[Source] Raw brass machined findings

Hello there, all!

Marjorie from Rio Grande sent us your way to see if anyone can help
with our supply search.

We’ve been sourcing our raw brass machined findings from
Metalliferous since we began in May, and since November they have
been having fulfillment issues on the pieces that we use. Since then
we have been trying to source these parts from someone else with very
little luck! We’re getting to the point where we will not be able to
produce the jewelry we make for the upcoming craft shows and
wholesale orders we have!

Essentially, what we’re looking for is the following:
A small round endcap, about 2.3mm wide
A medium round endcap, about 4mm wide
A medium oval endcap about 7.7mm wide
Two sizes of lobster clasps, about 9mm and 13mm long.

The key is that we need them to be in raw brass (not plated) and to
be able to order them in quantities of multiple gross at a time!

Any help would be appreciated—we’ve already ordered a large
quantity of items from an overseas provider that we found online, and
they turned out not to be raw brass as they had advertised…we’d
love to go with a supplier that someone recommends! And we’re getting
to be near a time crunch!

Thank you so much!

Jessica

H.A. Light ltd
Birmingham UK.

I know these people, they make just about anything in brass. for
jewellery There on line so mail them. Hope they can help.

Ted.

we used to have hundreds of silver findings cast that we made up for
our line, could you do that in brass?

I can do most forms and shapes. We have 1,000s of molds and cutters
in our warehouse (it isn’t mine, but it is mine to use all I want).
So I am filling an important nitch in the market. We cut blanks, and
form things like endcaps, and do other custom work out of copper,
brass, nickel silver, bronze, and sterling silver (not as often). I
have a etsy store at the moment and working on my website to open
there at a later date…

I can do anything (just about) that you see there in any metal. I
cannot seem to do it all, but I am trying.slowly to go through our
warehouse and use all the forms, cutters and shapes. I also have
helped others that needed a form that could not be found by making a
cutter to do this. One lady had been purchasing a teardrop with a
center cutout, it was narrower at the top than at the bottom, almost
an egg shape, that was coming from China, she had been purchasing
Copper, but they started sending her copper plated iron, and she
wasn’t happy. I made the cutter for her and now she gets pure copper
shapes. She is very happy and so am I. The cutters cost us quite a
bit to make, but sometimes if the form is desirable for the warehouse
they will make it for me for free. If not it would be something like
$80 or so, but it would be in my own possession for your use until
the cows come home…If there is anything at all someone is looking
for usually I can get pretty close. Just let us know!

My project is located in Mexico, in the state of Morelos. I help
young ladies here that cannot get jobs other than working in fields,
the American Company here rents the fields, and grows Basil, Thyme,
and other herbs, they work the women up to 16 hours a day, but 14 is
more normal, they work them 7 days a week. They get real substandard
pay due to no jobs in this area. One of the girls and the reason I
opened the workshop was born with a cleft palate, she was part of a
group of 8 babies born at the same time due to pesticide use (DDT I
suspect). She had been made fun of all of her life, suffered 8 badly
done operations, she was highly intelligent, I found out about her by
being picked to give her a certificate of excellence for being the
best student in our state of Morelos and a Scholarship from the then
President Fox, I never forgot how impressed I was by her. She was so
poor that she could not use the Scholarship which required her to pay
for her room and board. I then later found out she was working in the
fields with this company. I had this plan years back with my husband,
but I had lost my husband just about the same time, I didn’t have a
financial leg to stand on, I was in a foreign country, alone, in
grief, depressed over my loss, so I decided to help myself and use
what limited funds I had to go ahead and try at least. We have
struggled now for 5 years. It has been hard, at first we had no idea
where to get metal, it seemed impossible. No one would talk to us or
tell us where to buy metal. I had a lampworking background so we
started with that. Mr. Carpenter kindly donated to us a small
assortment of enamels and tools after UPS lost our initial order (it
was everything we could spend and more) we fought UPS for 2 years
before our order was partially replaced (about 85%) due to their
misand lies. So now we had enamels and some tools. But
the person who was to show us how to use them bailed out on us
because of the financial loss of the use of our money for 2 years and
because he didn’t want to be responsible for his part of the order
(so I ended up paying for that as well). We were hit with many
problems, issues and even cruel people who didn’t like it that we
had gotten the donation from Mr. Carpenter and others. Lampworkers
had been very generous to us in the past so I was erroneously
thinking that others would be similar. My job here with these young
women made it my goal to make this work. So yes we asked for
donations, used tools, supplies, whatnot. I knew a lot of people
loved Mexico and this was a real work of love. Richard Hart donated
an important amount of tools recently to us. I do not profit from
this project. These young women have gotten operations, built small
homes (1 room, 1 bathroom), and even purchased cell phones. I have
taken them to the movies for the first time in their lives, out to
eat Japanese food, Chinese food, and Indian food. They are learning
about the world, staying with their families instead of going
illegally to the US for work, and they have also learned about birth
control and more. Anyway, so we found metal finally! Then I found
this warehouse, and it occurred to me that making these shapes and
forms would fill a wonderful place in the market. We do some
enameling, lampwork, and now this. It is working well, and each day
the workshop is on a firmer footing. So if you do send forms to be
cut or made, you are helping these fine young ladies who never miss a
day of work, I have to shoo them home often, and they are very
applied, but never more than 8 hours they are in the workshop. I
guide them, manage their money, and they are thrilled to work with
dignity and fair pay. That is our story in a nutshell.

