Jewelry Studio


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Metals Safety Information

Goldsmiths work with metals. Our bodies react to metals, their dusts, salts and oxides. The metals that jewelers come in...
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Hammering and Forging Safety Guidelines

Goldsmiths and silversmiths use hammers frequently in their work, silversmiths especially. A regular trade goldsmith might use a bench hammer...
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Calculating ROI for Tool and Equipment Purchases

Whether youre running a 15-person workshop or a 400-worker factory, you should know before buying whether a piece of equipment...
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Electroplating Safety Precautions

The "General Safety Rules for Tools" article applies here too, as with all power tools. Read the instruction manuals and...
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Build a Basic Jeweler’s Bench

Build a Basic Jeweler’s Bench

This bench has been designed so it can be made from easily available materials without sophisticated woodworking equipment. People with...
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Important Principles of Casting Safety

Here's something to aim for: a well laid-out, orderly workshop, well-lit by multiple non glare light sources, well-maintained equipment, electrically...
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Understanding the Working Titanium

Because titanium behaves somewhat differently than the standard metals in the goldsmith's workshop some special attention to its working is...
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Sand Casting Safety Notes

Sand casting is used extensively for large-scale casting, such as engine blocks, and the grates that one sees around trees...
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Patination Safety Considerations

Jewelers use so-called -oxidising- solutions to darken metals like silver, copper, brass, nickel silver, bronze and, with specialized mixtures, on...
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Jewelery Workshop Ventilation

Ventilation means removing noxious materials, dusts and fumes from where you can breathe them in. It is about taking away...
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Potentially Harmful Metalsmithing Substances

In every aspect of my daily life I am, and have been for quite some time, concerned with promoting and...
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Dusts in the Jewelry Workshop

Dust is small particles of a material. There are dusts you can see in the air; these can be breathed...
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Jewelry Workshop Safety Report

This talk briefly reviews issues of studio safety and discusses ways of recognizing risks in the studio and reducing hazard...
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A Metalsmith’s Guide to Los Angeles

A Metalsmith’s Guide to Los Angeles

This Metalsmith's Guide to Los Angeles can be useful to metalsmiths who are new to the Los Angeles area or...
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Grinding Wheel Safety Rules

Besides the safety instructions that you get from a tool manufacturer in the tool manual it may be necessary for...
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105 Jewelers Bench Comments

105 Jewelers Bench Comments

In late 2006 I put together a survey on the Jewelers bench to which many Orchidians and others responded. There...
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Lapidary Work Safety Precautions

Goldsmiths sometimes do a little rough and ready lapidary work with emery and leather sticks or even polishing compounds on...
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Working Posture for Craftsmen

Many craftspeople have posture and body position problems. Ramazzini, the founder of occupational medicine and author of a groundbreaking book...
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Organizing a Jeweler’s Studio

Organizing a Jeweler’s Studio

For Howard Woods of Eagle, Idaho, a jewelers studio should be a place of beauty - organized beauty - that...
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Metalsmithing Health Hazards

Very little research has been done on the medical problems of artists as a direct result of occupational health hazards....
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Gloves and the Jeweler

Gloves are used to prevent skin contact with a hazard, whether physical (like a razor edge on a piece of...
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Goldsmithing Health Hazards

This article briefly reviews issues of studio safety and discusses ways of recognizing risks in the studio and reducing hazard...
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Hydraulic Press Safety Precautions

Goldsmiths began to use hydraulic presses in small shops in the 1940s in North America. Factories have used hydraulic presses...
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Homemade Soldering Station Venting System

Homemade Soldering Station Venting System

A selection of illustration showing an efficient home-made soldering venting system.
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Jeweler’s Workday: Sitting and Looking at the Bench

In the Jewelers Bench Book, the MJSA/Ganoksin project published in spring 2008, there is an extensive look at what happens...
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What to Know About Heavy Metal Testing

What to Know About Heavy Metal Testing

Before you submit any jewelry item to a lab to test for heavy metals, you're going to need to do...
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Dermatitis and the Jeweler

Dermatitis is a group of skin conditions that may often be contracted by exposure to chemicals and metals. These may...
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Proper Use of Liquid Metals

Applying liquid gold, palladium and/or silver in the final firing of enamel pieces is something that can frequently raise the...
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Maintaining Good Workshop Air Quality

Four areas in the jeweler's workshop produce harmful substances that MUST be properly removed from the shop in order to...
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The Jewelers and Asbestos

