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<> <> <> <> <> <> <> E-BENCH <> <> <> <> <> <> <>
The E-Mail Newsletter for Bench Jewelers
June 2002
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<> <> <> <> <> TABLE OF CONTENTS <> <> <> <> <> REVERE’S TIPS FOR JEWELERS Tips For Jewelers, Who Do Repairs from Alan Revere
FEATURE ARTICLE Learn how to make your shop more profitable, a new technique, or brush up on basic skills. 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
FAVORITE TIPS Tips and Tricks to make your work on the bench a little easier
GERRY’S GEMZ Stone setting tips from Gemz Diamond Setting
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<> <> <> REVERE’S TIPS FOR JEWELERS <> <> <> <>
Tips For Jewelers, Who Do Repairs from Alan Revere Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts
A good reputation takes years to build and minutes to lose.
Unless you are certain of the metal quality and gemstone identification, do not write them on the job envelope.
Look for evidence of earlier repairs and previous solder seams prior to commencing work.
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The greatest amount of wasted time is the time not getting started. Dawson Trotman
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<> <> <> <> <> <> GOLD SPONSOR <> <> <> <> <> <>
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<> <> <> <> <> FEATURE ARTICLE <> <> <> <> <> A Pain In The Neck By Bradney W Simon CMBJ You start to turn and there it is again. You go to stand up from your chair and it happens again. It's that nagging pain in your neck or lower back. After several years on the bench, jewelers often develop chronic neck or back injuries.
Bench jewelers will spend most of the time in the workshop seated at their workbench. Therefore, time is well spent in adjusting and arranging it. A poorly adjusted chair and workbench will not only cause discomfort, fatigue, and muscle cramps that reduce worker efficiency, but more importantly, it may develop into leg, back, or neck injury.
Many varieties of workbench styles are available from jewelry tool and equipment suppliers. Unfortunately most all benches come in a standard height of 39” to 40” and are not adjustable. This one size fits all bench height fits worse than one-size fits all clothing. Since jewelers are not all the same height, the workbench MUST be adjusted to fit them properly.
Adjusting Your Chair start with the chair. A jeweler may sit in their chair for over eight hours per day, every day, and even longer during the Christmas Season. A quality chair designed to be sat in for long periodsof time and ergonomically designed is essential. Your body, limbs, spine, and neck are supported by and affected by the chair you sit in. Pain associated with seating may develop slowly, often over many months or even years. A good chair will go a long way toward preventing these problems.
When selecting a chair do not be fooled by the visual appearance. For example, a soft, overly padded chair may look inviting. When you sit in it for the first few moments, it may feel comfortable and soothing. Over an eight-hour workday, however, this chair may not support your back, legs, and spine properly.
Once you have purchased a chair, you must adjust it. The best chair in the world is worthless if it is not adjusted correctly.
Adjust the height of the chair so that when seated with feet flat on the floor the tops of your thighs are parallel to the floor. You should be able to feel the seat of the chair along the back of your thighs. You should feel enough pressure to support your upper legs, but not too much pressure as to cut off or restrict circulation. The angle between the torso and the thighs should not be less than 90° or greater than 110°. From this position, you need to adjust the height of the workbench. DO NOT adjust the height of the chair to the workbench.
A chair too high is awkward for shorter jewelers, and it is hard to reach the foot pedal for the flex shaft. It puts pressure on the thighs, restricting circulation in the legs. Improper support of the legs and thighs leads to chronic back injury.
A chair too low is uncomfortable for taller jewelers. Their knees are raised too high eliminating any support of their thighs. This causes compression of the lower spine and body organs. Alternatively, they bend their legs awkwardly under them, causing fatigue and cramping. Both lead to chronic back injury.
A backrest on the chair is necessary to help support the spine. The backrest should support the lower and middle of your back, from your waist to just below your shoulder blades. Less than this does not give adequate support; more than this restricts movement. Adjust the backrest up or down to give this support. Then adjust the backrest forward or backwards so that there is 2" to 4" of clearance between the front edge of the seat and the inside of your knees. Just like your thighs against the chair seat, you should be able to feel the support of the chair backrest along your back. While sitting your spine is supported either by a backrest or by your muscles. Avoid fatigue from muscular backache and get a chair with a properly adjusted backrest.
