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- Jewelry Making - A
jewelry workshop safety report: Safety and Substitutes
- This text is that of a paper given to the Society of North American
Goldsmiths Conference in Seattle on March 28, 1998,. The citations
are incomplete and will be properly outlined in the book that
is being written on this subject. Brain Press is the publisher.
- (318) Jewelry
Making - Burma's jade mines - An Annotated Occidental History
- The history of Burma’s jade mines in the West is a brief one.
While hundreds of different reports, articles and even books exist
on the famous ruby deposits of Mogok, only a handful of westerners
have ever made the journey to northern Burma’s remote jade mines
and wrote down their findings.Occidental accounts of the mines
make their first appearance in 1837....
- (239) Jewelry Making
- Some Notes on Depletion Gilding
- This is an academic paper, not a technical 'how to' guide. Many
of the procedures described are unsafe in practice.
- (174) Jewelry Making -
Some PR tools to have on your side
- Parts of the following text were previously published in the
books ‘Shareware’ and ‘Small Scale Photography’ (Brain Press).
- (159) Jewelry Making
- Tube setting - an introduction to setting
- Tube setting is a simple method of setting that can take as
little as five minutes or less per setting given a specified stone
size and a suitable tube to fit the stone. The setting is visually
clean, has a professional look to it and can be done with a minimum
of tools..... (With lllustrations)
- (155) Tracing
the green line - A journey to Burma's jade mines - part 1
- [Part 1] This article resulted from the first visit by foreign
gemologists to Burma’s jade mines in over thirty years. the mines
are described in detail, along with the road to and from the area.
- (152) Jewelry Making
- Some Soldering hints and tricks
- Some Soldering hints and tricks - From: Cheap Thrills in the
Tool Shop
- (145)
Jewelry Making - The Why's and How's of Profitable Jewelry Design
& Repair
- A few years ago, Jewelers Circular Magazine reported that over
75% of all retail jewelers in America lose money on their jewelers....Making
a living dealing with labor intensive dollars can be a real headache.
It also can be enjoyable and profitable, if it's done right. Today,
you'll get some very valuable tips on doing it right!.
- (143) Jewelry Making
- Shop Machines
- Article by: Lewton-Brain 1996 - About Anvils, Buffing Machines,
Casting Machines, Drill Press Machines, Flexible Shafts, Hydraulic
Press Machines, Rolling Mills and more...
- (137) Jewelry
Making - Big E, little e - Successful e-commerce is a matter of
careful planning and constant refinement
- The ongoing debate over the necessity of e-commerce in the jewelry
industry is coming to a close. From small shop artisans showcasing
their custom work to major manufacturers providing their customers
with the ability to place and track orders online, virtually every
jewelry business has an Internet presence-or is planning for one.
But getting involved in e-commerce is still not a simple proposition.
Like any business decision, selling online requires research,
testing, and refining; a simple Web site is no longer the sole
requirement for success....
- (136) Jewelry
Making - Theory and Practice of Goldsmithing - Enameling
- For more than two thousand years, goldsmiths have fused glass
onto their work for color enrichment. Wonderful enameled work
can be found from many ancient cultures, providing familiar icons
of the technical skill and aesthetic sensibilities of their makers.
In our own century enameling has benefitted from scientific and
industrial research and because of this it has grown from being
just one element of the goldsmith's art to a position of prominence
on its own. One need only think of enameled housewares, architectural
trim and utilitarian objects to understand the importance of enameling
in our society....
- (124) Jewelry Making
- Small Bench Tools Descriptions
- Small bench tools descriptions - By Charles Lewton-Brain 1992.
This selected list describes a number of small, easily made tools
which can improve efficiency, speed and ease of working at the
bench. While by no means a complete listing of the tools one has
at one's bench or of vernacular goldsmiths tools it demonstrates
examples of the kind of thinking required for ease of working
at the bench. Remember, speed and efficiency give one more creative
time. Each tool represents a useful production aid and involves
skills applicable to other areas of metalworking in it's making
and discussion.
- (123) Jewelry Making
- Some thoughts on computer use in the Metals/jewelry Field
- Computer use in increasing in the jewelry field and at some
point, probably sooner than you think you will see computers used
in ordinary jewelry stores to manufacture jewelry and its components.
The following comments are intended to introduce some of the issues
concerning this coming change..... A goldsmith who also knows
how to create in 3D modeling programs will be a pretty hot commodity
in the near future.
- (120) Jewelry Making
- Basic Photographic Equipment for Jewelery and other Small objects
- Basic Photographic Equipment for Jewelery and other Small objects
- (120)
Tracing the green line - A journey to Burma's jade mines - part
2
- [Part 1] This article resulted from the first visit by foreign
gemologists to Burma’s jade mines in over thirty years. the mines
are described in detail, along with the road to and from the area.
- (117) Jewelry
Making - Other hinge pin installation options
- This is an extract from the book Hinges and Hinge-Based Catches
for Jewelers and Goldsmiths
- (109) Jewelry
Making - Notes about Buffing and Polishing Materials
- Almost any metal or hard plastic item can be buffed to a high
polish or a satin sheen with the correct buffing wheel and the
proper polishing compound. This includes copper pots, doorknobs,
golf clubs and switch plates, to name a few common items. The
molecular composition of different metals is as different as the
appearance, density and luster of the metals themselves. To polish
and enhance the shine on a beautiful piece of jewelry requires
a totally different set of polishes and buffs than to get a real
professional shine on stainless steel or...
- (108) Jewelry Making
- Determination of Ring Sizes - Theory and Practice of Goldsmithing
-
- A ring fits well when it is no longer felt on the finger. If
in the course of time the size of the finger changes or if the
ring is to be fitted for another wearer, a sizing of the ring
is necessary. This article will lead you step by step through
the process of resizing rings
- (104) Jewelry Making
- Stonesetting: Engraved bezel with vertical walls.
- Stonesetting: Engraved bezel with vertical walls. - This article
contains many illustrations........ Stonesetting has been a part
of goldsmithing for as long as people have worked in precious
metals. Perhaps the oldest and most used setting has been the
bezel. The simplest form of the bezel is a ring of metal fitting
the circumference of the enclosed cabachon or tapered material
soldered onto a base plate. The stone fitted inside, and the metal
is pushed, burnished or hammered towards the stone....
- (102) Jewelry
Making - The Enamel Material - Enameling with professionals
- Enamel comes in a number of forms: lump, string, liquid, and
powder, as well as in the optical qualities of transparent, opaque,
and opalescent. The important factor in selecting an enamel is
that it be made for the metal you are using. Enamel expands as
it is fired and then contracts as it cools. This is called thermal
expansion. The metal on which the enamel is fired must expand
and contract at a slightly higher rate....
- (102)
Jewelry Making - Making a Chasing or forming tool
- Step by step article on how to make a chasing or forming steel
tools.
- (99) Jewelry Making
- Some Polishing and Finishing Aids
- Some Polishing and Finishing Aids....For polishing it is recommended
to use primarily bristle brushes for most of the removal work
and to follow up with a buff where necessary. Feel free to use
a lot of compound, it is the compound that does the work, not
the buff. Old polishers would have ....