Asbestos is a real problem for jewelers. When I was first a student in 1974, we had a bucket of...
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Gas Handling Guidelines

Jewelers work with compressed gases of all kinds, in torch systems, kilns, casting machines, abrasive blasters, laser welding machines needing...
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Safety Notes for Jewelers on Pitch, Chasing and Repousse

An ancient system of working metals, this procedure uses steel punches to manipulate the metal while it is fixed onto...
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A Pain In The Neck

You start to turn and there it is again. You go to stand up from your chair and it happens...
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Build an Advanced Jeweler’s Bench

Build an Advanced Jeweler’s Bench

This sophisticated bench costs a little more and is a bit more difficult to make than the one on the...
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Master Metalsmith Alan Adler

Master Metalsmith Alan Adler

I first discovered Allan Adler's Silversmithing Shop about 23 years ago when I arrived in Southern California to begin my...
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Organize Your Bench

The next time you sit down at your bench, don't think of it as just a bench. Think of it...
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Noise and its Effects

Noise is so common that we don't tend to think of it in terms of exposure in the same way...
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Studio Visit – Daniel Brush

Studio Visit – Daniel Brush

The intimate bond between Brush's creative and personal life is evident upon entering his Manhattan loft. The kitchen and dining...
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The Patina Studio

The Patina Studio

It is impossible to pretend that a single description of tools, materials, and equipment will suit all needs. Obviously these...
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Eliminating Ash Residue Defects

Eliminating Ash Residue Defects

The casting department at Stuller Inc. in Lafayette, Louisiana, has been experimenting with casting photopolymer models, and it has found...
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Large Scale Enameling at The Enamel Foundation

Large Scale Enameling at The Enamel Foundation

The Enamel Foundation provides the furnace and offers the use of their standard workshop tools, equipment and workshop enamels. (A...
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Studio Lighting Considerations

How you light your shop, illuminate your working area, experience the reflection from surfaces and the paint you choose for...
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Equipment Maintenance Guidelines

  You pride yourself on your pristine shop. Your equipment is laid out for maximum efficiency, your tools are stored...
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Proper Studio Light

Do not get caught in the dark - make certain your shop is well lit. In the jewelry shop, two...
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Innovative Approaches to Small Shop Success

Innovative Approaches to Small Shop Success

When most of us talk about innovation, we are talking about new tools and techniques. But innovation is not exclusively...
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Studio Visit – Daniel Jocz

Studio Visit – Daniel Jocz

Upon reaching the porch of Daniel Joczs Cambridge studio and home, I recalled having been there briefly for a party...
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Sansone Studio: Famous Enamel Works

Sansone Studio: Famous Enamel Works

Sometime around 1989 or 1990,I got a call from a friend, Steve Kissler, who owned a small gift shop in...
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A Metalsmith’s Guide to Toronto

A Metalsmith’s Guide to Toronto

In the Ojibway language, Toronto means "meeting place." At this site on the northern shore of Lake Ontario 18th-century French...
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Studio Visit – Jack and Marilyn da Silva

Studio Visit – Jack and Marilyn da Silva

Most jewelers and sculptors are quite satisfied to have one studio of their own. Between them, Jack and Marilyn da...
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Studio Visit – Jeffrey Herman

Studio Visit – Jeffrey Herman

Jeffrey Herman is an accomplished silversmith, master of holloware repair, and the founding director of the Society of American Silversmiths....
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Separating Work and Home

Often craftspeople start out making craft objects in their living space, a kitchen, a living room, and sometimes continue working...
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Studio Visit – Tom Joyce

Studio Visit – Tom Joyce

The anvil anchors his studio. Rows of hammers and tools along one long wall communicate with the storage of rolling...
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Sansone Studio: Ancient Enameling Techniques

Sansone Studio: Ancient Enameling Techniques

Artists Joel and Pamela Sansone are maestros of glass. Walking into the Sansone's Studio is like stumbling upon a surprise,...
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Organize Your Workspace

How you set up your shop, your working procedures and workspace can affect your safety, comfort, stress level and efficiency...
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Maximizing Bench Work Profitability

Maximizing Bench Work Profitability

Jeffrey Johnson has two stores, 18 bench jewelers, and over 100 employees-and he still has time to work at the...
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Jewelry Companies Help Save the Planet

