[Jewelry making - Article 00629] - Re: [Orchid] "Orchid in Print" Book Series Announced

[LEESSILVER]

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    In my estimation the Flex Shaft is the most valuable tool a jeweler
    can  own. Because of its versatility the flex-shaft is the most
    important tool  a beginning student can purchase.  The Flex Shaft
    will do most anything  other major tools that are designed for
    specific work can do.  

    It can be used to: 

    Turn carving wax. I use my Flex Shaft without special tools to turn
    wax pottery, rings and bracelets. Clamp the handpiece in a portable
    hobby vice, mount the wax on a mandrill mounted in the handpiece and
    use a  chisel to shape the wax as it is spun by the flex-shaft. I
    have turned  waxes that are about 3.5 inches in diameter and 5 inches
    tall. I have put together a paper on the process which I will sent
    free of charge to anyone  interested. 

    Cut and polish most stones. When I first started making jewelry  I
    created a bunch of inlaid jewelry using my Flex Shaft and cut off
    wheels. You can buy cut off wheels that are up to 1 1/2 inches in
    diameter. The discs can be used to cut the stones to shape them for
    inlay then to flatten them once they are inlaid.  

    Shape stones.  Diamond burrs can be used to shape stones. 

    Polish stones and silver.  There are a multitude of polish buff  and
    polishing compounds that can be used in a flex-shaft handpiece to
    polish  stones and silver. 

    Drill holes in stones.  Diamond drills can be used to make  holes in
    pearls and stones. 

    Carve wax.  For fast cutting there is the three bladed  burr.  It
    comes in various sizes. Any metal working burr can be used  in the
    Flex Shaft to carve wax. Very fine dental burrs can be used to do
    very detailed work. 

Lee Epperson

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