- (99) Jewelry Making
- Photo - Booth Systems: basic set ups for jewelry and product
photography
- Booth Systems: basic set ups for jewelry and product photography
- (95) Jewelry Making
- Over Glaze Direct Painting - Enameling with professionals
- For more than twenty years, I have been using overglazes as
a direct painting technique. My canvas usually is a fired, flux
and white base coated enameled copper piece. Although I sometimes
make a rough sketch for placement, I more often paint directly
in an impressionistic style. Each painting is a new and different
delight. Even after all these years, the firing process is still
able to produce a surprise often enough to hold my interest when
I watch the enamel change color as it cools. When the result is
not acceptable or what I intended, I enjoy working my way out
of a color or design error....
- (93) Jewelry Making
- Working with 35 mm Slides
- Working with 35 mm Slides - The following is an extract from
‘Small Scale Photography: How to take Great Shots of Your Work’,
by Charles Lewton-Brain - 1996
- (91) Jewelry Making
- Some thoughts on Fire scale
- How to deal with the problem of fire scale.
- (91) Jewelry Making
- A selected Jewellery/Metals Bibliography
- A selected bibliography list for the jeweler - Metal working,
Casting, Plating, Enamelling ,Gem Cutting, Setting, Engraving
and Etching, Other Techniques, Jewelry Repairs and A Selected
Bibliography for Materials Science for Goldsmiths - Over 100 listings.
(By: Charles Lewton-Brain)
- (89) Fred
Ward’s Updated Letter to the Editors of U.S. Gem Trade Publications
- Everyone who deals in gems or jewelry could be adversely affected
by a June, 1997, jury verdict in Washington, DC. As a principal
in the case, I assure you this is serious business, and it will
affect your business. If a customer can buy a sound, high-quality,
unfractured and unfilled gemstone, break it, and then get a judgement
to make the jeweler liable for the original cost, plus treble
damages, plus legal fees, I am sure you see the consequences to
you and your company....
- (87) Jewelry Making
- Hints on making tubing
- Not all sizes and wall thicknesses of tube come seamless from
a factory or refiner. Especially when working in gold it is not
cost effective or timely to order in a specific tube size, material,
or wall thickness. There are many times when you need a piece
of tubing....
- (86)
Jewelry Making - All that glitters is gold - The Mass Finishing
of Gold Jewelry
- Design dictates buyer's choices when gold jewelry is purchased
and the quality of the pieces certainly plays an important part
as well. Not to be overlooked, However, as gold jewelry is readied
to go to market, is that shoppers, regardless of price range,
are attracted by the glitter of gold. This article deals with
recommendations as to how manufacturers can attain that glitter
and ensure that the sparkle of the surface finish of their products
catches the buying public's eye and wallet. We are going to focus
on Mass Finishing, what it can do for you and the various methods
and equipment that are available to save you time and money....
- (82) Jewelry Making
- Some Flexible Shaft Tricks
- Some Flexible Shaft Tricks - from ‘Cheap Thrills in the Tool
Shop
- (82) Jewelry
Making - Devil's Advocate; Death of the Thai Ruby
- This article discusses the decline of Thailand’s ruby mining
industry. The author warns that Thailand faces future problems
is the country’s leaders do not pay greater attention to environmental
protection.
- (81) Jewelry Making
- Teaching Through Process: Towards A New Metals Education
- An art school is in some ways a difficult place to learn to
be a metalsmith. Traditional systems of industry education took
from 3 to 7 years of concentrated time to educate a goldsmith.
This is because metals, as Jamie Bennett puts it, are a 'process
oriented media'. By this is meant there that there are often many
more ways of working and manipulating the material than in other
media....
- (79) Jewelry
Making and Design - Some Hints on Rendering.
- These pages contain a list of recommended tools to jewelry rendering,
as well as a series of projects that I have used in classes. You
could construct your own 'self-study' course using them.
- (78) Jewelry
Making - Fire Gilding - Theory and Practice of Goldsmithing -
- The first step in the process is to make a paste or amalgam
of gold in a vehicle that will later be driven off. The amalgam
will be made by joining fine gold and mercury....
- (78) Jewelry
Making - Metals Safety Information
- Metals Safety Information, Goldsmiths work with metals. Our
bodies react to metals, their dusts, salts and oxides. The metals
that jewelers come in contact with include gold, copper, silver,
zinc, iron, steel, platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium, titanium,
niobium, aluminum and ones that we should consider not having
around any more at all in the workshop: nickel, lead, mercury,
chromium, selenium, cadmium, arsenic, antimony, manganese and
beryllium. Alloys contain more than one metal, brass for instance,
contains up to 35% zinc, the rest is copper.
- (75) Jewelry Making
- Taking Photos of Reflective Objects
- Reflective surfaces are a special case. I remember seeing an
Art in America magazine once, and on the cover was a picture of
some really famous sculptor's work in a Washington, DC gallery.
It was a large....
- (73) Jewelry Making
- Rules for Tools
- While it is clearly impossible to give a set of rules for each
tool and procedure that goldsmiths use, this section gives some
examples of the kinds of rules that may be helpful to review when
using powered equipment....
- (73) Jewelry Making
- Some basic metal working tools for beginners
- Some basic metal working tools for beginners. Article by: Charles
Lewton-Brain, 1994
- (72) Jewelry Making
- On Jewellery Career Options
- One of the most interesting things about the jewellery/metals
field is that there are so many career options, so many contexts
that one can choose to work in. There are even ways of becoming
wealthy if that is important in one's goals
- (67) Jewelry Making
- Basic Principles of Construction and Soldering
- A short review of construction and soldering principles....
- (67) Jewelry Making
- Some Notes On Granulation
- Some Notes On Granulation. By Charles Lewton-Brain,1996
- (67) Jewelry Making
- Hinges with bearings, a bracelet and a box
- A bearing is essentially tube sections which are attached to
the metal being hinged into which the hinge itself is installed.
The use of bearings offers us a couple of things. First of all,
it offers us a way of increasing the structural strength of our
hinge unit. Secondly, it offers us a method of having a stop --
that is, unlike a butt hinge, which can rotate over an extreme
range, until the two pieces of metal almost touch, you can design
a hinge with bearings so that it only rotates a certain amount,
and then stops as the bearings collide with each other.
- (67) Jewelry Making
- Gem Microscope Thoughts
- Gem Microscope Thoughts - This short paper discusses some of
the things to think about when considering obtaining a microscope
to use for gemology. There is some emphasis on inexpensive options.
- (66) Jewelry
Making - Engraving tools and preparation- Theory and Practice
of Goldsmithing -
- Many industries have need of specialized engravers, for instance
those who make dies, who cut stones and glass, and others who
carve reliefs. Though a goldsmith might call on a specialist for
certain jobs, it is useful to have a general understanding of
the technique and sufficient skills to use gravers for simple
everyday tasks at the bench.
- (65) Jewelry
Making - Casting Safety: a glimpse
- (65) Jewelry
Making - Engraving Holding Equipment - Theory and Practice of
Goldsmithing -
- As important as the gravers are, it is hard to understate the
importance of the devices used to secure work while engraving.
Or to say it another way, even a properly sharpened graver in
experienced hands will be difficult to use if the workpiece is
sliding across the bench. Knowing this it is not surprising to
find that several tools have been developed to hold onto the work
for cutting.
- (65) Jewelry
Making - Theory and Practice of Goldsmithing - Nillo Work
- Niello is a deep black metal mixture that is fused onto metal
for decorative effect. Though worked on three-dimensional objects,
the effect might be considered graphic because it relies primarily
on shape and pattern. The contrast of the lustrous black inlay
against either matte or polished metal is striking and has earned
niello a special place in the arsenal of decorative techniques.
