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<=> <=> <=> <=> E-BENCH <=> <=> <=> <=>
The E-Mail Newsletter
for Bench Jewelers
August 2005
Volume 6 Issue 8 circulation over 3,700
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<=> <=> ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER <=> <=>
E-BENCH is a FREE monthly newsletter for Retail
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<=> <=> <=> TABLE OF CONTENTS <=> <=> <=>
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.
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 and more productive from
Bradney W. Simon CMBJ and E-BENCH Readers.
GERRY’S GEMZ
Stone setting tips from Gemz Diamond Setting
WORKSHOP SAFETY FOR JEWELERS
Tips from Charles Lewton-Brian
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<=> <=> <=> E-BENCH SPONSOR <=> <=> <=>
The
Ganoksin Project
www.ganoksin.com
The Gem and Jewelry Pre-Eminent Online
Resources. Open to the
public
Free of
Charge.
A substantial library of articles,
publications, reports, and technical data on
gem and jewelry related topics; as well as a
sizable collection of art and jewelry
galleries, for both the casual visitor and the
professional, also host the popular Orchid
online forums for jewelers.
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<=> <=>
Tips for Jewelers Who Do Repairs
From Alan Revere
A FILE-SAFE PLAN: Modifying Files for Working Near Stones
Most flat and square files—both large hand files and small needle files—have cutting surfaces on all four sides and edges. The sharp edges are great if you want to carve a 90 degree groove into a piece of metal, but then can be problematic for certain applications, such as finishing a bezel setting. If you want to clean up the top of a setting, a file with sharp cutting surfaces and edges all around will put the stone in danger. However, with a little effort, you can modify a file that will allow you to play it safe.
First, prepare a safe surface on the one side of a fine-cut (#4 or #6) square needle file. (Note: You can also use the following steps to modify barrette needle files, which are great for finishing prongs.) To do this, carefully lay one side of the file against the spinning wheel of a bench grinder and draw it across, removing the abrasive cuts on that side of the file. Repeat until the cuts are completely removed.
After rough grinding, take the file to an oiled sharpening stone—the kind you use to sharpen gravers, drill bits, blades, etc. Hold the file flat against the stone and rub it back and forth to smooth the new surface and remove marks left by grinding. When the surface is smooth, knock the cuts off the edges on both sides of the newly cleaned surface.
With all remnants of the original cuts removed, use progressively finer grits of abrasive paper to bring the surface and adjacent edges to a polish. Begin with 220 grit paper held against a flat surface. Proceed to 320, 400 and 600 grit. Finish up with 4/0 polishing paper. The file should shine on one side.
And with that you have a file that is “safe” for finishing bezels and prongs. Keeping in mind that all stones can be damaged by abrasion, place the safe surface very lightly against the stone and file the setting to perfection.
This Tip is from “101 Bench Tips for Jewelers"
written by Alan Revere and published by
MJSA/AJM Press.
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<=> <=> QUOTE WORTH RE-QUOTING <=> <=>
That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil – this is the gift of God.
Ecclesiastes 3:13
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<=> <=> <=> E-BENCH SPONSOR <=> <=> <=>
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<=> <=> <=> FEATURE ARTICLE <=> <=> <=>
Design Considerations for Pendants
When making a pendant the bail should be something that is incorporated into the design of the pendant if at all possible. Often jewelers will take something and stick a bail on top and call it a pendant, resulting in something that looks like something added onto it, rather than a complete design.
Rather than sticking a standard bail on top, why not incorporate the bail into the design of the pendant? In order to do this, it's important to know what type of chain and what size of chain the pendant is going to be worn on before you begin designing it.
In most cases pendants need to have a broad base and not be very tall. Most chains are flexible enough that the pendant can roll sideways. You don't want to taper the sides of a pendant as much as you would if you're creating a crown for a ring. The crown for a pendant needs to be less tapered, and more straight up-and-down. This will give you a broader base, and the pendant will lay flatter and not roll as easily.
