Greetings all,
I finally got my jewelers bench built! Finally something dedicated
to jewelry work and not a jumble inside a larger, dirtier, dustier,
colder, general purpose shop for all types of labor. My sons have
moved out and I now have half a bedroom to get crazy in. So I built
the cheaper version of Tim McCreight’s “Complete Metalsmith” bench,
plus and minus a few goodies. I’m so happy I could just spit, but
not in public.
To my question:
I have been building some sterling silver bracelets for Christmas
gifts and I keep running into the same problem. When trying for the
finished shaping of them, I’m having a devil of a time getting them
semetrical and where, when laid on a table, they will lay flat
neatly. I’ve been building these out of low-dome strap (#2), 1/4"
half round, and 4 ga. round, as well as twisted-wire (12 ga.)
flattened by forging. They are about as simple as can be, no
articulations or soldering required. I just can’t seem to get them
as flat and symetrical as I’d like.When I lay them out they wobble
because of the imperfections. A friend told me that I should chalk
it up to “style” but in all truth it seems to me that these
irregularities come across as amateurish and low quality. Any
suggestions or clues on how to get things more regular and less
bent-by-a-chimp looking would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks folks.
Mike