Dressing your hammers!

Some time back, I promised to show you how to dress your hammers…. and then I never got around to it. Today, I’m trying something a little different by showing you the process in a video instead of trying to explain it in writing. I hope you like it!

A few notes:

• This is my first full-length process video. I see this as something I’d like to do more of, so help me make it as effective and beneficial for you as possible! We’ll get better at sound and camera angles, but in the meantime I’d love your constructive feedback and comments.
• A huge thank you to Letty Wilde of Silver Leaf Artisan Jewelry – Letty is one of my students, a dear friend, and my assistant in my studio one day a week. She operated the camera and warned me about “resting bitch face” more than once!
• Please excuse the horrific state of my working space – the entire Roadhouse Arts studio and classroom area is in transition right now, and we had just gotten back from BeadFest when we shot this, so everything looks like a bomb went off.

Thanks for watching!

Until next time –

Riveting Show & Tell

A couple of weeks ago I splurged and ordered this set from Interweave.  I was lucky enough to see a FB post reminding me that the Interweave Store was offering a limited 40% off sale.  Wow, I thought that was too good to pass up.

My physical haul from the kit...plus my earrings!

 The kit arrived and included everything you see here...the first obvious perk is a wonderful little Fretz riveting hammer.  I have to admit, this is my 1st Fretz and it is so sweet!  It also included the DVD by Tracy Stanley, Making Jewelry with Metal Tubing, a Bead Smith punch and riveting tool, 2 packages of hollow rivets to use with the tool and a variety of Vintaj blanks to play with.

Earrings made from Vintaj blanks and brass stampings...riveted with sterling.

The kit also included 3 digital products, Making 3 Perfect Rivets and Riveted Earring Project, both by Tracy Stanley, and Bodacious Copper Bangle Project by Kim St. Jean.

Now, I have done rivets before, but am by no means a pro at it.  Tracy made it look so easy and was really engaging in the videos.  I had to put it all on hold until I got back from my beach vacation, but this week I played a bit.  The above earrings are Vintaj blanks from the kit, raw brass stampings I had on hand that I riveted with sterling wire following Tracy's instructions.  The Fretz hammer worked like a dream and I think made all the difference.  These are still a bit rough!

Next, after watching the Tubing DVD, I decided to try a bracelet, but didn't want the dangles, so I opted to streamline and make a bracelet bar with chain.  I had 1/4 inch copper tubing on hand, so that is what I used.

My 1st riveted bracelet!

 I flattened the tubing and textured it as in the instructions.  I opted to shape the ends, rather than folding over, as Tracy did in the DVD.  I was going to create the chain with my own links, but when I found this big copper rolo chain, I opted to use it instead, just adding my own sterling connector links and clasp.

Wow, the Fretz hammer even makes a great prop!!!

 I didn't want this novice piece to be blingy...I knew it would be staying with me, and I don't really do bling!  Mixed metals?  Yes, please :)  I decided to add 3 of my white copper metal clay components,,,2 flowers and a heart.  As you can see, they are askew, but Tracy says in the DVD, "you meant to do that"!

How it hangs on my wrist...don't like the big jump rings at the sides....must. fix. 

I have to admit, these wire rivets were harder to do than I remembered from ages ago.  A couple of things I would take away from the DVD and Tracy's other video...make sure your hole punch and wire match!  The wire should barely fit in the hole!  I made a few mistakes and am not showing the back side because of that!

I didn't use the punch/rivet setter yet...I wanted to on the brass earrings I showed earlier, but rivets in the kit were not long enough.  Tracy also suggests using brass escutcheon pins/nails for taller stacks, but I didn't have any in  my stash.

I lucked out and got a great discount on this set.  I think right now it is marked down to half price, but the DVD alone is a great resource.  Now, I am off to practice!

***Disclaimer...this is just my 2 cents on this kit!***

Tool Care

A while back, I wrote about finally getting my first set of Fretz hammers for my workbench. It was kind of a big deal, both because it was a pretty significant financial investment and because I had wanted them for a long time.

But now comes confession time: I haven't used them all that much.

Gasp!