Jewelry Companies Help Save the Planet

Green. What was once seen as a fringe-element rallying cry has grown into a planet-changing initiative that touches countless aspects...
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Waste Not, Want Not

Waste Not, Want Not

When it comes to recovering precious metal, nothing is worthless. However, if you walk into many repair shops you will...
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Studio Visit – Fred Fenster

Studio Visit – Fred Fenster

With barely a square inch unoccupied, Fensters studio is tightly packed into that basement space. The setup reflects the breadth...
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Studio Visit – Andrew Goss and Sandra Noble Goss

Studio Visit – Andrew Goss and Sandra Noble Goss

Some artists leave the big city reluctantly, chased out by high rents. For Owen Sound, Canada-based jewelers Andrew Goss and...
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Studio Visit – Christina Smith

Studio Visit – Christina Smith

Keeping a life in balance isn't easy, and for the studio artist it's a push-pull between dealing with the outside...
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Studio Visit – Namu Cho

Studio Visit – Namu Cho

Set in a deeply wooded area of Bethesda, Maryland, Namu Chos brick house at first appears to be similar to...
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Gregore Morin’s Studio Makeover

Gregore Morin’s Studio Makeover

Many jewelers modify their studios to be more efficient. Gregore Morin renovated his studio not only for efficiency, but also...
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Studio Visit – Metalpeople

Studio Visit – Metalpeople

Artist's with shared sensibilities and needs often come together to form co-operative studios in order to reduce overhead, share equipment,...
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Studio Enameling with Jaime Frechette

Studio Enameling with Jaime Frechette

It's hard to believe how quickly this year has flown. My kids are already half way, through their first quarter...
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Teaching Enameling at the International Enamel Studio

Teaching Enameling at the International Enamel Studio

One of the main tasks of the International Enamel Studio is to save our 1000 year-old enamel art and techniques...
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Studio Visit – Gary Noffke

Studio Visit – Gary Noffke

Remote by design, the home and studio of Gary Noffke do indeed take you to that 'other place.' Once you...
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Structuring for Efficiency in the Studio

Being more organized, and planning how you use your time will mean that you will spend less time on some...
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Studio Visit – Doug Wilson

Studio Visit – Doug Wilson

Sarah's Way is the name of the short dirt road leading up to Wilson's studio and home. He, his wife...
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Arte Smykke-design in Oslo

Arte Smykke-design in Oslo

Aid to development, in the broadest sense of the term, seems to be the specialty of Norway’s most famous jewelry...
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Studio Visit – Patty Spiro

Studio Visit – Patty Spiro

Although Patty Spiro of Live Oak Studios in Chipley, Florida, doesn’t earn a living making jewelry full time, you wouldn’t...
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Studio Visit – Milt Fischbein

Studio Visit – Milt Fischbein

Safety is key in Milt Fischbein’s studio. Milt Fischbein of Milt Fischbein Metal Arts in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, recently moved his...
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The Goldsmiths: Studio & Shop

The Goldsmiths: Studio & Shop

Reviving the virtually dead enameling technique plique-à-jour, which means "the light of day as seen through a membrane," has been...
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Studio Visit – Abrasha’s Studio

Studio Visit – Abrasha’s Studio

Abrasha occupies about 300 square feet of neat, well organized space. Unlike many jewelers, who make do with garages, kitchen...
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Successful Artists Collaboration

Successful Artists Collaboration

When Theo Janson and Vanessa Compton moved into the winding basement studio space on Toronto's Markham Street in May 1978,...
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Novell Design Studio

Novell Design Studio

At Novell Design Studio, efficiency, quality, and service get a jolt of passion You can hear the passion in Bruce...
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Sansone Studio

Sansone Studio

Sometime around 1989 or 1990, I got a call from a friend, Steve Kissler, who owned a small gift shop...
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A Conversation with John Marshall

A Conversation with John Marshall

John Marshall was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1936. After serving in the Armed Forces and doing construction work, Marshall...
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Metalsmith ’86 Winter: Health Hazards Q&A’s

This article page is from a segment of the Metalsmith Magazine (1986 Winter), “Health Hazards”, discussing questions from readers and...
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Atelier d’Artisanat du Centre-Ville

Atelier d’Artisanat du Centre-Ville

The Atelier d'Artisanat du Centre-Ville Inc., Montreal, Quebec, was founded in 1971 as an answer to rising problems of unemployment...
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Beyond the Bench: Contemporary Studio Jewelry

