G’day Ruth; I intend only to answer part of your question about
burrs. Your best hope is to get some commercial rust remover -
usually obtainable from DIY and hardware stores, but your
friendly local garage bloke might have some. I use the stuff
warmed a bit - certainly not boiled - and just soak for a few
minutes, then a good clean up with a brush under the tap. They
won’t ever be pristine bright again but it is worth trying.
Having got all the rust off, cover them with a very thin film of
oil or even Vaseline. Try it! By the way, the commercial rust
remover contains fairly strong phosphoric acid, so don’t get any
in your eyes or on your clothing, though it isn’t quite as
powerful as pickle-strength sulphuric acid. But if you can’t
get the remover, try soaking in Coke overnight! –
I missed the rusty bur problem. But possibly related, we sorted all of the
burrs from all our untidy benches. We redistributed the good ones and sent
the dull ones to Gesswein for recutting. They came back good as new and it
cost less than a dollar each. Cheaper than new ones anyway.
Mark P.
Thanks for the tips on rust remover, and phosporic acid- I’m going to
gather all unopened bottles of Coke in my pantry, and get to work. And I’m
switching to Fresca as soon as possible!! Do you think I’ll end up with
rust in my gut without the Coke???
I just went to an InterGem Show this weekend. Not only was it twice as
crowded as the last one three months ago, but everyone was buying pearls!
I think it’s a trend from the public’s interest in beads that’s been
thriving for the last few years, (from an "I can make it myself"attitude)
to a more expensive, dressy look from pearls. Hopefully, this will
progress to an attitude of wanting a look that only a professional jeweler
can provide! I was also surprised at how easy it is for non-professionals
to gain access to the wholesale section of this show, with fake ID. Also,
the suppliers inside don’t seem to be asking for resale info., knowingling
selling small amounts of jewelry, gems, findings, etc., to hobbyists and
bargain hunters, right in front of the merchants they might have been from
down the street! Any comments? Ruth
As far as retail buyers being let into Wholesale areas to buy
without proper credentials is hurting all of us who are trying to
conduct business in a proper manner is unethical! I have seen
alot of that going on and it is no wonder why it is increasingly
difficult to ask a reasonable and proper price for our work. What
to do? Respectfully, S.Bradley