Sincerely
Laura & the Girls

Hello Laura,

I have read your story a few times now and am in awe at the work you
are doing there! Your story seems to keep going, which just shows how
dedicated you are to your “girls” and how touching it is that you are
devoting yourself so much to helping your community.

While reading your recent post, it seems you are having difficulties
obtaining copper and supplies in the local area. I was reminded of a
family of copper/silver smith artisans that came to demonstrate in
Ohio, USA a few years ago at a local conference. Apparently they
travel to the States fairly often now to give demonstrations of their
awesome work. I didn’t know if you were aware of them, but thought
that maybe if they were close, you might be able to find out how they
obtain their copper supplies, and possibly even strike up a business
relationship with them. Their last name is “Punzo”. I have found one
online link to them:

I do not know if you are near to them, but I thought I might pass
what I know along.

Good luck with all your hard work! I see that your Etsy store is
doing well, and wish you all the very best and God’s Bless!

Teresa

Just a note from a satisfied user of supply diva/Laura and the girls.
I placed an for a few small items. They came as ordered-this is not
overnight shipping-and I received a “gift” along with my order. It
was well packaged. I would order from them again. Usual disclaimers.

Jay

Why thank you Teresa! Yes, I am pleased myself. The real key
ingredient here is that the young women (“girls” to me, showing my
age I guess, they are like my daughters hehe) have to do their part,
if it was just me alone it would not work. It has to have them
giving their all, as well as me because well I am their teacher of
sort, to make this work properly. 5 years is a real milestone and as
each day passes we are more healthy, our sales have improved, and it
was a real tough hard haul those first 4 years.

As to metal, we now have a wonderful source. I know the prices we
are paying are fair. In fact, I have a young man who wants to be part
of our workshop and a man who helps us at the warehouse who knows how
to melt metal into bars. I have a unlimited supply of oxygen
(generator thankfully!) so he is going to setup a furnace here
outdoors, and we are going to work on trying to make our own sheet! I
think it is rather exciting, and hopefully it will work well for us.
Our warehouse has a massive rolling mill which we can use all we want
as well! If it wasn’t for this warehouse, their desire to help others
as well, plus the goodwill we wouldn’t be in this spot at this
moment.

What I am doing is very unusual here. People are always asking me
what is in it for me. I really don’t understand this, I am here and
with the knowledge I feel it is only right to give back. I get so
much satisfaction knowing the girls learn and continue to grow as
people even in this rather tough sometimes hostile environment. It
will change how their bring up their children, and I believe it will
continue on. They are wonderful girls…and families.

Now if our volcano (the popo) would go back to sleep I would feel so
much better…this morning it went at it two more times. I am far
enough away from it to be safe, but we can see it, and it is spitting
out lava! My eyes have been bothering me for 2 days now, the
earthquakes really get me going and I feel nervous and the girls too.
hehe, we have talked about what plans we have if something should
happen, they had never thought of making a plan. So we talked it
over, I feel confident things will be ok! I got up this morning and
it was impressive to see, wow…Anyway, thank you to everyone who has
wrote me and told me how much they admire the work I am doing. I
appreciate that a lot, it really inspires me to do more! Hehe

Sincerely & Regards everyone!
Laura

The Manufacturing Jewelers and Suppliers of America have a buyer’s
guide on there web site, it would probably be worth a couple minutes
of your time.

Stephen Guyot
http://www.guyotbrothers.com