Contemporary Studio Jewelry There are few faster ways to clear a room than to invite a conversation about the difference...
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Tom Markusen: Holloware Maker with Integrity

Tom Markusen: Holloware Maker with Integrity

It may surprise some, judging from Tom Markusen studio output, that the production objects are handmade, without the use of...
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Studio Visit – Nanopod Hybrid Studio

Studio Visit – Nanopod Hybrid Studio

At Nanopod Hybrid Studio in Toronto, owner and chief alchemist Tosca Terran forms metal and glass into elegant adornments of...
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Master Metalsmith Dorothy Sturm

Master Metalsmith Dorothy Sturm

Entering the enameling studio, one is struck by its openness. Light fills the space. Shelves are lined with organic vessel...
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Studio Safety Evaluation

Studio Safety Evaluation

Just as a professional would do, it may be a good idea to conduct a walk-through of your shop. The...
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3 Tips to Overcome Workplace Dysfunction

3 Tips to Overcome Workplace Dysfunction

My kids are grown now, but I still recall how effective they were at pushing each other’s buttons when they...
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Safety Issues and Litigation

After writing my recent safety book something unexpected happened. I had a number of calls from lawyers about safety issues....
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Metalsmith ’85 Summer: Health Hazards Q&A’s

This article page is from a segment of the Metalsmith Magazine (1985 Summer), “Health Hazards”, discussing questions from readers and...
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3 Jewelers, 4 Tools Testing

3 Jewelers, 4 Tools Testing

Editor's Note: Want to know how to make a bench jeweler's day? Send him a box full of new tools...
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Studio Jewelers Sabbatical

Studio Jewelers Sabbatical. You know the feeling. No matter what you do there's never enough time! Well, after 17 very...
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Pollution Control / Metal Recovery

Pollution Control / Metal Recovery

This segment from the 2017 MJSA Journal November issue is dedicated to metals, tools, software and more that aids jewelers...
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How Jewelers Approach Work Materials

How Jewelers Approach Work Materials

This diagram shows how jewelers approach working in the field in terms of how they relate to the material. The...
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Metalsmith ’83 Fall: Health Hazards Q&A’s

This article page is from a segment of the Metalsmith Magazine (1983 Fall), "Health Hazards", discussing questions from readers and...
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Studio Visit – Cynthia Eid

Studio Visit – Cynthia Eid

Consisting of three small rooms crammed with tooks, boxes, and books (including a spare bathroom complete with shower stall/patina spray...
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The Teachers’ Role

I believe the teacher's role is as a guide, an instigator, a devils advocate as well as instructor. A teacher...
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Large Scale Enameling at JSW Studio

Large Scale Enameling at JSW Studio

After a long break we have restarted the JSW Enamel Studio, Vashind, Mumbai. A major effort was made in October...
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Metalsmith ’84 Summer: Health Hazards Q&A’s

This article page is from a segment of the Metalsmith Magazine (1984 Summer), “Health Hazards”, discussing questions from readers about ...
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Metalsmith ’84 Spring: Health Hazards Q&A’s

This article page is from a segment of the Metalsmith Magazine (1984 Spring), “Health Hazards”, discussing questions from readers about...
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Square-Shaped Treasures Made of Glass

Square-Shaped Treasures Made of Glass

If the only thing you think of is old Venetian art when someone mentions mosaics, you don’t know how imaginatively...
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When the Dust Settles

Tips for recovering precious metal particles Most jewelers know how to handle their precious metal scraps: they separate their scraps...
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Green Bench Tips – Part 1

Green Bench Tips – Part 1

This is the first in a two-part series on green bench tips shared by jewelers who are taking an eco-friendlier...
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Shipshape Shop

Equipment maintenance guidelines     Editor’s Note:   You pride yourself on your pristine shop. Your equipment is laid out...
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Metalsmith ’83 Summer: Health Hazards Q&A’s

This article page is from a segment of the Metalsmith Magazine (1983 Summer), "Health Hazards", discussing questions from readers and...
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Harold Balazs: Large Scale Enamel Workshop

Harold Balazs: Large Scale Enamel Workshop

From March 21 through March 24, 2007, The W.W. Carpenter Enamel Foundation held a Large Scale Enamel Workshop featuring Harold...
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Studio Beyond Walls June 2010

Studio Beyond Walls June 2010

The show season had come and gone. With my kids still in school, I was unable to participate in the...
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