I thought I would share with you how I make my own small chisels. This is a good way to show that sometimes your tools can be handmade much less expensively than buying them. Many times you will need a chisel for whatever reason. If you work with historical processes, chisels were used to cut metal before the jewelers’ saw was invented. I am also attaching the picture I made showing the angles on my chisels. I edited this to make more sense outside of the conversation I was having. ============= I do a lot of work in the same…
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If you are reading this, I hope you came to my blog because you have decided that having a career in the jewelry trade might be fun and interesting.I have no idea what you think you will find here. I also am not sure what you need to hear so all I can do is try to connect with written words and try to point you in a good direction using my own experiences as a model. So we quickly circle back to the original question. “How do I start?“ I should begin with how I started as a jeweler.As…
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Below is the description that I share to let people know what I do as a Jewelry Educator.I felt it might be wise to look at this statement, “deconstruct” it and expand on it so you can see my reasoning for writing what I did. it has a lot to talk about and even more importantly, think about.My statement: As a Jewelry Educator, I strive to blend historical and modern methods of jewelry design and metalwork via lectures, teaching, and hands on learning in a variety of traditional and contemporary materials and processes. I teach the formal principles and elements…
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This style of hooked fastener was very popular during the early Tudor era. (1500 - 1575). As there is no soldering, it is a good first project for new jewelers. The process used here can be easily used to make other items.
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Before starting and sitting down at your bench or workspace look around. Just because everything seems ok at first glance, do not become compliant.
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This video shows how to make a basic, but often used tool at the jewelers bench. The sanding stick. You should make several of these in different grits of paper.
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Now I have nothing against selling jewelry. I did it for many years. I just do not want to mislead others into thinking that they cannot adequately clean their own jewelry, and I do not like using gimmicks to get you back into a store to sell you something.
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This old vaudeville joke about Carnegie Hall, which opened in 1891, has been around so long, that no one knows who first said it. Made famous by Jack Benny (1894-1974), the vaudeville, radio and television comedian, it is probably the most quoted guidance on the importance of practice in order to learn a skill. This quote is about music and musicians, not jewelry, but it has become the default advice on how to learn just about anything. Unfortunately, it is probably the worst advice you can give someone to help them master any skill.
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I have no “artistic ability“. But I do not care about that. I have plenty of “creative ability”. I would prefer to have both.