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<> <> <> <> <> <> <> E-BENCH <> <> <> <> <> <> <>
The E-Mail Newsletter for Bench Jewelers
December 2001
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<> <> <> <> <> TABLE OF CONTENTS <> <> <> <> <> REVERE FINDING TIPS Useful tips to help you find things in the studio from Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts
TRADE SECRETS Tips and Tricks to make your work on the bench a little easier
SIMON SEZ SEMINARS See and hear Bradney W. Simon in person
STEWART'S BENCH TIPS Bench Tips from Stewart’s International School for Jewelers
AT THE PLATINUM BENCH Tips for working on Platinum from Platinum Guild International
GERRY’S GEMZ Stone setting tips from Gemz Diamond Setting
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<> <> <> <> <> REVERE FINDING TIPS <> <> <> <> <>
Here are some useful tips to help you find things in the studio
Finding Burs By Alan Revere
the length of your longest bur.) Cut a piece of wood, thick foam core, alligator board, ceiling tile, etc. to fit exactly into your drawer. Now carefully lay out and drill lots of holes in a grid, all the way through the board. Use a drill barely larger than the diameter of your burs. Place some of the holes farther away, for large wheels, buffs, etc. Place some of the holes closer together for smaller burs. Slip the wood into your drawer and place all your burs in the holes, organized by type and then by size. Now you have a row of round burs, setting burs, bud burs, etc., graduated by size.
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<> <> <> <> <> <> GOLD SPONSOR <> <> <> <> <> <>
Crafford - LaserStar Technologies designs and manufacturers a complete range of Nd:YAG pulse laser systems for retail and manufacturing jewelers. LaserStar® Workstations are 50 watt/class 1 systems ranging in power from 85 – 120 joules and are ideal for a wide range of jewelry design, manufacturing, and repair applications in gold, silver, and platinum. Crafford’s team of highly trained direct sales and applications specialists are always available to review new applications, share technical expertise, and provide service and technical support from our Providence, RI USA manufacturing facility. All LaserStar Workstations are Made In USA and comply with all FDA (CDRH) and CE certification guidelines for safety. Four models of the LaserStar Workstation are available to the jewelry marketplace. For more information please reference our web site at www.laserstar.net or www.crafford.com
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<> <> <> <> <> TRADE SECRETS <> <> <> <> <>
When using a laser welder with silver use silver solder sheets and cut thin strips to use as welding rods. By using silver solder you don't need to use a magic marker to keep the silver from ricocheting; it’s less messy, you get a good solder joint and you are able to do almost any silver solder job that might be impossible with traditional methods (inlaid, enamel, etc.). By using the silver solder strips instead of silver wire you can easily use this technique on any silver jobs (jump rings, spring rings, sizing) and any jobs where soft solder may have been used. It also makes gold filled glasses stronger and more pliable than using gold. Settings always vary, but a good starting place using this method is 280v/3.5ms/50 beam.
Tim Dickens - Iowa City Iowa < < < < < <> > > > > >
Try Styrofoam instead of cardboard under your polishing motor. It absorbs more impact...sometimes the piece just sticks where it hit. Don't forget to line the back of the hood, too. The white Styrofoam also reflects light, and makes it easier to see inside the hood while polishing (I like to see EVERY scratch while I'm still at the polisher). I hang a postcard inside the hood, just above the buffing wheel and slightly resting on it. It acts like a mud flap, to keep the dust from coming around with the wheel and flying into my face. I also hang an old 2" paint brush next to the polishing hood. When I'm finished, I dust the inside of the hood and all around the motor. I keep my polishing area as clean as a kitchen counter. Keeping this area clean does more than prevent buffs from becoming contaminated. It makes the task of polishing more a part of the creative process, rather than the dirty dungeon I have seen in some shops (YUCK!!!). I also found that the disposable masks that dentists wear are great for keeping my lungs clean, too, and far more comfortable that the hardware store variety. completed as quickly as possible. I try to devote as much time to careful polishing and finishing as I do to fabrication and stonesetting.
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Here is a trick for chair repair: - Take a small piece of copper sheet and drill or punch small holes of various sizes in it. Lay the chain being soldered on a charcoal block, and place the copper sheet over the chain with the link you are soldering visible through a hole in the copper sheet. Use a hole that will allow you to see only the link that you want to solder. When you apply the torch flame, the copper will act as a heat shield to prevent the adjacent links from getting hot. This little jig will make easy work of repairing those extra light micro chains and hollow chains that always seem to come in for repair.
Doug Zaruba
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To solder jump rings use sheet or wire solder and clip into small chunks and place on the soldering block. Hold the jump ring in a pair of soldering tweezers with the joint down. Flux the solder snippet, the jump ring, and the attachment point. Melt solder into a ball and pick up with the jump ring as you would with a soldering pick. Heat the piece until the flux turns liquid and touch the jump ring to the piece. When solder flows remove heat quickly. It helps to have a good solid rest for your wrist.
Jerry Holt
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To make soldering jump rings easier you might try this technique: roll out a narrow strip of solder in the rolling mill or cut and pound a strip of solder very thin. Cut the strip into small snippets. Insert the appropriate size snippet into the seam of the jump ring using tweezers or pliers, (it should be thin enough to not force the join open). Heat the joint until the solder flows. It makes a perfect seam every time, as the solder cannot jump to one side and flow away from the seam. This isn't practical for soldering dozens or hundreds of jump rings at a time, but if you need to control exactly where your solder flows this is a handy alternative to using a solder pick.