- (64) Jewelry
Making - Shaping Up - The evolution of metal clay designs
- In 1996, Rio Grande in Albuquerque, New Mexico, introduced artists
and jewelers in the United States to Precious Metal Clay -PMC
from Mitsubishi Materials Corp. in Tokyo. The material, a mixture
of fine-grained metal powder with an organic binder, could be
worked like clay, but became a solid piece of metal when kiln-fired....
- (64) Jewelry
Making - PLIQUE-A-JOUR - Russian Soldering Method - Enameling
with professionals
- There are a number of methods for plique a jour, a filigree
technique that allows light to shine through the enamel, much
like stained glass. With plique a jour, there is no backing for
the vitreous enamel; instead a structure of metal is made with
open spaces, called cells, for the enamels. I form a framework
of fine silver square wire and within that framework I solder
wires together in a design formed of cells. To make the framework
as I do, you need to know how to use the jeweler's torch and how
to solder. I use this Russian method of soldering primarily to
make fine silver earrings. As the earrings dangle, the light shines
through the enameled cells.....
- (64)
Jewelry Making - Metals For Enameling - Enameling with professionals
- The most commonly used metals for enameling are pure copper
and fine silver. The fine silver is primarily used for jewelry
because of its cost, color and the advantage of not producing
a firescale coat like copper does when it is fired. The copper
is the most used metal for enameling for many reasons: its malleability,
its color, availability, and cost. In addition, it usually maintains
its shape in the firing process. The appropriate gauge....
- (64) Jewelry Making
- Small Scale Double Making Procedures
- Double is a German word of french origin meaning rolled gold
or gold fill material.
- (64) Jewelry
Making - Considerations in Image Creation in Photography
- Considerations in Image Creation in Photography - Now we're
going to start talking about taking the picture - actually getting
closer to taking the image. There's a couple of things that we
need to think about....
- (63) Jewelry
Making - Theory and Practice of Goldsmithing - Inlay Work
- There are many techniques in which contrasting metals are placed
side by side. Those that can properly be called inlay require
a mechanical attachment to secure a soft material into a harder
one. Examples can be seen in ...
- (63)
Jewelry Making - Devil's Advocate; The Naked Eye - Diamond's Worst
Friend
- One of the important reasons for the dominance of diamond in
the gem market is the existence of a comprehensive and internationally-accepted
system of quality analysis. This allows us common folk to buy
with confidence, for with a diamond grading report we have an
independent “expert” opinion of the stone’s quality. But how “expert”
are them experts anyway. Is this opinion, itself, always infallible?
Do the different quality steps really indicate genuine differences
in quality?
- (63) Gemstone Information
- Amber - Frozen Moments in Time
- Amber - Frozen Moments in Time. Amber has a deep fascination
for man both as a gem and as a chance to look back into the past
with a remarkable clarity. Its warm lustrous touch beguiles us
and the remarkable inclusions sometimes found within it captures
our imagination....
- (62) Jewelry Making
- Noise and its affects
- Noise is so common that we don't tend to think of it in terms
of exposure in the same way that we would, for example, with a
chemical such as benzene. Yet the treatment of hearing damage
is considered to be one of the growth industries as we....
- (61) Jewelry Making
- Cupric Nitrate Patination of Metals
- This patination solution gives you a range of greens, olives,
browns, black, turquoise and yellow-greens on many metals because
it is a surface finish. It is quite adhesive and controllable.
You do however need adequate ventilation....
- (61) Jewelry Making
- Notes On Specific Gravity
- Notes On Specific Gravity - Archimedes is said to have discovered
that when a body is placed in water the volume of water displaced
is equal to the volume of the body and that when the body is placed
in water that it undergoes an apparent loss of weight. This loss
of weight is equal to the weight of the water displaced. When
a gem is weighed....
- (61) Jewelry Making
- Suggested Film Types for Jewelry Photography
- Suggested Film Types for Jewelry Photography
- (59) Jewelry Making
- Jump Ring Notes
- Jump Ring Notes (From Cheap Thrills in the Tool Shop)
- (59) Jewelry
Making - Basic Knuckle Options
- extract from the book 'Hinges and Hinge-Based Catches for Jewelers
and Goldsmiths'
- (58) Jewelry Making
- Grinding Wheel Safety Thoughts
- Besides the safety instructions that you get from a tool manufactuer
in the tool manual it may be necessary for you to write your own
sets of rules up to keep you out of trouble....
- (58) Jewelry
Making - Special Repair Work - Theory and Practice of Goldsmithing
-
- highlights the common aspects ones encounter in jewelry repairs.
It covers point related to mechanical Repairs, brooches repairs,
chains repairs and bracelets repairs
- (57) Jewelry Making
- Basic lighting options for jewelery and small object photography
- Basic lighting options for jewelery and small object photography
- (57)
Jewelry Making - Second skin - Testing Rhodium Plating Technique
- Plenty of information has been published about how rhodium plating
solutions should behave under ideal conditions-but little data
and real-world information exists for manufacturers and bench
jewelers to apply to their own plating operations....
- (56) Jewelry Making -
Dusts in the Jewelry Workshop
- 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.
- (55) Jewelry Making
- How to draw Celtic knots
- Jewelry Making - How to draw Celtic knots
- (54)
Jewelry Making - Jewelry repair - Ring Resizing - Removing one
Half-Size
- Jewelry Repair - How to resize a Layd's Yellow ring market '585'
w/2 rd pearls approx 7.7mm each and 6 white brilliants approx
1.8mm each. 1 prong thin. size 6
- (54) Jewelry
Making - How laser welders are impacting jewelry manufacture and
repair in the 21st century
- The one tool that allows each of these jewelers to do their
jobs better is a laser welder, a technological advancement that
is becoming increasingly common in trade shops and manufacturing
facilities. By using a sharply focused beam of light to produce
very high heat in a small area, lasers are allowing jewelers to
routinely accomplish tasks that would once have been either impossible
or too time consuming to be worthwhile....
- (54) Jewelry
Making - Casting - Identifying and preventing wax defects
- Manufacturer spend much time and money diagnosing defects that
are believed to originate in the casting process, but actually
occur during waxing. Many companies run in circles, changing this
gate/sprue, that metal, these temperatures, and screaming at suppliers
to try to fix the 'mystery' problem. While these areas certainly
can be the source of problems, many defects are misdiagnosed as
casting defects, and thousands, perhaps millions, of dollars are
wasted in search of non-existent flaws in the casting process....
- (54) Jewelry Making
- Holding Objects for Photography
- Holding Objects for Photography - If an object will sit by itself
on the shooting surface this is not a problem but often it needs
to be propped up in some way. Even objects that will sit well
on a flat surface sometimes need tilting slightly towards the
camera by placing something under their rear side. Holding objects
in place for the photograph is usually fairly easy and fast just
by placing a suitable chunk of something heavy behind it against
which it can lean. Wedges of wood or other materials can be useful
for this. In general....
- (52) Jewelry Making
- Morro Redondo Tourmaline
- This is a report on the largest occurrence of Tourmaline in
the history of Brazil gem mining; the Morro Redondo Tourmaline
of the State of Minas Gerias Brazil.
- (51) Jewelry Making
- Making Earring posts by hand
- Yes you can make your own earring posts. It is generally more
cost effective to buy them, but making them is not a problem and
there are times that it is useful to know how.
- (50) Jewelry
Making - Gas handling
- Jewelers work with compressed gases of all kinds, in torch systems,
kilns, casting machines, abrasive blasters, laser welding machines
needing argon and more. Many of these gases are flammable and
an explosion hazard, acetylene, propane and hydrogen are examples.
