[Jewelry making - Article 01102] - Re: [Orchid] Sawdust and plastic behind stones...

[Bruce Holmgrain]

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

Leonid,

    I have to point out that you are among fewer than 20 jewelers on
    this listserver that I respect enough to be sure to read your posts.
    I think that you are going a little overboard on this sawdust issue,
    however. Personally, I apprenticed in a workshop that serviced
    jewelry for about 180 stores. I did get a chance to see and learn to
    service all types of jewelry. Anything from pot metal charms to
    twenty carat diamonds was in the daily workload. 

>     Weight of the jewellery is always implied in transaction. It is
>     very deceptive to sell jewellery of certain heft when heft comes
>     from sawdust and any other substance, but not the metal itself. 

    Weight is certainly an issue with jewelry, but in my experience, has
    only really been used with traditional Native American, and some art
    jewelry. These are primarily labor driven industries and though
    metal prices are currently an issue with the producers of jewelry, in
    the end labor from manufacture to delivery is certainly the biggest
    factor. When any of this work finds it's way to the pawn shop, only a
    small fraction of it's cost will pass back on to the retail buyer.
    The sawdust involved probably has a specific gravity of.5 as solid
    wood. The air pockets in sawdust probably reduce this to.3. How much
    do you think that this really affects the total weight and do you
    really think that the purpose is to defraud? 

    I find other practices much easier to complain about. Silver
    candlesticks filled with shellac and electroformed pieces come to
    mind. How about "rhodium plated" silver that includes copper and
    nickel in the plating process? School ring manufacturers have been
    using plastic bearings for years. Some years ago I saw a lot of paper
    thin gents mountings filled with epoxy. How does one establish the
    weight of enameled work?

    When these pieces of jewelry do go to melt, and in fact, a lot of it
    certainly will, Wood dust will not contaminate the metal. Many
    jewelers will recycle it without a second thought.

bruce

Bruce D. Holmgrain
JA Certified Master Benchjeweler
goldwerx.us
____________________________________________________________________
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
____________________________________________________________________