I know. I fondle them a lot, and I leave them out on my bench so I can visit with them, but I used the planishing hammer for a substantial project and it's sweet little face got a bit marred up. So I set out to find some good information about how to care for my new tools. Here's what I've found so far:

1. Not a lot.

Do a Google search for "dressing hammers" and what you get is page after page of people posting in various forums - mostly blacksmith and ironwork - about needing to dress their hammers and looking for good instructions. So I am on a quest for information about tool care - and not just hammers, but everything on my bench.

For starters, here's a video about hammer dressing from a guy named Modern Blacksmith on YouTube that will give you an introduction to the basic idea behind hammer dressing. (Skip ahead to about the 4:15 mark if you don't want to hear about the project he's working on and the history of the hammer he's dressing.)

A while back, we did a little rudimentary hammer dressing with a rotary tool at Wired Designs - see the sparks?

Our goal was to clean up the riveting edges on our classroom hammers, which had been somewhat abused over the last year. As you can see, we were using a small rotary tool instead of a flex-shaft - and while it worked really well and got the job done, it wasn't more than just basic maintenance.

So I've got two mid-sized riveting hammers I'm going to try to dress, plus my poor little marked-up Fretz, and I'll report back to you in my next post with the good, the bad, and the ugly. A few words of caution if you're going to try this too:

1. Eye protection is a MUST. Don't even think about working without it.
2. Make sure any grinders, wheels, or flex-shaft or rotary tool components you use on your steel tools are kept strictly separate from anything you might use on your copper, brass and silver jewelry materials to avoid cross contamination. If possible, use a completely separate work area - but at a minimum, plan on doing a thorough cleaning afterwards.
3. The video shows the use of a single grit grinder. From my reading, we'll need to plan on doing a lot of hand-work after the grinding in order to get mirror-polished hammers suitable for jewelry work - from 400 grit all the way to 1000 grit or higher.

Keep your fingers crossed!

Until next time -

"Say hello to my l'il fren'!!"

Ever since I started banging on metal five years ago, I've been lusting after a set of Fretz hammers.

I mean, seriously. Isn't that gorgeous? That sleek handle, perfectly carved to fit into your hand? Sigh.

Well, I did it. I saved up my pennies and bought the complete set of jeweler's hammers from Rio Grande. And those handles are as sleek and smooth and wonderful as I expected.

The set comes with two embossing hammers, each one with two different-sized peens. Technically, embossing is the process of stretching metal from the inside to create a raised pattern or in preparation for forming the metal into a final shape. But these hammers also leave very distinct dimpling patterns, the size of which depends on the peen used.

Also in the set are two raising hammers. Each has two cross peens in different sizes, which are intended to "raise" metal by forming it (usually against a stake) without stretching the metal. The faces of the hammers vary a great deal in width and thickness, from very narrow to quite wide.

Last but not least, the set includes a planishing hammer. It has one flat face and one slightly convex (rounded) face, both of which are used to smooth hammered metal and eliminate hammer marks left from the embossing and raising processes.

As an added bonus, I treated myself to one of the gorgeous Fretz bench anvils. This one has a flat surface, but there are others which have slightly curved or domed surfaces too.

For more information on all the Fretz hammers, check out this great post over at the Rio Grande blog. I guess I need to add Fretz stakes to my wishlist now, hmmmm?

In my next post, I'll do some experimenting with textures and shaping using these beauties... which, since I'm being honest, are still sitting unused on my bench. I'm a little afraid I'm going to ruin them!! (Have you ever gotten that long-awaited tool or material and then hesitated to use it? Please tell me I'm not alone!)

Until next time -

Note: I have not been compensated in any way for this post, and I have no relationship with Fretz or Rio Grande. I just love Fretz hammers!!

Drooling over tools

I suspect I'm not the only person out there who likes to read the Rio Grande tool and equipment catalogue from cover to cover. Or who leaves every class with at least one new specialty tool demonstrated by the instructor. Or who thinks an unexpected outing to Harbor Freight is romantic. (True story: my husband once surprised me with a stop at Harbor Freight one Sunday after church. I teared up and posted a photo of their sign on Instagram.)

I'm not sure what it is about tools and equipment that create such a sense of anticipation, but since getting involved in jewelry making I have become something of a magpie - I want to try and collect all the things. Just... all of them.

This can be a good and bad thing. I've found great tools in unexpected places, and tried to go the "cheap" route by getting less expensive versions of the things I really want. Two of my favorite bench tools are inexpensive Harbor Freight purchases that I reach for over and over again.