Oxygen is often used with these gases. Oxygen is a potent fire
risk if it comes in contact with oils, greases or flammable materials,
even fingerprint grease left in a fitting has caused a fire before.
- (50) Jewelry
Making - Cuttlefish Casting - Theory and Practice of Goldsmithing
-
- Cuttlefish casting is a quick and fairly accurate casting method.
Its applications are limited only by the thickness and overall
dimensions of the shell. It is difficult to achieve fine details
on the surface of the casting, but this is offset by the richly
complex texture that is a natural by-product of this method.
- (49)
Jewelry Making - How to Make a Wax Injector
- You will require a 5 to 6 inch by 3 inch wide brass or copper
tube, silver solder a cover on both ends a thicker one or double
up for the base to retain the heat. Ideally the tube and top plate
should be 1/8th inch thick with the base plate being....
- (49)
- Lets Talk Gemstones -
- Lets Talk Gemstones - The sorosilicate class of minerals is
composed of more than seventy minerals. Most are rare, and only
a few are used as gemstones or are cut for collectors. The exception,
the lovely tanzanite of the zoisite group that forms in the orthorhombic
crystal system, was discussed in a previous article. Since the
optical and physical properties of the lesser known varieties
vary and their use as gemstones is not common, each will be discussed
in paragraph form and the properties table will be omitted in
this article.
- (48) Jewelry Making
- Compositional Hints for Working Jewellers
- Compositional Hints for Working Jewellers - from the book Shareware.
It is sometimes useful to have criticism of one's work in order
to develop it. While studying as an apprentice or an art school
student if one is lucky one learns the most from such criticism,
preferably put in a positive manner.
- (48) Jewelry
Making - Channel setting - Set 'Em Straight
- Over the past decade, channel setting has grown in popularity.
Setting small diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and even emeralds into
channels has become commonplace in most shops. Hardly a week goes
by without some form of repair being preformed on a channel set
piece. The following tips will hopefully make this work a little
easier.....
- (47) Jewelry Making
- Files
- The following is extracted from the book 'Cheap Thrills in the
Tool Shop' by: Charles Lewton-Brain
- (47)
Jewelry Making - Enhancing the stone - An Update on Diamond Treatment
- A summary of the most common treatment techniques used on diamonds,
how they are identified by trained gemologists, and what potential
problems they present to manufacturers, retailers, and bench jewelers....
- (46) Jewelry Making
- Considerations in Photographing Various Media
- Three - dimensional objects will be well served by the methods
described before, such as overhead diffuse lighting, fill card
and mirror use. For flat things
- (46) Jewelry
Making - V Prong Setting - To V or Not To V
- Several shapes of stones have pointed ends, including marquise,
pear, heart, and princess. Because these points are often thin
and fragile, it is important to protect them with a prong. This
is particularly important on rings where the stone may be subject
to more abuse than in pendants, earrings, or brooches. Although
a standard prong will usually suffice, a V shaped prong is preferable.
A V-prong provides additional protection and will more securely
hold the point of the stone....
- (46) Jewelry
Making - Shop the Show - Things to think about to get the most
out of a Trade Show
- MJSA's Mary Walek asked me to do a session called 'Shop the
Show' in New York. When I first read the description of the presentation
I had to give I had to think hard. Don’t we all know how
to shop already? And at a trade show too, where we know why we
are there...
- (45) Jewelry
Making - Sand Casting - Theory and Practice of Goldsmithing
- Though sand casting has been largely replaced by centrifugal
casting in recent decades, for hundreds of years it was the most
popular of all casting methods. It still plays an important role
in the production of large metal forms, and can offer the advantages
of low cost, quick results and ease of duplication to those goldsmiths
who take the time to master it. Though sometimes thought of as
coarse, sandcasting can yield results that are as fine and true
to detail as any other casting method.
- (43) Jewelry Making
- Basic Optics Notes for Gemology
- Basic Optics Notes for Gemology - The optical characteristics
and properties of gemstones often provide the fastest and best
methods of identification. A certain amount of theory is necessary
as optical principles determine cutting methods, gemstone attributes
and the function of gem testing instruments.
- (43) Jewelry
Making - Some application methods for applying Patination solutions
to metal surfaces
- Extremely clean metal surfaces give better results. See the
article on Cleaning metal Surfacesfor more information on cleaning....
- (42) Jewelry Making
- Introductory Gemmology - Definitions Concerning Physical Properties
of Gemstones
- Introductory Gemmology: Definitions Concerning Physical Properties
of Gemstones
- (42) Jewelry Making
- Making filigree Jig
- Making filigree Jig
- (42) Jewelry Making
- Wax Tools
- Wax Tools ; Article by: Charles Lewton-Brain Copyright 1994
- (42) Jewelry Making
- Notes on Scoring and Bending
- Scoring and bending is one of the most important ways of constructing
jewellery. Scoring is a method of obtaining very sharply defined
bends in metal sheets.........
- (42)
Jewelry Making - Further Photography Set - up Options
- The use of 'Plexiglas L's' is an extremely effective small scale
lighting system. You take white, translucent Plexiglas, and you
make squares approximately two feet (60 cm) on each side. Then
you make two L - shaped constructions by gluing the edges together.
In a pinch duct tape on the outside to hold parts temporarily
may be helpful. Having the L shape allows you to stack them in
different ways, so that they can be instantly positioned one
- (42) Jewelry
Making - Jewelry Photography, Depth of Field Notes
- Depth of field refers to the amount of the object that is in
focus (the depth that is in focus). When you look through the
camera's viewfinder on a close - up shot you may notice that part
of the object is in focus and part is not. You can change the
focus using the lens so that the front, middle or back zone of
the object is in focus. You will, however
- (42) Jewelry Making
- Fracture healing / filling of Möng Hsu ruby
- (41) Jewelry
Making - Firing Created Moissanite and Diamonds into place in
PMC
- Firing Created Moissanite and Diamonds into place in PMC...
teach you about the different ways to set stones, without traditional
fabrication methods. Not only can diamonds be sintered in place,
but a myriad of other wonderful, and precious gemstones can be
utilized.
- (41) Jewelry Making
- A method of patinating steel
- Warning: This procedure should be undertaken with appropriate
precautions; goggles, gloves, protective clothing, adequate ventilation.
- (41) Jewelry Making
- Buttons - Production Project Proposal
- Buttons Production Project Proposal - This is an example of
a production project proposal involving the reproduction of two
historically important buttons. This shows how the project is
described in terms that allow the client to see what is involved
in manufacturing. It is a sample of a description that allows
the client a sense of the scope of the job.
- (41) Jewelry Making
- Some Notes on making your own polariscope for gemology
- Some Notes on making your own polariscope for gemology - By:
Charles Lewton-Brain. Polariscopes are a very useful, simple and
inexpensive to make piece of gemological equipment. They are used
to tell glass from gem materials synthetic spinel from all other
materials, singly refractive from doubly refractive, crystaline
from cryptocrystaline material, doublets and triplets from other
gems, identify yellow Verneuil corundum (Plato test-see Liddicoat
-GIA), determine quartz definitively from other materials, tell
whether a transparent gemstone is biaxial or uniaxial in its crystal
system. This is pretty good or equipment that may be as simple
as a camera lens and a pair of polaroid? sunglasses.