In addition, if it is a tall pendant the center of gravity is high and the pendant will have a tendency to roll and turn over as the customer is wearing it. When you construct a pendant try to keep everything as low as possible. That will help to keep it from rolling or turning while the customer is wearing it.
When creating a pendant that has stones set in it, there is a design element that I like to include that isn't talked about often. If you look at stones (diamonds in particular) they are cut so that the light will reflect back out of the table of the stone. Looking at the stone straight down on the table will give you the most brilliance and the most sparkle from diamonds. Also well cut colored stones are cut to give the most color and the most life to the stone when viewed from the table.
If you set the stones into a pendant so they are straight (in other words the table is parallel with the back of the piece) all of the brilliance or all of the color will come straight out from the pendant. Because pendants are worn on a chain around the neck they are worn below the line of sight and so the most brilliance and color from the stones is going straight out from the pendant---not at the angle that people will view the pendant.
Because of this, when fabricating the crowns to set the stones, and when you set the stones, I believe they should be on a slight upward angle. In other words the table should be slightly lower at the top of the pendant than at the bottom of the pendant. This angle should be very slight, not so drastic of an angle that the stones look crooked, but just a couple of degrees. Then the stones are all angled toward the person’s eyesight and when they view the pendant they will see the most brilliance and color from the stones. This is just a little thing, but often it’s the little things that make the biggest difference.
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<=> <=> QUOTE WORTH RE-QUOTING <=> <=>
Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears.
Les Brown
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<=> <=> <=> E-BENCH SPONSOR <=> <=> <=>
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<=> <=> AT THE PLATINUM BENCH <=> <=>
Tips that make working with Platinum or
working at the bench in general - easier from
Jurgen J. Maerz CMBJ,
Director of Technical Education
for Platinum Guild International
http://www.pgi-platinum-tech.com
CD’s make great sanding surfaces. Glue the CD to the back of sand paper and cut it out around the CD. When placed on a polishing spindle, it makes a perfectly flat sanding or polishing surface.
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<=> <=> QUOTE WORTH RE-QUOTING <=> <=>
Wonder is the beginning of wisdom. Greek Proverb
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<=> <=> <=> FAVORITE TIPS <=> <=> <=>
What is the surface just below your buffing wheel made of? Most likely it is metal. I cover mine with corrugated cardboard cut to fit. Then, on the rare occasion when my buffer snatches something from my hand, it has a much better chance of surviving the blow.
Peter Nestler
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A quick and simple mini flexible
lap is on the
back of your snap on sanding
discs. Flip the
disc over, run against
another disc to remove
the 'glaze' and then apply
the desired
polishing compound.
Jeff Demand
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< < < <> > > > > >
This is a valuable method of saving patterns for repeated engravings and layouts. After your initial pattern is drawn, engrave your design with a fine onglette or round graver. Next take a piece of paper, about the thickness of a standard job envelope and moisten with a bit of water and hard bar soap, making sure the paper is not over saturated. Place this with the damp side down over your design and burnish into the design until the paper looks smooth and shiny. Allow transfer to dry. Next take the metal to be engraved and polish, clean, and place in your holding device. Next take a little of your soap and water and apply a thin film onto your metal. While still wet lightly dab on a bit of powdered magnesium carbonate leaving a dull surface. Lay transfer on your article and gently burnish making sure to cover the entire transfer, [DONT MOVE] carefully lift the paper and you will be left with lines that can be followed with your graver. These patterns can be used many times. Our shop still uses transfers that were made over 50 or more years ago. Mark Lofgren
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< < < <> > > > > >
Take an old burr, capture it
in a pin vise,
break off the tip, and
sharpen the shaft into a
neat little round bottom
engraver. It holds a
great edge and works well in
close quarter or
for fine detailed work.
