The Tools We Can't Live Without...

I've spent a lot of time in the last two months packing and unpacking things both at home and at my studio. In both my worlds, there are a few things I have to be able to put my hands on right away in order for things to keep clicking along.

In my studio, one of the things I keep close are my hammers. Metalwork is impossible without them. But in addition to my Fretz beauties, I use this Harbor Freight special almost every day.

It's inexpensive and a real workhorse. I use it for whacking disc cutters and stamping on metals, and I really love the texture I get on metal when I use the ball pein side. Add in my new Green Lion Saw and a decent pair of cutters, and I'm good to go.

But favorites change - last year I wrote this post about tools and am delighted to say that I now own all three items that were on my wishlist back then! So I thought I'd ask some of my AJE teammates what their current favorites are.

Caroline relies on her Swann-Morton retractable knife, which has interchangeable blades for a variety of tasks. She says, "I use it for everything - cutting, trimming, carving, making vinyl masks, holding things... you can get different blades for different jobs and it's really sharp." (Unfortunately it looks like it's only available from the UK supplier - if you find a source in the US, post it in the comments!)

Jenny relies on her jeweler's saw - and says she's still using the student version she got from Rio Grande ages ago. She loves it!

Jen doesn't know the name of her favorite - she's written about it before, and it was made for her by a friend's husband. She calls it a shovel, and uses it to poke, pull, and move hot glass when she's making her gorgeous glass beads.

Karen gave me a list so long it really deserves a post all its own! But when she's throwing clay, she say she absolutely cannot do without this special wood paddle.

She also relies on an Exacto knife - not precisely like Caroline's scalpel, but she uses it for many of the same things. The item on her list that most intrigues me, however, is the tool she uses for drawing: Fifty Three's Pencil, a specialized stylus intended to be used with Fifty Three's iPad app called Paper. Karen does some extraordinary work using this app and the Pencil, and it's now officially on my wishlist.

So what are your current favorites? Are there things on your worktable that you just can't live without? Things on your wishlist that you drool over late at night? Do share!

Until next time -

How did I not know about this??!

My friend Gail Stouffer introduced me to something the other day that just blew me away. We were working on fine-tuning the project prototypes for our upcoming retreat workshops, and it involved laying out some templates for sawing. She promptly pulled this out of her stash.

It's called the Xyron Sticker Maker (affiliate link) and apparently scrapbookers have known about it forever. Low tech - no batteries, handles or cranks - but it turns out to be an absolutely brilliant addition to the metals bench. And here's why: usually, affixing paper templates to the metal we're going to saw requires the use of spray adhesive or rubber cement. Both are smelly and messy. This, on the other hand, creates a perfect repositionable sticker that accomplishes the same thing.

Simply print your image on plain paper, cut it out, and drop it face up into the hopper at the top of the unit.

Then pull the end of the paper roll sticking out of the bottom of the unit.

Rub the surface of the paper firmly, then peel off the clear plastic sheet on top.

What you're left with is that classic waxy sticker paper with your own personalized sticker on it, ready to be used.

And it really works! Stick it on your metal and saw away - it won't move unless you peel it off.

It's absurdly inexpensive, too - $8 on Amazon for the unit and about $6 for the replacement cartridges (affiliate links). No smell, no mess, just a custom sticker perfectly sized for each project.

I love finding tools that make life easier! What's your "latest and greatest" tool find?

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!!

Using a Bow Drill

A couple of weeks ago I showed you some of my favourite things, some of my favourite and most used tools, all of which are older than I am and that I inherited when I first started my addiction to silversmithing. One of them, the one that people commented on, is my bowline (or bow) drill. One of the things that I love most about my craft is that I am using skills and techniques that have been used for, in many cases, thousand of years, and this type of drill has been around for thousands of years too. If you visit this page you will, along with a lot more detail about the history of drills that I am going to write about here, pictures of bow drills dating from the Romans. In that article the bow drill is referred to as a pump drill as to work it you pump the horizontal wooden handle up and down to spin the drill bit. Apart from the fact that my drill uses a drill bit rather than a sharpened stone the design has hardly changed at all!

So, I thought that this week I'd explain how one of these beautiful tools actually works! It can take a little bit of getting used to, but once you get the rhythm it really is like riding a bike - once you've got it you never forget! One of the reasons that I like this drill so much is that you only need one hand to work it, the other is free to hold your work still.

1. Firstly, no matter what type of drill you use it is always good to mark where you want the hole with a centre punch so that the drill bit doesn't slip.
2. Place the drill bit in the mark, hold onto the metal shaft and spin the wooden handle to wind the string around the shaft - it doesn't matter which direction.
3. Place two fingers on the wooden handle either side of the shaft so that they are also holding the shaft still. Move the other hand to hold you work.
4. Push the wooden handle down gently and the drill shaft will spin. When the handle reaches the bottom it will begin to rise back up the shaft, so allow your hand to rise with it before pushing back down when the handle has returned to the top. You want to let your hand "bounce" back up - if you put too much pressure on the handle it will stop once it reaches the bottom. This is the bit that takes the practice, but you will soon find a smooth flowing action and the drill will build up speed as you work.

I tried to take some photo to go with the steps above, but although the drill only needs one hand to operate it I still couldn't take the photos at the right angle, so I've found you a video instead - I hope it helps! It's very short, and the jeweller spins the drill slightly differently at the start than I do, but you can see how smooth the rhythm is.




I'd love to know - what is the oldest tool that you have? 

Jo Tinley
Daisychain Designs

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