Adjusting Your Bench properly adjusted chair. Sit up straight with your back against the backrest. In this position, your bench pin should come to the center of your breastbone. If it does not, you need to adjust the height of your bench. Buying the proper chair and adjusting it correctly will do you no good if you hunch over your work because your bench is too short!
If your bench is too tall, you can cut the required amount off each leg. Be certain to cut exactly the same amount off each leg so that the bench does not wobble. If the bench is too short, glue a block of wood to the bottom of each leg to raise the bench.
Visors magnifying lens plate out directly in front of your eyes. This forces you to look straight ahead, not down at your work. To see your work on your bench pin you must bend over your work. This also leads to chronic back and neck injury.
Many jewelers further complicate this problem when someone comes to talk to them while working. Rather than raise the visor, they bend their necks back and look down under the visor to see the person. Over time, a jeweler develops a whiplash type injury from this extreme bending of the neck.
A better alternative is to use a magnifier that sets lower in front of the eyes, such as reading glasses. To use, you look down through the glasses and only need to bend your head forward slightly, if at all. Then to see someone you can look straight out over the glasses without bending your neck.
Chiropractor Last, but certainly not least, visit a chiropractor. Find a chiropractor that works with occupational injuries and provides maintenance care. Chiropractors that only work with acute injuries (such as auto accidents) may not be as proficient at working with chronic injury that bench jewelers develop. In addition, find a chiropractor that will take x-rays of your spine before making any adjustments. Any competent chiropractor will want to see just what condition your spine is in before making adjustments.
By making a few ergonomic adjustments to your shop and work habits as well as receiving chiropractic maintenance; your back will begin to feel good as new and you will have one less Pain In The Neck!
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Plans fail for lack of counsel, Proverbs 15:12
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<> <> <> <> <> STEWART'S BENCH TIPS <> <> <> <> <>
Bench Tips from Stewart’s International School for Jewelers http://www.stewartsintlschool.com/
How To Repair A Broken Hollow Chain By Jim Stewart
Take time to clean the chain because oils and hairspray may get inside the hollow links. You may have to clean the chain using a mixture of one tablespoon of Red Devil Lye to a few cups of water at 180F. If you use this solution you will need proper ventilation. You can cut through link one on both sides using an ultra thin cutoff disc or you can unsolder the links using a small reducing flame and twist the link a little using soldering tweezers. Now weave link one into link two and solder together using paste solder. Then weave the other link one into link two and solder the same way. Paste solder is not necessary but it is a little faster.
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Try to forget yourself in the service of others. For when we think too much of ourselves and our own interest, we easily become despondent. But when we work for others, our efforts return to bless us. Sidney Powell
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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/
Testing For Platinum
Even though there are electronic testers and acid tests to determine the metal of a piece of jewelry, the quickest way to test if something is platinum is very simple. With a graver remove a very small splinter of metal from an inconspicuous area, such as the underside of a ring. Place that splinter on a soldering surface and apply heat with your torch. If the splinter starts to brightly glow and won't immediately melt, it is platinum. If it balls up, it is some other white metal. This is not very scientific, but it works. However, it won't tell you the alloy combination.
To check if something is Platinum /Cobalt, just file the item a bit and see if you can pick up the filing with a magnet. Pt/Co is ferro-magnetic
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<> <> <> <> <> <> GOLD SPONSOR <> <> <> <> <> <>
SIMON SEZ SEMINARS Bradney W. Simon is an accomplished platform speaker, providing Keynote Speeches, and Educational Seminars. Topics include:
For information on having him speak for your organization log onto; http://www.BWSimon.com/SimonSez Seminars
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<> <> <> <> <> <> FAVORITE TIPS <> <> <> <> <> <>
I've used spring clothespins in many configurations for a long, long time in my shop. What's great is that they're cheap, readily available, versatile and easily customizable. Here are some of my favorite uses.
