Although your post was about the 'test', I just have to know how I can size 20 rings an hour. Up and down. I'm a retail jeweler who spends the majority of the day at the bench. Your outline of tips would be really appreciated.
I’ll try… although speed tends so come by itself with experience. After
spending several years in the repair end, and sizing 10s of thousands of
rings, it starts coming naturally…
tip one)
Have a variety of gold stock available so you almost never have to roll
stock, and have a bench mounted ring bender very close by so you can swivel
around and bend the stock to shape quickly.
tip two)
it’s can be much quicker to roll stock to closely match shank thickness
(when going up several sizes) than to file it to shape. (size ups is where
we lose the most time)
tip three)
Many years ago I invented a little instrument that marks exactly one size
on a shank. The owner of a shop I worked at (some years later) asked me if
he could manufacture it, and I agreed. A couple of years ago I saw this
device in the Gesswein catalog, as well as a write-up in a jewelry mag
noting that it was produced by Sasha’s Jewelry (my ex-employer!) The tip
is, get one of these from Gesswein, it’s a major time saver for marking the
amount to be cut out on size downs, and even for marking stock for size ups
(although I always just used the cut edges of the ring shank to mark the
bent-to-size metal). You can easily make your own. by soldering two pieces
of square steel (1/8" square stock) to a center piece that is exactly 2.5
mm in cross section, (kind of like a fork…) Then file or grind bevels on
the tips to produce sharp edges (45 degree angle or so). It will work
forever…
tip four)
Use an ultra thin (.1mm) carborundum slitting disk to cut delicate rings
(or all rings…). It’ll cut the shank in about 1 second without bending
it.
tip five)
use paper towel and water to quickly protect sensitive stones. there’s no
clean up afterwards as with Kool Jewel etc…
tip six)
use gold instead of solder to size new rings (weld or fuse). Cut thin wire
into small lengths and use it just like solder. With bright cast golds, it
warks almost as well as solder, and you can seriously abuse the joint
without worrying about cracking. (I fuse every opportunity).
I will continue this as I find time
Hope it helps
Jeffrey Everett, jewelry craftsman
Handmade 18K, 22K, and platinum gemstone jewelry.
Diamond setting, rubber/metal molds, casting, lapidary
Die and mold engraving, plastic patterns for casting.
Jewelry design, cad/cam, milling, scroll, filigree, & more.
P O Box 2057 Fairfield IA 52556 515-469-6250