Larry Perleberg
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< < < <> > > > > >
I found that Super glue works amazingly well on those little cuts that we receive from saw blades and any minor cuts for that matter. Super glue (the real super glue) dries fast, does not sting when applied and helps keep dirt out while continuing to work. Just simply close the cut as best as you can and apply, sometimes this takes two people, and it lasts for a few days. Joey Ragas
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If you have a tip you would like to share with
our readers send it in an e-mail to
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<=> <=> QUOTE WORTH RE-QUOTING <=> <=>
Most misfortunes are the results of misused time.
Napoleon Hill
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<=> <=> <=> E-BENCH SPONSOR <=> <=> <=>
101 Bench Tips for Jewelers by Alan Revere
Alan Revere—acclaimed designer, author, and
educator—now shares his most valuable bench
tips and tricks in 101 Bench Tips for Jewelers.
Based on the monthly column in AJM, this book
will help any jeweler speed production, improve
quality, and raise profits at the bench.
Filled with helpful illustrations, this
publication covers all aspects of bench work,
from soldering to stone setting, piercing to
final polish. This book
is sure to be a
resource you’ll reference for years to come.
For more information, visit
www.ajm-magazine.com/pub_press.php
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<=> <=> <=> GERRY’S GEMZ <=> <=> <=>
Stone setting tips from Gemz Diamond
Setting
http://www.gemzdiamondsetting.com/index.html
by Gerald N. Lewy
Protecting the culet is one of the most basic and most overlooked areas of setting any size of stone. As this part of the diamond is one of the most vulnerable areas, it can chip easily. So how do we adjust for this potential calamity on claw settings? I always use #009 round burs, nothing too large, but small enough to ‘free’ the culet from touching any metal. I will literally dig down to the depth the ball. I will also visualize the location of the intended culet and ask myself: Is the hole well positioned? Will it free the culet? Will the hole cut interfere with the security of the adjoining claws?
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Manual of Diamond
Setting by Gerry Lewy
This new book and CD set on diamond setting is
geared to the Hobbyist, Student, Beginner,
Intermediate and Advanced Jeweller/Setter. It
is a compendium of 5 years of writing for Bench
Magazine and has over 613 pictures taken during
the setting process. This Manual sell for
$69.95 US Special Price for all E-Bench Readers
is only $54.95 plus Shipping and Handling.
For more information or to order
E-Mail Gerry Lewy at: gemz@ican.net
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<=> <=> QUOTE WORTH RE-QUOTING <=> <=>
Big goals get big results. No goals get no results or somebody else's results.
Mark Victor Hansen
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<=>
<=> WORKSHOP SAFETY FOR
JEWELERS <=> <=>
Workshop Safety Tips From Charles Lewton-Brian
Exposure Routes
The main exposure routes for chemicals are by breathing them in (inhalation), eating and drinking materials (ingestion)-which can also happen when large particles are breathed in, brought into the throat by lung clearing mechanisms and swallowed, and by touching things (absorption). Do not eat or drink in the workshop. If you have to have a drink use the kind of containers with a cap on the end of a straw - this may reduce your potential chemical contact. A friend of Mark Parkinson had his vitamins in the studio, accidentally downed a ruby instead, and searched all over for the stone before realizing where it was.
Smoking, besides being bad for you in all the ways you ought to know by now, seems to react synergistically with many chemicals and dusts jewelers have been exposed to; in some cases multiplying the risk of damage really dramatically so don't smoke.
Don't wear jewelry when working in the shop. It too can get caught on things. It is best to not wear a ring at the bench, not only to avoid the dreaded 'degloving incident' (where a ring gets caught on something, a machine part or a hook of some kind and tears the skin of the finger inside out) but because chemicals and dusts can get trapped under the ring and more readily cause dermatitis.
For more information on Workshop safety from
Charles Lewton-Brian log onto:
http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/safety.htm
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Information provided in this document is
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For editorial suggestions, comments, ideas
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Copyrighted, 2005, BENCH MEDIA.
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