Burgess electric hammer handpiece

Jewelry Discussion
1

I use a Burgess electric hammer handpiece for closing bezels, flush
setting, and forming rivets. Model No 72, it is very old but still
going strong. I did have to make a tool with a flat face for the
above operations.

If you see one for sale, grab it because I think it will out-perform
the hammer handpieces that attach to the flex shaft.

Does anyone else have experience with this tool?

Alastair

2 
I use a Burgess electric hammer handpiece for closing bezels,
flush setting, and forming rivets. Model No 72, it is very old but
still going strong. I did have to make a tool with a flat face for
the above operations.

It is a very simple yet useful tool. I have used it many times for
backgrounding. It’s pretty easy to make your own tips from 1/4 drill
rod. You can find them at reasonable prices on eBay. My opinion, the
older, funny looking ones are better. I would like to get a manual
for the tool. If someone could make a PDF of the manual, that would
be awesome.

RC2

3

Would that be the Burgess Vibra- Tool? There’s one for cheap on
eBay, with lots of heads and attachments, and it certainly is funny
looking.

Janet Kofoed
http://users.rcn.com/kkofoed

4

Janet,

I had a look at the 3 specimens on ebay. The black one appears to be
the same model my mother had 40 years ago. It did a lot of work for
her embossing copper foil plaques, and the various tool tips are good
to have. The white one looks newer but who knows it may have done
more work. The red one is pot-luck as the picture is vague and it
looks smaller than the others. I think one of them is worth the risk
at $20 to $30 all up, but you will need a tip with a fine flat point
for bezels and hammer setting. My hammer tip is 1.5mm square, flat
with rounded corners and edges.

My Burgess is green and now I look at the other side is labled ‘2
speed engraver’! ‘Vibro tool’ or ‘electric engraver’ would be the
correct names for these tools.

Last year I bought a new cheap ($20) GMC 13watt electric engraver to
try out as a backup. It is not as powerful as the Burgess and had a
flaw where the shaft (and tip) could shake around laterally rendering
it usless for accurate work. That was remedied by drilling 4 holes
around the plastic housing near the end and forcing in self-tapping
screws to guide the shaft accurately. The ends of the screws are
rounded and polished. It sits in the drawer and gets used for the odd
writing on metal, and for extra fine accurate hammering using a 1mm
flat tip!

The Burgess that comes with wood cutting blades in the set will be
powerful and well engineered as a hobby tool, but not to be confused
with professional tools like the Gravermax. Also, you will need
earmuffs when using the Burgess.

Cheers, Alastair