool! At first it seemed so ordinary....
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Reusing Broken Saw Blades

Reusing Broken Saw Blades

Traditionally trained jewelers often scoff at the idea of using glue as a joining method. However, there are times when...
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Overcoming Tool Limitations

Overcoming Tool Limitations

True tales of how jewelers overcame out-of-the-box limitations - Most people who work with their hands become tool mad, and...
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Tool Alterations

Tool Alterations

This article describes the different tool alterations that any bench man needs to know and learn as guidance for their...
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Thai Chaser Tool Tricks

Thai Chaser Tool Tricks

I was recently in Chiang Mai, a city in northern Thailand, where I spent a month visiting silversmiths and chasers...
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How to Modify a Goldsmith Hammer

How to Modify a Goldsmith Hammer

Jewelers and metalsmiths have had to make their own tools throughout the ages to accomplish different tasks at the jeweler's...
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Customized Robo Grip Pliers

Customized Robo Grip Pliers

Steve Satow shares his procedure for customized robo grip pliers to add parallel action and more leverage to standard bow...
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Half-Ground Round Bur

Half-Ground Round Bur

There are times during the setters workday where there is a need for a specific tool, but there nothing is...
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Customized Head Polishing Pliers

Customized Head Polishing Pliers

This article describes a step by step procedure of a pair of simple pliers to become a pair of customized...
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Customized Steamer Bucket Enclosure

Customized Steamer Bucket Enclosure

The purpose of this steamer bucket enclosure is to prevent stones from being blown out by the steamer and flying...
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Customized Ultrasonic Sediment Bucket

Customized Ultrasonic Sediment Bucket

This article by Steve Satow shares a step by step procedure on how t o make a customized ultrasonic sediment...
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Customized Mini Clamp Tool

Customized Mini Clamp Tool

I like to hold small pieces of metal with a clamp that allows me to file hands free. I feel...
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Customized Earring Setting Pliers

Customized Earring Setting Pliers

Steve Satow shows the procedure for a customized earring setting pliers using a normal setting pliers. Normal setting pliers can...
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How to Modify Prong Pushers

Many stone setters would agree that one of the most challenging aspects of prong setting is getting the prongs down...
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Modifying Beading Tools

Modifying Beading Tools

Modifying beading tools for clean re-tipping jobs A colleague recently asked for my help in finding cup burs that were...
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Accessories for Small Part Pickling

Accessories for Small Part Pickling

Ever spent way too much time trying to retrieve tiny jump rings, links, or other small parts out of a...
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Modified Split Mandrel to Bezel-Set Round Stones

Modified Split Mandrel to Bezel-Set Round Stones

This jewelry bench tip is a follow-up to "Modified Split Mandrel for Finishing Round Bezels," which showed you how to...
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How to Modify Separating Tweezers

How to Modify Separating Tweezers

Steve Satow shows how to modify Standard insulated tweezers to become effective ring separating tweezers.
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Customized Beading Tool Retipper, Trays & Polisher

Customized Beading Tool Retipper, Trays & Polisher

Steve Satow shares his procedure on how to customize bench tools like a beading tool retipper, small parts trays and ...
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How to Make Straight Wire Holders

How to Make Straight Wire Holders

Stuller had the foresight to offer straight wire that we don't have to remove the bend from before we use...
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Customized Solder Holder, Jet Sett, Blast Shield

Customized Solder Holder, Jet Sett, Blast Shield

Steve Satow shares his procedure for customized solder holder and blast shield, and how to make using a Jet Sett...
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Customized Stone Laser Shield for Jewelry Making

Customized Stone Laser Shield for Jewelry Making

I have found this to be a most useful tool to use when rebuilding a bezel using a Laser Welder....
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Australian Ingenuity

Australian Ingenuity

Tool modifications from the land down under I just returned from Australia, where I shared foldforming and keum-boo lessons at...
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Customized Turntable Tool Rack

Customized Turntable Tool Rack

Find a turntable that
 is size appropriate for 
your bench. In this case
mine is 18 inches wide.
 If possible...
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Customized Light Box & Bench Shelf

Customized Light Box & Bench Shelf

Steve Satow shares his procedure for customized light box for your jewelry photography projects and customized bench shelf for more...
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How to Modify Wooden Ring Clamps

One persistent daily challenge a bench jeweler faces is trying to figure out the best way to hold onto tiny,...
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Buffer System & Ultrasonic Basket Replacement

Buffer System & Ultrasonic Basket Replacement

Buffer System & Ultrasonic Basket Replacement When we replaced our vacuum tubes for the buffer system I chose to run...
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Customized Hanging Tool Shelf

Customized Hanging Tool Shelf

I made a hanging tool shelf between my setting and soldering bench. With it off the floor it allows easy...
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Channel Setting Bezels with Customized Pulling Pliers

Channel Setting Bezels with Customized Pulling Pliers

These pliers are used to pull back bezels on channel set rings. This allows you to drop in the stones...
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Creating a Whip Burnisher

A worn-out bristle brush can easily be recycled into a useful tool called a whip burnisher or rotary hammer to...
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Customized Peg Head Holder & Stone Holder

Customized Peg Head Holder & Stone Holder

Steve Satow shares his procedure on customized bench tools such as 3 prong or peg head holder & wax stone...
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Green Bench Tips – Part 2

Green Bench Tips – Part 2

This is the second in a two-part series on green bench tips shared by jewelers who are taking another approach...
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Customized Loose Head Holder

Customized Loose Head Holder

With these pliers you can pre polish platinum and gold peg heads of any shape. Remove any nicks one prong...
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Modified Setting Bur with Safe Edge Tool

Modified Setting Bur with Safe Edge Tool

Here iss a nice little tool that makes use of an old setting bur. If you take the bottom teeth...
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How to Customize Curved Tip Melee Tweezers

How to Customize Curved Tip Melee Tweezers

These tweezers are great for gripping melee when straight tips don't give you enough clearance. They allow you to slide...
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How to Customize Fine Tip Melee Tweezers

How to Customize Fine Tip Melee Tweezers

These tweezers are great for gripping melee when you slide then into position in continuous channel setting jobs. Here you...
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