- (41) Jewelry
Making - Minimizing cracks during jewelry manufacturing, and beyond
- As many jewelry manufacturers and goldsmiths know from hard
experience, cracking in jewelry can occur at any time during its
manufacture. It can also occur much later, after the jewelry has
been sold to the consumer or during repair. Cracking can also
occur in the processing of the starting materials (the casting
grain and mill products from which the jewelry is to be made),
and may not be detected until several stages later in the manufacturing
process....
- (40) Jewelry Making
- The Cardboard disc sanding tool
- Cardboard disc sanding tool - The tool is used to sand flat
surfaces onto jewellery replacing much more expensive jewellers
.i.laps;. It is unsurpassed for reshaping commercial and handmade
chasing tools and hammers. One can go directly from this sanded
surface to a polishing buff......
- (40) Jewelry Making
- Minerals, Crystals and Their Systems
- Minerals, Crystals and Their Systems - From: ‘INTRODUCTORY GEMMOLOGY’
by Lewton-Brain?1986/94. This is an introductory listing of definitions
and nomenclature concerning gem materials.
- (39) - Lets
Talk Gemstones - Al2SiO5 Group - Topaz, a Neososilicate
- Lets Talk Gemstones - Topaz occurs most frequently in non-gem
granular and columnar forms that bear a resemblance to fat. These
non-transparent forms derive their name pycnite from the Greek
word puknos meaning fat. Either the Sanskrit word tapas meaning
fire or the Red Sea Island known as Topazion in ancient times
is the source of the name for crystalline topaz...
- (39) Jewelry Making
- Keum-Boo
- A Korean technique for applying 24k gold to silver.
- (39) Jewelry
Making - Carat Gold Solders
- In many countries, regulations govern the caratage of gold solders
used to make jewellery and, with few exceptions, gold solder alloys
should be of the same caratage as the jewellery. One problem with
the production of solders is to ensure a good colour match with
the jewellery being assembled....
- (39) Jewelry Making
- Ventilation in your jewelery workshop.
- Ventilation means removing noxious materials, dusts and fumes
from where you can breathe them in. It is about taking away the
chance for you to breathe in chemicals and particles that can
damage your lungs. Ever seen people riding around with an oxygen
tank next to them and tubes in their noses? That is only one of
the kinds of trouble you can get into from breathing in toxic
stuff.
- (39) Jewelry Making
- How you move, sit and stand: Ergonomics
- Sore back? Achy wrists? How's that neck? Do you have to twist
and reach for tools? Do you have hemorrhoids? Sore eyes? Craftperson's
hunch?
- (38) Jewelry Making - Resumes
and gallery presentation
- The better your presentation the more seriously galleries take
you and the better your results. This holds especially true when
applying for an exhibition in a gallery
- (38) Jewelry Making
- Making filigree wire
- Making filigree wire
- (38) Jewelry Making
- Some Notes on Stakes and Swages
- Some Notes on Stakes and Swages - derived from: Cheap Thrills
in the Tool Shop. Stakes are objects used for shaping metal over,
on and into. Hammers or mallets are used to form the metal over
the shape of the stake. Stakes can be made of various materials.
A wooden stump can be considered a kind of a stake. Usually in
the West most stakes are steel....
- (38) Jewelry Making
- Some Notes on Optical Effects in Gemstones
- Some Notes on Optical Effects in Gemstones - By: Charles Lewton-Brain,
From the book 'Introductory Gemmology'. This list introduces some
of the terms used in discussing optical effects in gemstones.
- (38) Jewelry Making
- Goldsmiths pitch options
- Pitch is used all over the world by goldsmiths and silversmiths
to hold metal in place while working it with hammers, punches
or chisels. It should be hard enough to fill the requirements
of the chasing work done on it. Most chasers will therefore have
several hardnesses available, a soft one for deep forming, a medium
for regular work and a hard for planishing on. In the old days
chasers would even have summer and winter formulations....
- (38) Jewelry Making
- Hammer Hints
- Hammer Hints - Hammers are an essential part of silversmithing
and goldsmithing. While one can buy hammers ready made one can
also do a lot with home-made versions and adaptations.
- (38) Jewelry Making
- Keep your studio out of your home.
- Often craftspeople start out making craft objects in their living
space, a kitchen, a living room, and sometimes continue working
in them even when they have grown to the point that they need
a separate studio. It is not wise to share one's living and family
space with workshop space. Usually there are chemicals, tools,
equipment, processes, sounds, materials, wastes, dusts and so
on that are unhealthy to be exposed to that are produced in a
work shop. If you have these in your living space as well your
total exposure increases greatly and your body does not get a
chance to recover from any stresses it is experiencing. Your 'body
burden' will grow (the body burden is the amount of chemicals
that are stored in your body and accumulate in your fat or bones).
It is a good idea to have your office, too, in a separate room
than your workshop. This is to decrease your overall interactions
with your workshop materials and processes. Your house is generally
quite full enough of chemicals and dusts without you adding to
the exposure problem. Remember, too, don't do living space things
in your workshop: eating, smoking and drinking are all not recommended
in the shop.
- (38) Jewelry Making
- Wire Drawing Hints
- Wire drawing hints......The trick to drawing wire by hand is
to grasp the tapered end that sticks out the front of the drawplate
with the pliers in such a way that there are some 5 mm of play;
of movement back and forth to the drawplate.....
- (37)
Jewelry Making - Workshop Air Quality
- Four areas in the jeweler's workshop produce harmful substances
that MUST be properly removed from the shop in order to maintain
the jewelers' health. The toxic particles produced are generally
chronic in nature. This means that immediate reaction is not apparent,
but twenty or thirty years of continued exposure can lead to poor
health and sometimes early death....
- (37) Jewelry
Making - Mining industry for jewelers tools
- I've been doing a lot of electroforming in the last year, and
my naturally skinflint ways came to the fore as I looked for the
power supply. The approach works like this: first of all describe
the problem: in this case, I needed a regulated rectifier (a direct
current source). Then: What fits the bill?
- (37) Jewelry Making
- Some useful North American addresses for equipment, materials
and information
- Some useful North American addresses for equipment, materials
and information
- (37) Jewelry
Making - Metalsmith - Book Review - Contemporary Japanese Jewellery
- Contemporary Japanese Jewellery, In order to introduce largely
unknown contemporary Japanese jewelry to the West, British jeweler
Simon Fraser, working with the advice of Toyojiro Hida, then a
curator at the Crafts Gallery of the National Museum of Modern
Art in Tokyo, organized a traveling exhibition titled 'Contemporary
Japanese Jewellery,' which opened in London in 2001.
- (37) Jewelry Making
- Dermatitis and the Jeweler
- 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....
- (36) - Let's Talk
Gemstones - Benitoite
- One of the most beautiful blue gemstones is native to our own
country. In 1906, a prospector found what he thought were sapphire
crystals in the Diablo Mountain range of San Benito County, California.
A year later, mineralogist, G. D. Louderback, identified them
as a new mineral which he named benitoite. The Dallas mine, there,
is still-- the only known source of gem quality rough
- (36) Jewelry
Making - The Teacher's Role
- I believe the teacher's role is as a guide, an instigator, a
devils advocate as well as instructor. A teacher should provoke
the student to constant re-examination of their work, guide the
student to objectivity and clarity in conceptualization and decision
making in their work and to learning how one may apply this approach
during the creative process and in terms of ones developmental
direction. Teaching is about opening....