Michael David Sturlin - Scottsdale Arizona
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A tip for chain making: Fold a piece of copper sheet in half. Then cut a V in the fold. Unfold to where it will stand up on its own, and the V is at the top. Use the V to prop the jump ring up so that the joint is visible and ready to solder. You can use tweezers to move the chain along as you solder. This helps to keep from soldering links together. Hope this is helpful to someone.
Sarah Philbeck
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If you have a tip you would like to share with our readers send it in an e-mail to mailto:Brad@BWSimon.com
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If you like Trade Secrets then you’ll love Trade Secret of the Day a bench tip provided daily Monday through Friday on various Internet web sites including: http://www.jewelrydealersnetwork.com/ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/orchid.htm http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/Jeweller
If you know of a jewelers’ bulletin board or discussion channel that you would like to see Trade Secret of the Day posted on, have the administrator contact me at Brad@BWSimon.com
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<> <> <> <> QUOTE WORTH RE-QUOTING <> <> <> <>
The heights by great men reached and kept Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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<> <> <> <> <> SIMON SEZ SEMINARS <> <> <> <> <>
Bradney W. Simon is an accomplished platform speaker; providing Keynote Speeches, and Educational Seminars. onto; http://www.BWSimon.com/SimonSez Seminars
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TRADE SECRETS - TUCSON Tucson AZ February 7, 2002 This one-day seminar coincides with the Tucson Gem Shows and is the day before Catalog in Motion.
For more information go to:
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<> <> <> <> <> STEWART'S BENCH TIPS <> <> <> <> <>
Bench Tips from Stewart’s International School for Jewelers http://www.stewartsintlschool.com/
CUTTING LINKS IN A CHAIN By Jim Stewart
To cut the links in a gold chain lay the chain down on a flat piece of copper and cut the links with an X-ACTO knife. It is less costly to replace an X-ACTO blade than a flush side cutting pliers.
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Teamwork divides the task And doubles the success. Anonymous
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<> <> <> <> AT THE PLATINUM BENCH <> <> <> <>
Tips for working on Platinum from Jurgen J. Maerz CMBJ director of technical education for Platinum Guild International http://www.pgi-platinum-tech.com/
950/50 PLATINUM /COBALT ALLOY
These Platinum alloys have different advantages and are used for specific purposes. The flow properties of the 950/50 Platinum /Cobalt mixtures are best suited for casting. With this alloy, very fine pieces of excellent quality can be cast, and considerable detail can be achieved. Pt/Co has an annealed hardness (HV) of 130 and when cold-worked achieves a hardness (HV) of 270. It polishes well and holds its luster for a long time. When welded with a torch Pt/Co may oxidize slightly. This can be removed by firecoating the object after the initial welding and re-heating it to about 1000° F. Pickle in a 10% solution of nitric acid. The oxidation will not reappear during wear. It is not possible to torch-weld different Pt alloys together as they have different melting points. It is always safe to solder them together using 1500 or 1700 solder. As a point of interest, Pt/Co is slightly magnetic. Be sure to wear #5 or #6 welding goggles to protect your eyes.
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<> <> <> <> <> <> GOLD SPONSOR <> <> <> <> <> <>
If You Like E-Bench
YOU WILL LOVE BENCH MAGAZINE
A New Print Magazine For Bench Jewelers
BENCH Magazine, a new quarterly publication from B W Simon, is Written BY Bench Jewelers FOR Bench Jewelers. Each issue is filled with high-quality instructional articles by working jewelers who are masters of their craft; enhanced by line drawings, color renderings, or photographs.
From Basic Techniques to Advanced Applications - Advancements, BENCH Magazine provides accurate informative instruction from Professional Bench Jewelers. In addition, each issue contains a Bench Tip section where you can learn tricks of the trade from the magazine staff and jewelers around the world.
Subscriptions are free to jewelers in the USA and Canada,
To subscribe go to http://www.BWSimon.com/BENCH
BENCH and E-BENCH - Training Jewelers Worldwide
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All hard work bring a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty. Proverbs 14:23
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<> <> <> <> <> GERRY’S GEMZ <> <> <> <> <>
Stone setting tips from Gemz Diamond Setting http://www.gemzdiamondsetting.com/index.html
by Gerald N. Lewy
High-speed steel refers to the tensile strength of the steel used to make the burr. It must not be misconstrued for the general usage and the turning speed of the burr. When using a high speed steel burr for preparing the seats for a solitaire, I will make sure that the speed of the drill is just fast enough that I can not see the teeth of the bur turning. That gives me total control of the burr. Remember "high speed steel" is the name for the type of the steel the bur is made from not the speed to use it at. Gerry!
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<> <> <> <> <> SILVER SPONSORS <> <> <> <> <>
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Jewelry Dealers World Trade Network http://www.JewelryDealersNetwork.com/
<> <> <> Bench Jeweler Discussion Channel <> <> <> Ask questions, share tips, and take part in the on going discussions, or just read and take in all the advice from many Excellent Jewelers from around the world. Membership includes: Many topical Discussion Channels, Plus you may buy, sell and trade on the Buy/Sell Channels, Plus Much More. List B W Simon as your sponsor on the membership application and you will receive: ** ** 30 DAYS FREE MEMBERSHIP ** **
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<> <> <> <> <> Thank You for Reading <> <> <> <> <>
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Copyrighted, 2001, B W Simon. All rights reserved.
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