[Jewelry making - Article 01504] - [Orchid] Is lapidary hard on the hands?

[David L. Huffman]

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Hi Orchidians;

    I've just hired a coupe people to help me run my new business, one a
    trainee from another craft and another as an office manager.  I'm
    only able to afford to give them part time as of yet, and I'm eager
    to ramp up the company's income to give them more hours.  I'm paying
    them pretty well hourly though.  I think this gives them a
    perspective on the value of their contributions but leaves them
    enough time to seek other income sources.  Here's my question. 

    My office manager is a former accomplished stone setter, a
    specialist in bright cut and pave, among other types of setting, but
    he worked in a genuine sweat shop and the grueling work load ruined
    his hands.  He has carpal tunnel and some ligament damage.  It's
    getting better through therapy, but he'll always be vulnerable to
    repetitive stress injury.  His knowledge of the operations of a
    trade shop is immensely valuable to me, but I know he misses working
    with his hands and I won't let him work on machinery or anything
    that might aggravate the damage, hence I had to hire bench help in
    addition to him.  I was wondering, if I set him up with lapidary
    equipment and some training to do stone repair, and custom cutting,
    if this would be stressful on his hands.  It would give him
    something he could do that he could take pride in, as he misses
    making beautiful things, and also bring in income which I could use
    to provide him more wages/hours.  There's only so much clerical work
    I have at this time.  Have any of you who cut gems experienced
    problems with carpel tunnel?  Can much of the cutting be done with
    jigs and holding devices?  I'm completely ignorant on the subject. 
    There's a pretty good market hereabouts for clock repair too.  It
    wouldn't be as interesting as gem cutting, I'm sure, but maybe that
    would be a better choice.  Eventually, I'll find lots of creative
    things for him to do, so this is just the beginning of my thinking
    on this challenge.  I welcome all feedback.  Thanks in advance. 

David L. Huffman



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