- (36) Jewelry Making
- Book Review - One of a Kind: American Art Jewelry Today
- Jewelry Book Review - One of a Kind: American Art Jewelry Today
- (35) Jewelry Making
- Hand-making Acetate Spectacle Frames
- Hand-making Acetate Spectacle Frames - I describe here some
broad practical steps in making an acetate spectacle frame by
hand. For a brief comparison let's consider the way acetate frames
are often made. In the spectacle industry the typical factory
set-up involves dozens of pre-set routing and heat-forming/embedding
machines to produce each frame design
- (35) Jewelry Making
- Gloves and the Jeweler
- Use the correct type of gloves for the chemical you are using.
Not all gloves hold up to the same things so consult a chart to
see which ones are suitable to which chemicals...
- (35) Jewelry Making
- Book Review - The New Jewelry - Trends and Traditions
- Jewelry Book Review - The New Jewelry - Trends and Traditions
- (35) Jewelry Making
- Book Review - The Art of Jewelry Design
- Jewelry Book Review - The Art of Jewelry Design
- (35) Jewelry Making
- Tumbling Handy hints
- When burnishing very detailed pieces, use stainless pins in
your mixed shot. Don’t use them any other time because the
pins will often strike the work pieces with the pointed ends,
creating a very undesirable pitting or orange peel appearance.
If you must try mixing pins with your other stainless steel media,
the pins can be removed with a medium strength magnet. I use the
kind of magnet...
- (35) Jewelry Making
- Notes on Gemstone Fluorescence
- Fluorescence is the emission of visible light from a substance
under the stimulation of radiation of a shorter wavelength......
- (34) Jewelry Making
- Adjusting the work area or "A Pain in The Neck"
- Bench jewelers will spend most of the time in the workshop seated
at their workbench. Therefore, time is well spent in adjusting
and arranging it. A poorly adjusted chair and workbench will not
only cause discomfort, fatigue, and muscle cramps that reduce
worker efficiency, but more importantly, it may develop into leg,
back, or neck injury.
- (34) Jewelry
Making - Structuring for efficiency in the Studio
- Making effective use of your time is a real issue for a working
craftsperson. You want to have time for family and rest as well
as for the studio and business. This means you need to be rather
efficient in your time usage. And that, in general, means more
organized.
- (34) Jewelry
Making - Some patination information on the Net
- Some patination information on the Net
- (34) Jewelry Making
- Cuff Link Hinge Pins
- Cuff-links can work well as a plain three-part hinge. There
are some basics to the construction of cuff-links. The cuff-link
consists of three parts: the front decorative part you see in
use (remember that if there is a pattern to them, they should
normally be a mirror image of each other-there is a right and
a left....
- (33) Jewelry Making
- Basic Fire Safety Hints for Jewelers
- Have a fire plan; ask your fire department for advice. Keep
the appropriate extinguishers around and in good shape. Get ABC
all-purpose extinguishers. Get the manufacturers manual and read
all the instructions carefully at least three times. Review your
fire safety now and then. Make sure you know how to use an extinguisher
properly, sweeping back and forth at the base of the fire
- (33) Jewelry Making
- Some notes on Dapping tools
- Some notes on Dapping tools - Dapping tools are punches with
a ball shaped end. As they are used to dome metal discs and making
halves of beads they are sometimes called doming punches. They
are usually used with a dapping block, a square or rectangular
block of steel or wood which has perfect hemispherical indentations
in different sizes.
- (33) Jewelry Making
- Why Is a Bracelet Called a Bracelet?
- Why Is a Bracelet Called A Bracelet? - reveal the origin of
some common jewelry names. First appeared in Jewelry Crafts magazine
in June 1994, under the title of 'What's In A Name?' - By Sandra
I. Smith
- (33) - Lets Talk
Gemstones - Tanzanite - Zoisite - a Sorosilicate
- Lets Talk Gemstones - Tanzanite! Baron Sigismund Zois von Edelstein
of Slovenia could never have imagined that a variety of the mineral
he discovered in 1805 in the Sau-Alp Mountains would cause tremendous
excitement in the jewelry industry more than a century later.
The name zoisite has replaced the name saualpite that he bestowed
upon this member of the epidote group of sorosilicates. The scholar-collector
was probably more interested in its chemical make-up and crystal
structure....
- (33) Jewelry Making
- A Method of Patinating Brass Alloys Using Contact Plating
- A Method of Patinating Brass Alloys Using Contact Plating, By:
Charles Lewton-Brain 1990
- (33) Jewelry
Making - Patinas: Liver of Sulfur Use
- 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....
- (32) Jewelry Making
- Some Thoughts on Modes of Working
- This short paper offers a set of names to describe how the jewellery
metals field is made up in terms of the way practitioners approach
their medium.There is no great truth to the way this has been
done; it is just to have tools to discuss the subject with.
- (32) Jewelry Making
- Chain Makin Project
- Jewelry Making Project - Chain Making - This project is for
beginners that wish to become silversmiths, part time or full
time. Keep in mind that there are many ways to do this faster
with the use of mechanical tools, but you are doing this project
to learn how to use your frame saw and how to solder. Coutsey
of Two Suns Trading Co. Inc.
- (32) Jewelry
Making - Basic copper and copper alloy fuming
- Patination is a technique which has become popular for some
kinds of fashion jewellery in recent years. Usually a patina requires
the application of a toxic chemical mixture or the conversion
of the metal surface to a salt of it's metal. For most patinations
then good ventilation and a knowledge of chemistry is necessary.
There are however a number of old patination techniques which
are based on a simple conversion of the metal surface to a colored
salt or decomposition product of the metal...
- (31) Jewelry Making
- Tubing Cutting Notes
- Tubing Cutting Notes - A jeweller and goldsmith has to cut tubing
fairly regularly. My favorite methods include: cutting only on
the upstroke using a jewelers sawblade; using a separating disc;
rolling the tube with high pressure under an X-acto knife or sharp
blade, then snapping the tube-this works pretty well as long as
you have good leverage....
- (31) Jewelry
Making - Enameling - Champleve - Etching with PnP Paper
- The use of PnP paper-originally designed to create printed circuit
boards-to meet the artistic needs of metalsmiths, jewelers, and
enamelists (see Glass on Metal, Volume 15, No.3, August 1996).
With results similar to photo etching, but without the expense
and more complex procedures, the heat transfer method using PnP
has revolutionized the world of artistic etching. Now, the procedure
is not only used throughout the USA, but also in many other parts
of the world...
- (31) Jewelry Making
- Craftsmanship Improvement Method
- This is a method to reduce technical problems which one repeatedly
experienes.
- (30) Jewelry Making
- Cast hinges
- Cast hinges are a very important part of much production jewelry
work, partly because hinge assembly on such pieces is reduced
to inserting the hinge pin and so provides a very fast linkage
system ideal for cast objects....
- (30) Jewelry Making
- Some Basic notes on Chasing Tools
- Some Basic notes on Chasing Tools - From ‘Cheap Thrills in the
Tool Shop’
- (30) Jewelry Making
- Organizing the Messes
- 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.
- (30) Jewelry Making
- Making filigree Alternate Jig
- Making filigree Alternate Jig
- (30) Jewelry Making -
Jewelry - Fabrication of a Basic Tubing Catch
- Jewelry Findings - Fabrication of a Basic Tubing Catch, With
many Illustrations! Article by: Charles Lewton-Brain, 1991
- (29) Emerald
Case Time Line - Fred Ward
- Everyone who deals in gems or jewelry could be adversely affected
by a June, 1997, jury verdict in Washington, DC. As a principal
in the case, I assure you this is serious business, and it will
affect your business. If a customer can buy a sound, high-quality,
unfractured and unfilled gemstone, break it, and then get a judgement
to make the jeweler liable for the original cost, plus treble
damages, plus legal fees, I am sure you see the consequences to
you and your company....
