How about that bottom line?
That one gets the shaft.
It’s the line that tells us that we spent too much, or that we paid too much for that show with the splashy top line numbers. It’s the line that shows our time spent reconciling our receipts.
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My Favorite Bench Pin
It's been awhile since I've talked more specifically about jewelry skills and tools. And it's been awhile since I've talked to you about tools and I've desperately missed talking about tools.
Disclaimer - I don’t get paid for any of my jewelry tool reviews. I just really love a useful tool and want to share them with you. You can find this bench pin here.
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Making a round shape and keeping it round in jewelry is sometimes harder than it looks. When I started out in jewelry-making, I loved making rounded, sinuous, and organic shapes (still do, tbh).
The problem? Traditional methods of cleaning, finishing, and polishing involved files and sandpaper, all of which tended to make more work for me on those rounded shapes. Files left flat planes on my rounded surface that then had to be, well, filed off. I really needed something better suited to rounded surfaces.
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Lots of wax carving tools can be adapted, re-shaped, sharpened, and formed to make them into the exact tools that you need. Check out the latest Tool Talk video to see how I adapted some old dental tools to be sharper and more ergonomic.
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Deadblow Mallet - Why do I love it so?
The deadblow mallet has tiny ball bearings in it that give this mallet heft and weight, meaning you need fewer blows to achieve the same result. And herein lies the reason I love it so much - fewer blows means faster work, faster work means more time to play and be creative, more time to be creative means more jewelry! Also, those thermoplastic heads mean little to no marks on your piece and no stretching of the metal. Watch and see how quickly you can make a ring round. Watch the video to see how I use it!
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Best is always a subjective term to describe jewelry tools. One person’s best tool can be a crap tool for another jeweler. If I leave you with no other information here, let it be that the “right tool” is the tool that’s right for you. Look, treat yourself to the $200 electric wax pen that plugs into the wall and comes with a rheostat to control the temperature if you like, but I absolutely adore this inexpensive and portable Max Wax pen. And for so many reasons! The ease of use, the portability, the lightweight feel, the fine and flexible control over the temperature, and the fact that I don’t have to worry about whether or not I left my wax pen on at night!
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You thought I wouldn’t geek out over drill bits? Oh, my sweet summer child. Of course, I am going to geek out and geek out hard for my favorite drill bits. I love a small tool that makes a big difference in your quality of life and this drill bit with the wider base makes so much difference. So great when you are doing a bunch of stone setting - add in a quick-release handpiece and this wider drill bit, and you are going to sail through stone setting and so many other projects. Plus, the wider base means that I break far fewer drill bits. In fact, I tend to wear these down much sooner than I break them. This is one of those small tools that are totally worth the higher price. Watch this video to learn more!
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If you bought a Foredom Flex Shaft, then it likely came with a regular chuck key-operated handpiece. Screw it open, screw it closed. Each tool change in your flex shaft requires this step. But what if you could just press a lever and pull out one bit and pop the other one in? The quick-change or quick-release handpiece is a life changer. I know that I say this about almost all of my tools in Tool Talk, but omg this one is for real. Watch the quick release in action in this video.
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What kind of jeweler’s torch should you get?
I know, I know. This is one of those jeweler subjects that gets super judgy super fast. Everyone has OPINIONS and there is this weird gatekeeping nature to the discussion that suggests that you aren’t a real jeweler unless you have the “right torch”. If you spend any time in online jeweler forums, you have probably seen these discussions play out. I went through this phase for a bit and cringe at how I used to judge other metalsmiths for their torch choices. What’s great about going from “I judge you for your torch”
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This week on Tool Talk, my most favorite tool - the Lucas Foot Pedal. Watch me compare the action on this foot pedal compared to the foot pedal that comes standard with most flex shafts. If you plan to do a lot of stone setting, or wax carving and lathing, this foot pedal has more supple and sensitive movement and eases its way from zero to 60. This is one of those jewelry tools that makes a subtle yet significant difference in your everyday jewelry-making
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A video about charcoal? When it’s compressed or long-life charcoal, then yes, a whole video about my precious compressed charcoal. I would marry compressed charcoal if I could. And you might too once you watch all the ways it is awesome - reduced oxidizing? Use it as a jig to hold prongs while soldering? Carve it out to make your own crucible for small melts? A soldering surface that lasts for years and can be easily modified? Yes to all of it.
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Welcome to my series Tool Talk - where I help you parse out which jewelry-making tools are right for you.
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This video shows you how to read analog or Vernier calipers - an essential jewelry tool great for measuring diamonds and gemstones, wire or sheet, or measuring the length of a ring blank.
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We have a saying in the jewelry business - you can never have too many tools! OK, so that’s not an official saying, but it should be. When a friend recently gifted me a bunch of their old jewelers' tools - some of them doubles of tools I already had - I didn't think twice; of course I could make them work! I also recently found a bunch of stamps and small tools at an antique mall in Paso Robles. I felt like I’d really scored!
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