Customize Your Tools

Make your own high quality rotary burr from an inexpensive disposable lighter. By master goldsmith Charles Lewton-Brain. Filmed in full...

Learn to harden and temper your own custom-shaped jewelry tools. By master goldsmith Charles Lewton-Brain. Filmed in full HD 1080p....

Two surprising uses for a pencil as a tool in jewelry making. (1) Gain extreme control over the burr on...

In this video, master goldsmith Charles Lewton-Brain will show you how to make a handy cardboard disc sander. You can...

Learn how to quickly identify whether a piece of steel has the quality you need for making jewelry tools. By...

Charles Lewton-Brain often hears about the difficulties novice blacksmiths encounter when using forging hammers for foldforming. See how he solves...

In thinking about the daily tasks that I undertake at the bench, I realized how easy it is to fall...

Every now and then when you are fabricating a piece or polishing a casting, a hole or hollow will pop...

By Old burs can serve a number of useful purposes in daily bench work. Here are two tips from jewelers...

This article contains the following detailed steps to give you a better understanding why grinding and shaping onglette gravers are...

When I buy my high speed steel, 90 degree, under-cutting burs I always think of the words, "waste not, want...

Customize a standard insulated tweezers to easily hold small objects much tighter...

While many jewelers work directly in precious metals, many also work with wax, carving models for casting in silver and...

Helen I. Driggs demonstrates how some non-jewelers tools give fabrication a new twist. My background is in graphic design, so...

A good vise is a vital piece of equipment for any goldsmith because it can act as a third hand,...

There are two properties which distinguish a good tool from a bad one. The tool must have the correct shape...

Sometimes, holding on to really little parts is the greatest challenge of my day. I use tiny cabochons almost daily...

These pliers notch round prongs easily to a given depth and replace a bur for the job. They are made...

Often when soldering, it is necessary to use cross-lock tweezers to hold or steady the piece(s) being soldered. The pressure...

A bench jeweler typically uses a split mandrel to sand and finish the inside of a ring. Various grits of...

Homemade flex-shaft guard using a soft drink plastic bottle, a solution to the annoying and potentially hazardous problem of breathing...

Down on your bench, look: It’s a file. It’s a bur. It’s Super Tool! At first it seemed so ordinary....

Traditionally trained jewelers often scoff at the idea of using glue as a joining method. However, there are times when...

True tales of how jewelers overcame out-of-the-box limitations - Most people who work with their hands become tool mad, and...

This article describes the different tool alterations that any bench man needs to know and learn as guidance for their...

I was recently in Chiang Mai, a city in northern Thailand, where I spent a month visiting silversmiths and chasers...

Jewelers and metalsmiths have had to make their own tools throughout the ages to accomplish different tasks at the jeweler's...

Steve Satow shares his procedure for customized robo grip pliers to add parallel action and more leverage to standard bow...

There are times during the setters workday where there is a need for a specific tool, but there nothing is...

The purpose of this steamer bucket enclosure is to prevent stones from being blown out by the steamer and flying...

This article describes a step by step procedure of a pair of simple pliers to become a pair of customized...

This article by Steve Satow shares a step by step procedure on how t o make a customized ultrasonic sediment...

I like to hold small pieces of metal with a clamp that allows me to file hands free. I feel...

Steve Satow shows the procedure for a customized earring setting pliers using a normal setting pliers. Normal setting pliers can...

Many stone setters would agree that one of the most challenging aspects of prong setting is getting the prongs down...

Modifying beading tools for clean re-tipping jobs A colleague recently asked for my help in finding cup burs that were...

Ever spent way too much time trying to retrieve tiny jump rings, links, or other small parts out of a...

This jewelry bench tip is a follow-up to "Modified Split Mandrel for Finishing Round Bezels," which showed you how to...

Steve Satow shows how to modify Standard insulated tweezers to become effective ring separating tweezers.

Steve Satow shares his procedure on how to customize bench tools like a beading tool retipper, small parts trays and ...

Stuller had the foresight to offer straight wire that we don't have to remove the bend from before we use...

Steve Satow shares his procedure for customized solder holder and blast shield, and how to make using a Jet Sett...

I have found this to be a most useful tool to use when rebuilding a bezel using a Laser Welder....

Tool modifications from the land down under I just returned from Australia, where I shared foldforming and keum-boo lessons at...

Find a turntable that
 is size appropriate for 
your bench. In this case
mine is 18 inches wide.
 If possible...

Steve Satow shares his procedure for customized light box for your jewelry photography projects and customized bench shelf for more...

One persistent daily challenge a bench jeweler faces is trying to figure out the best way to hold onto tiny,...

Buffer System & Ultrasonic Basket Replacement When we replaced our vacuum tubes for the buffer system I chose to run...

I made a hanging tool shelf between my setting and soldering bench. With it off the floor it allows easy...

These pliers are used to pull back bezels on channel set rings. This allows you to drop in the stones...

A worn-out bristle brush can easily be recycled into a useful tool called a whip burnisher or rotary hammer to...

Steve Satow shares his procedure on customized bench tools such as 3 prong or peg head holder & wax stone...

This is the second in a two-part series on green bench tips shared by jewelers who are taking another approach...

With these pliers you can pre polish platinum and gold peg heads of any shape. Remove any nicks one prong...

Here iss a nice little tool that makes use of an old setting bur. If you take the bottom teeth...

These tweezers are great for gripping melee when straight tips don't give you enough clearance. They allow you to slide...

These tweezers are great for gripping melee when you slide then into position in continuous channel setting jobs. Here you...