[Jewelry making - Article 00649] - Re: [Orchid] Chasing Tools and Tree Stump

[Ian W. Wright]

========[ Invite a Friend - http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm  ]========

>>      I am thinking about ways to minimise the noise of hammering in my
> >    studio - mainly for the sake of my neighbours who are only
>>     separated from me by internal plaster walls.

>     Someone asked how to keep the noise down when hammering.  One thing
>     one of the art centers around here does -- and it helps a lot -- is
>     this: 
>     They've taken old jeans, cut them off below the knees, filled them
>     with sand.  Then you put your steel block on top of that, and
>     hammer away. 

    Coming from an area of heavy steelworking I grew up around large
    steam hammers and drop stamps. Even though these were sometimes huge
    with 20 or 30 ton hammers being flung against massive steel anvils
    the noise wasn't excessive due to their traditional method of noise
    deadening. Perhaps you could use a similar method <G>. They set the
    frame of the hammer over a concrete pit in the floor, filled the pit
    with horse manure and set the anvil on the top. The manure was kept
    'fresh' and damp by the workers urinating on it! I think that
    nowadays decorum has legislated that any remaining hammers have
    their anvils set on rubber mats but that this is not as good as the
    traditional method as the rubber has more resilience making control
    of the blow more difficult. There was one steam hammer driver who
    used to delight in showing me a 'party trick' which was relatively
    common among the more expert of these men. He would take a raw egg
    from his lunch box (it was quite common for some reason for
    steelworkers to like eating raw eggs), set it upright on the anvil
    with a little sand around it to hold it in place and then, taking
    the 20 ton hammer up to its full height, he would allow the hammer
    to fall at full speed stopping it so precisely that it just pinched
    the egg between the hammer and the anvil without cracking the shell. 

best wishes,
Ian

Ian W. Wright
Sheffield  UK

____________________________________________________________________
T h e   O r c h i d   L i s t
Open Electronic Forum for Jewelry Manufacturing Methods and Procedures
____________________________________________________________________
Orchid FAQ:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/faq.htm
Orchid Archives:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/archive
Orchid Galleries:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/gallery.htm
Invite a Friend:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm
____________________________________________________________________
Tips From The Jeweler's Bench - Article Archive
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/tip_sear.htm
The Jeweler's Selected Bibliography List
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/jewelry-books
Buy Orchid Jewelry:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/shop
____________________________________________________________________
-Unsubscribe:
-Email: orchid-request AT ganoksin.com Body=unsubscribe subject=blank
____________________________________________________________________