- (29) Emerald
Case Time Line - Fred Ward
- Everyone who deals in gems or jewelry could be adversely affected
by a June, 1997, jury verdict in Washington, DC. As a principal
in the case, I assure you this is serious business, and it will
affect your business. If a customer can buy a sound, high-quality,
unfractured and unfilled gemstone, break it, and then get a judgement
to make the jeweler liable for the original cost, plus treble
damages, plus legal fees, I am sure you see the consequences to
you and your company....
- (29) Devil's Advocate;
The Naked Eye - Diamond's Worst Friend
- One of the important reasons for the dominance of diamond in
the gem market is the existence of a comprehensive and internationally-accepted
system of quality analysis. This allows us common folk to buy
with confidence, for with a diamond grading report we have an
independent “expert” opinion of the stone’s quality. But how “expert”
are them experts anyway. Is this opinion, itself, always infallible?
Do the different quality steps really indicate genuine differences
in quality?
- (29)
Jewelry Making - The Enamelist's Vocabulary - Enameling with professionals
- Each medium has its own vocabulary and so it is with enamels
and enameling. The glass glaze material that is fused to the metal
is enamel, the finished work is an enamel piece and the process
is enameling. In other words, you enamel enamel with enamel.
- (29)
Jewelry Making - Enameling - Cloisonne Primer, History of cloisonne
technique
- In the late '20's, a small enamel tray, made in China, introduced
us to the word cloisonne. The material looked like the granite
ware in our kitchen. Obviously the wires were used to keep
the colors separated. Then, cloisonne was enamel with wires
separating the colors. Simplicity, pure and simple. This
is where the majority of the general public leaves the subject,
little knowing or caring about its rich history....
- (28) Jewelry Making
- Carats and Karats
- Carats and Karats - the difference between carats and karats.
First published in Jewelry Crafts Magazine in August 1995 under
the name of 'Karats or Carats'. - By Sandra I. Smith
- (28) Jewelry
Making - Basic Safety Principles
- Make safety a habit and then it won't seem like work. If you
don't use a certain chemical or hazardous procedure in your shop,
then you are extremely unlikely to get hurt by it.
- (27) Jewelry
Making - Chemical Inventory and Profiles
- If you know what the chemicals are that you use and what their
dangers are you will be less likely to hurt yourself with them.
In your 'Right to Know' binder your should have a list of the
chemicals in your workshop (a chemical inventory), MSDS sheets
and chemical profile sheets which tell you important information
about the chemical. A chemical profile sheet is theoretically
easier to read than a standard MSDS sheet...
- (26) Jewelry Making
- Making a pair of prong notching pliers
- Making a pair of prong notching pliers - These pliers notch
round prongs easily to a given depth and replace a bur for the
job. They are made to suit a specific size prong and one makes
similar pliers for different prong shapes....
- (26) - Lets
Talk Gemstones - Dioptase: A Cyclosilicate
- Lets Talk Gemstones -
- (26) Jewelry Making
- Reticulation Notes
- Reticulation produces lovely textured surfaces that appear very
'natural' and can be controlled to produce specific patterns with
practice. Used extensively by craft and art jewelers in the 1960's
and early 70's in North America it lost fashionability in the
80's. It provides textured sheet metal that can be used as a component
part of an object.
- (26) Jewelry Making
- A Modern Method of Creating Enameled Filigree Jewelry
- Extracts from the book A Modern Method of Creating Enameled
Filigree Jewelry
- (26)
Jewelry Making - Where Fold-Forming Came from?
- My experience with Klaus Ullrich in Germany in 1980-81. In 1979
and 80 I went to study at the Fachhochschule f?r Gestaltung in
Pforzheim West Germany at the suggestion of my teacher Christian
Gaudernak, who had studied there in the early 80's. Mistakenly
believing that everyone spoke English I went to the school and
was told to come back
- (25)
Jewelry Making - Studio Safety Evaluation
- Just as a professional would do, it may be a good idea to conduct
a walk-through of your shop. The kind of things you would look
for and comment on include
- (25) Jewelry
Making - Some Chemical Storage Principles
- There are a number of basic principles in storing chemicals....
- (25) Jewelry Making
- Book Review - Gem Care
- Jewelry Book Review - Gem Care
- (25) - Lets Talk Gemstones
- kyanite
- Lets Talk Gemstones - kyanite. Kyanite is usually of contact
metamorphic origin, associated with its dimorph, andalusite, garnet,
and corundum. Kyanite is also found in eclogites in kimberlite
pipes. Flattened and elongated prisms of kyanite have been recovered
from pegmatites, schists, and gneiss deposits all over the globe.....
- (24) Jewelry
Making - Iridescent Patina
- This is the basic recipe for the iridescent patina. This patina
is most effective on highly textured pieces, such as torch texture,
rollerprinted and reticulation. It has a slight color interference
pattern, similar to oil on water. It has a high natural luster,
similar to the nacre on pearls, if done correctly with many repeated
dips in a weak solution. It is durable, the colors remain stable
to a high degree, and very slow (years) to darken or further oxidize.
Further oxidation can be prevented entirely by applying Renaissance
Wax when the patina is dry. It is effective on silver, brass and
copper, to a lesser degree with gold. This makes it an excellent
patina for keum-boo applications, since the 24 kt. gold content
remains bright.
- (23) Jewelry Making
- Book Review - Collecting Rhinestone and Colored Stone Jewelry
- Jewelry Book Review - Collecting Rhinestone and Colored Stone
Jewelry
- (23) Jewelry Making
- Homemade Engravers Ball
- Homemade Engravers Ball - There are several methods of obtaining
the smooth rotation of a piece of metal necessary for engraving
on it. Many North West Coast American Indians use a hard leather
pad and hand control to do it. One can install various chucking
devices onto a heavy base as well. A standard machined engravers
ball can cost $500 and more. This version costs less than $30.00.
- (23) Jewelry Making
- How to step-roll wire
- One requires a taper on the end of the wire to grip it with
when placed through a drawplate for drawing. One may obtain this
taper in several ways....
- (23) Jewelry Making
- An investment procedure for lost wax casting
- Tips for succsesful lost wax casting
- (23) Jewelry
Making - Spinning Away Waste
- Chemical and mechanical processing work together to treat the
vibratory finishing wastewater at Aro-Sac, increasing production,
making the water reusable and rendering the sludge a non-hazardous
waste...
- (22) Jewelry
Making - Shine On - Jewelers are beaming about bristle discs
- Show one of 3M's radial bristle discs to a non-jeweler friend,
and you are almost guaranteed to get a lukewarm response: 'This
is what you're so excited about?' But to the jewelers who have
eagerly adopted them, these simple circular brushes are 'the greatest
thing since flexi-straws
- (22) Jewelry Making
- Book Review - Designing Jewelry
- Jewelry Book Review - Designing Jewelry
- (22) Jewelry Making
- Brief Notes on Shakudo
- Shakudo is the Japanese term for a low gold content alloy which
usually consists of between 2-7% gold and the rest copper.......
- (21) Emerald
Case - Have You seen this ring?