This deadblow mallet is great for flattening annealed metal and tightening and loosening my bench vise. I've also used it to form items on mandrels because I like the lack of bounce-back, although the head is a little on the large side for mandrel use. (I could solve that problem by purchasing the smaller version Harbor Freight carries but haven't gotten around to it yet.)

I love this stubby ball pein hammer! It has a nice heavy head, and fits perfectly in my hand. I use it with my disc cutter and with my stamping and chasing tools, because it offers the right combination of weight and control. Best $3 I ever spent in the studio.

Less successful, on the other hand, were these "brass" brushes.

I bought these in two sizes, thinking I'd saved a ton of money over the wooden handled brushes in many studios. Not so much. These rusted and the bristles are so stiff they scratched the heck out of a number of pieces. I finally threw in the towel and bought good studio brushes and I haven't regretted it. (I bought mine at Wired Designs in San Antonio, where I work, but you can get them online at Contenti. Worth every penny.)

For storage, I love using these inexpensive see-through scrapbook boxes.

Michael's and Hobby Lobby both carry them, and when they're on sale or there's a coupon, it's possible to get these for $5 each. They are very sturdy, stack easily, and hold tons of stuff. (And they come in clear, which isn't pictured here.) I use them for metal sheet and scrap, small glass sheets and scrap, and some of my etching and stamping supplies, and stack them out of sight in one of my studio cupboards when they aren't being used.

I love these Eurotool cutters.

I know people who swear on their Lindstroms or Tronex cutters, but honestly I've used the ones that friends own and am happy I chose these instead. You can get them from several places online, and they are almost always less than $30 or so - far less expensive than the big boys, and I think they cut better. I've had mine for over a year and the blades are as sharp and straight as when I took them out of the package.

Here are some of the (more expensive) things on my current wish list:

A portable air filter.

I hope everyone is working in a well-ventilated area!! Even so, an air filter of some sort is a good idea, especially if you are doing things like enameling and grinding that generate air-borne particulates. This HEPA air filter works in areas up to 300 square feet and neutralizes chemical vapors in addition to capturing tiny particles as small as .3 microns. It isn't a substitute for wearing a good respirator, but it's one more weapon in the arsenal designed to protect our lungs. This is my next studio purchase.

A rolling mill.

I have been drooling over this rolling mill for a couple of years now. I've come very close to purchasing other, less expensive models, but this Durston model is the one that stops me every time. I love that it has the extension rollers on the outside for wire, which makes changing out the rollers unnecessary, and I think the width is sufficient for a small studio jeweler like me. Some day.... some day.

Fretz Hammers.

I'm not going to lie: there's a better than even chance I would have no idea what to do with these if I had them. But oh my goodness... aren't they beautiful??! I've been longing for these about as long as I've been making jewelry - something about hammers in general really appeals to me, and these are especially sculptural and artistic looking. (A friend got one of their texture hammers recently as a gift, and was generous enough to let me use it. It felt just as wonderful as I thought it would, and the texture - raw silk - was terrific.) If I were ever to purchase these, I'd need to get the video series Bill Fretz did about how to raise and form metal... and that would mean having to purchase some Fretz stakes too. (And there are some very beautiful Fretz bench anvils too...)

SEE??!! It's a slippery slope, my friends. A slippery slope.

What about you? Are there tools you swear by? Tools you swear at? Things on your wishlist that you drool over in those quiet moments when you're alone?

Glad to know I'm not alone!

Until next time -

Our Other Loves...

Yay - It's Valentines day and the world is full of hearts and flowers and other such romantic stuff and, if you're anything like me, probably has been for quite a while where jewellery and art beads are concerned (warning - non romantic type here...!). So by way of a change I asked some of my AJE team mates to tell me about the other loves in their working lives - those things however large or small that made their creative lives easier, better or just more fun...And they were very forthcoming...

Pliers featured strongly with Diana sharing her love for her Lindstroms..."Besides the fact that they are perfection...they are ergonomic and can take a beating. They may be terribly expensive but they last". Oh and don't ask her to share them because she won't!

Melissa on the other hand is currently very attached to her more 'budget' priced Xuron flush cutters whilst my Wubbers are definitely up there on my list of loves.