1). Pearl Clamp To view picture log onto: www.jbacher.com/images/prlclamp.jpg Drill a hole large enough to accommodate an earring post or tie tac post, centered in the curved area at the mouth of the clip. When epoxying beads, simply insert the post through the hole and allow the clamp to close over the bead until dry. For rings, simply omit drilling a hole. With this method, you can also place the entire apparatus into the job envelope to allow curing overnight. Use enough epoxy for a good bond, but not too much to overflow the cup and adhere to the clamp!
2). Shank Cutting Bench Pin To view picture log onto: www.jbacher.com/images/benchpin.jpg Sometimes, using the standard bench pin is a bit awkward when cutting ring shanks. Simply remove the spring from a clothespin, align one half of the pin flat side down and extending over the front of your bench and screw it to your benchtop. If you prefer to be able to swing it out of the way, use only one screw. Beginning at the front center of the pin, cut a straight groove all the way past the dip. The dip in the pin allows you to easily hold almost any ring for a straight cut.
3). Ring Holder To view picture log onto: www.jbacher.com/images/ringclamp.jpg When masking a ring in preparation for rhodium finishing, it's sometimes difficult to find a way to hold the ring without getting nail polish all over your own fingers. Simply clamp the ring shank into a clothespin and mask away. It will allow you a larger area to hold and keeps your fingers out of the way! You can also place the clothespin on the shelf with your plating solutions, and/or rectifier, keeping it out of the way until dry and ready to plate.
4). Bench Shim To view picture log onto: www.jbacher.com/images/shim.jpg When placing your bench in the appropriate area of your shop, you may find that the floor isn't quite level. Rather than messing with trimming the legs or folding matchbooks, simply slide in half of a clothespin until the bench is steady. For a more 'finished' look, cut off the remaining portion.
5). Organizers (Do we really need a picture here?) When starting the day and organizing your work, group the similar jobs and clip them together with a clothespin marked for the type of task (size up, size down, polish, etc.) That way, you can find the task type with a quick glance. You can also use them to hold the job envelope(s) at the station you're currently working at, so as not to misplace them. Joe Bacher
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Tip for finding your chuck key: Make a brass wire twist around the chuck key and one just above the handpiece of your flexible shaft, both ending in a double ring (making a single hole); then loop 2 other pieces of wire together making them just long enough to reach from the end of your handpiece to the chuck hole. When the bit is changed it just drops out of the way. I use 4 pieces because over time I find fewer pieces tend to crimp and finally break. Jay Ritchie
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Tip for channel setting multiple stones: As you snap stones into their seats, rub bee's wax over them. When all the stones are in the channel smear the wax across all the stones and scrape the top wax off so you can see that all the stones are at the angles you want. Hammer the whole channel at once, all the stones will stay put. Before steaming wax out try to wiggle them with tweezers first to be sure one is not loose. Jay Ritchie
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One of my favorite tricks, for cleaning under diamonds and other stones without using a steamer: an ultrasonic toothbrush, such as a SonicCare, works very well, better than my ultrasonic usually. Customers often already have one, so it is good for home use. David Clarkson
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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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Enjoying success requires the ability to adapt. Only by being open to change will you have a true opportunity to get the most from your talent. Nolan Ryan
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<> <> <> <> <> GERRY’S GEMZ <> <> <> <> <>
Stone setting tips from Gemz Diamond Setting http://www.gemzdiamondsetting.com/index.html
By Gerald N. Lewy
When drilling through metal, always ease up on the pressure when the twist drill is about to exit from behind / underneath. Why? It is easy to ram the chuck into the gold being drilled and leave an impression of the 'chuck' on the front surface. Its not a good sight to see. It’s also easy to break a drill bit as it exits the metal.
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Jewelry Dealers World Trade Network http://www.JewelryDealersNetwork.com/
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Copyrighted, 2002, B W Simon. All rights reserved.
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