- Everyone who deals in gems or jewelry could be adversely affected
by a June, 1997, jury verdict in Washington, DC. As a principal
in the case, I assure you this is serious business, and it will
affect your business. If a customer can buy a sound, high-quality,
unfractured and unfilled gemstone, break it, and then get a judgement
to make the jeweler liable for the original cost, plus treble
damages, plus legal fees, I am sure you see the consequences to
you and your company....
- (21) Cheap Thrills in
the Tool Shop - Book Review
- Jewel-Making Tips (Book Review by Alan Revere) Cheap Thrills
in the Tool Shop: Inexpensive Equipment Options and Bench Tricks
for Goldsmiths, by Charles Lewton-Brain. 1994.
- (21)
Jewelry Making - Bench Trick Principles
- Bench tricks are keys to understanding Process, signifiers
that someone has understood the process occurring and they are
therefore useful to understanding the nature of metal and metalworking.
Think process and look for patterns around you when working to
invent new ones yourself. These are some guiding principles for
coming up with new tricks, new ways of doing things.
- (20) Jewelry Making
- Hidden hinges
- Hidden hinges are sometimes used on bracelets and jewelry pieces.
I saw one on a Vietnamese bracelet once and have seen several
on Diamonds International pieces. The place they pop up most frequently
is in kitchen cabinets and doors on smooth surfaces like one sees
on jet planes and sometimes on the sides of ships-hatches of various
kinds. Look at these models because they are usually built to
last and to be very sturdy. Kitchen cabinet hinges are a particularly
fruitful resource.
- (20) Jewelry Making
- There Is More Than One Way to Choose A Birthstone
- Help your customers choose the 'right' birthstone, by explaining
that they have more choices than the month of their birth. They
can select birthstones according to their zodiacal sign, the day
of the week or season of the year in which they were born, or
by religious affiliation. There is more than one way to choose
a birthstone! - By Sandra I. Smith [first published in Jewelry
Crafts magazine in June 1996]
- (20) Jewelry Making
- The Story of Red Spinel
- If you have ever been to London and seen the British Crown Jewels,
you will have noticed the giant red gemstone set in the center
of the Imperial State Crown. This stone...
- (19) Practical Goldsmith,
Modelling - Book Review
- Practical Goldsmith, Modelling - By Rhle Diebener Verlag GmbH
+ Co KG ; Book Review by: Lewton-Brain 1994
- (19) Jewelry
Making - Basic bead setting
- This page describes the most basic, simplest form of bead setting,
as is often found on men's rings. This approach is useful for
beginners and students, and looks reasonably good with a minimum
of skill and practice.
- (19) Jewelry Making
- Basic Hinge making
- Basic Hinge making - It is important to pick tubing with an
appropriate wall thickness and material strength for the requirements
of the piece....
- (19) Practical Wax Modelling
- Book Review
- - Practical Wax Modelling: Advanced Techniques for Modelers.
By Hiroshi Tsuyuki and Yoko Ohba; Book Review by: Lewton-Brain
1996
- (18) Jewelry Making
- Steve Abbott's Computer Drawn Celtic Knotwork
- Jewelry Making software - Application to create a computer generated
Celtic Knots
- (18) Jewelry Making
- Electroplating rectifier safety thoughts
- 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....
- (17) Jewelry Making
- Cleaning Metal Surfaces
- For all metal coloring and electroplating a clean metal surface
is essential....
- (17) Review - Revere
on Goldsmithing: Project Five: Hollow Wedding Band
- - Revere on Goldsmithing: Project Five: Hollow Wedding Band
; Review by: Lewton-Brain 1996
- (16) Steve Abbott's
Computer Drawn Celtic Knotwork application
- Download page for a cool application to create a computer generated
Celtic Knots
- (16) Jewelry Making -
Ball, Strip, Coil and other Hinges
- On small plastic boxes are sometimes found hinges that snap
into place to allow easy assembly and are made with two balls
attached to the lid and a disc with dimples in each side attached
to the bottom of the box. The lid snaps on and then can swivel
as the balls slide in the indentations in the disc. While metal
does not have the flexibility that plastic does a version of this
hinge can be built where the spheres are pinched slightly together
after inserting the indented disc. Such a hinge can come apart
if pulled on hard enough but will function well if there is little
stress on it.
- (15) Jewelry Making
- Jewellery Repair
- Repairing jewellery is an extremely tricky job. Work often pretends
to be something else, metal is not what it is labelled, or sold
as and the customer's memory fades with time, so that jewellery
is often given to the repair person as something different thas
it's real condition or materials. What follows is a list of questions.
If you can answer all of them about a piece before you begin work
it is likely that all will be well.
- (15) Jewelry Making
- Confidential Disclosure Form
- This form may be used if you have an idea for a product and
wish to approach a manufacturer. It is a very good protection
against a company stealing your idea. I met a sled designer at
a party in Montreal once, we discussed this subject, he had paid
thousands in legal fees to have this form designed. He sent me
a copy and gave me persmission to share the form.
- (14) Jewelry Making
- Some Check lists for photography of small objects
- from 'Small Scale Photography' - These are some check lists
to use when preparing to phtograph objects.
- (12) Jewelry Making
- Brief Notes on Presto-LiteTorch
- We use a method for cutting down firescale when using a Presto-Lite
Torch along with an acetylene B tank. The torch tips are engineered
to take in...
- (11) Jewelry Making
- An example of a paper die: after David Walker's version
- The annealed metal is placed in a sandwich between soft 'pusher'
paper and a hard paper which will serve as a monoprint paper die
to emboss the metal sheet. The metal may be pre-polished
- (11) Jewelry
Making - Basic Gypsy (flush mount) Setting
- First the stone's diameter is measured at the pavillion and
a dent is made in metal for the pilot drill (about 1mm diameter).
Then the metal is drilled The metal is drilled again until the
hole is about 3/4 the size of the diameter. Lubricate the drill
bit. As long as there is a 0.3 mm seat left there enough to set
with. It is an easy mistake not to take out enough metal, 3/4
of diameter of the stone is probably a bigger final drill bit
than you think. Hold it top of the stone to see how much stone
sticks out on each side of the bit
- (11) Jewelry Making
- Suggestions for tools to order from Fischer
- Suggestions for tools to order from Fischer, The following tools
or tool sets that I recommend are either inexpensive for the quality
and quantity or tools that are unavailable from elsewhere. Many
of the following tools are intended for stonesetting use.
- (11)
Jewelry Making - Safety - Your own procedure evaluation.
- When looking at your shop and workspace and considering safety
issues it is important to evaluate the procedures you use in terms
of safety. This lets you get a handle on what you have to watch
out for. If you do this and then make changes to correct unsafe
practices or hazards you have then your workspace will have become
that much safer for you, your family and visitors.
- (8) Jewelry Making
- Some hints on Pinback Placement
- It is customary to place the joint at the right of the back
of the pin and the catch on the left for right handed users who…
- (1) Joel Kahn's Qbasic
Jewelry Design Gallery
- My day job is comptroller at a jewelry store. My hobby is computer
graphics. These images are the result of combining the two environments.
I hope that jewelry designers will look at these pictures & find
elements that they can put into their work. If any designers do
make pieces based on these pictures, I would like to see the results.
The same goes for sculptors, mixed-media artists, & 2D artists
who might want to use some of these images for clipart. I especially
encourage teachers & students to find uses for the images. To
help things along, I'm releasing these pictures into the public
domain; this means that you can give the images to anyone, in
any form, but no money should be involved in any way.
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