Melissa is also rather taken with the 'Sizzix BigShot' she got for Christmas  "it embosses metal similar to a rolling mill (to a certain extent) but way, way less expensive!" This is one of the gadgets I keep eying up (since I can neither afford nor house a rolling mill) and I am rather jealous of Melissa's new love!

Torch fired enamelling is a technique finding favour with more than a few admirers on the team and certainly a major crush for both Melissa and more latterly Francesca - "I am currently in love with torch fired enameling - it's a relatively new technique for me, but I've become a little obsessed with it". From a tool perspective Francesca's jeweler's saw and her flex shaft rank highly as both are so versatile.

The objects of affection for Jo are her set of Vallorbe needle files of which she says "they cut beautifully but need very little clean up afterwards, and the range of shapes in the set mean that I've always got the right shape for the job. Expensive yes, but definitely worth it as they will set me a lifetime and save me a lot of time compared to using cheaper files". 

Running a close second is her favourite hammer... "I inherited it, and it's a bit knocked about and the head has imperfections that create the most beautiful texture, the texture that's on some of my clasps. I would be devastated if I lost it as its irreplaceable!" Hope it's insured Jo!

  
Sue Kennedy told me that lampworkers are fickle about thier favorites, because each new tool or new glass is a favorite but her current loves are her cab mandrels..."It is a lot of fun to make cabs, as I'm finding out...I need to buy more!"

Entertainment is also important for the team while they are hard at work at certain tasks and when Jenny is wire wrapping or stringing she loves to listed to Podcasts like The History Chicks - "a sassy funny informative podcast about women, both famous and infamous throughout history". Hmmm, I wonder if any of us will ever feature... 

One of Jenny's favourite bands to listen to while working are Frenchy and the Punk "upbeat, gypsy, punk... hard to describe, but infectious and energizing" says Jenny - sounds perfect to me.

Our esteemed leader Jennifer likes to listen to audio books while she's making beads and currently holds a torch (sorry couldn't resist it) for the books in the Dresden Files series..."It's way outside my norm, but it's entertaining and the narrator is perfect for the hero. Love it when that happens". I have to say I don't know these books at all but that chap on the cover does look rather alluring so I might just have to check them out!

Jennifer has also developed a passion for one of my loves - bronze wire. Obviously working with bronze clay this is a staple for me and I get through a ton of the stuff, particularly as It can be fired to very high temperatures and still retain it's strength and appearance. It's harder and more tensile than copper or silver and can be tough on the hands but I just love it and, as Jennifer commented, you get the most amazing colours when you take a torch to it.

Designer Linda's current passion is her camera - a Cannon Power Shot SD 4000 IS. "It's made a big difference to the quality of my photos in my jewelry listings. It has a low light setting that allows me to take pictures in most light situations. It also lets you get fairly close macro shots for a point and shoot. Love it!' 

And then of course there are some of us who fall for the supporting actor rather than the romantic lead. Kristen for example is much enamoured by a simple pair of nail clippers "because they get very close to the bead work to snip threads" and she always has to have a cross stitch needle close for pulling threads when there is a mistake.

As for me, I too have a couple of less than glamorous tools in my kit that I couldn't be without. I was gifted these dental picks/scrapers by my friend Cilla Watkins, a Dental Hygienist and the designer behind 'Tell Your Girlfriends' jewellery and quite frankly, I don't know what I did before I had them, As well as being perfect clay tools for cleaning, shaping and carving they have a myriad of uses from picking up tiny beads to getting those ridiculously small bits of steel shot out of nooks and crannies. Thank you Cilla.

And last up is a little gadget which has made my life so much easier in a way it was never designed to do...

This is the funnel from a fancy bottle of olive oil that has long since been disposed of and it now serves as a cutter for toggle clasps. It has a 2cm ring which slides up and down a central tube which just happens to be the perfect size for the cut out. I am terrible at centering things by eye and it's too time consuming to measure each one so this is just a godsend and, having just made in excess 100 clasps for a bead show I can tell you that I seriously LOVE this little treasure!

So there you go then - a few of our loves but what about you...what's the one thing you couldn't or wouldn't be without in your creative life...we'd love to hear.

Oh and while I'm here, don't forget that the next reveal for the earring challenge is this coming Sunday, so if you're one of our pinners make sure you have your designs uploaded to the Pinterest board if you want a chance to be featured on the blog.

Lesley
The Gossiping Goddess