School purchase

I have a question of purchase price levels for schools. I have been taking
an ongoing Jewelry class for several years now at a local Community
College.

The Instructor is currently the head of the Art Department. There is a
great need to upgrade much of the equipment in the workshop. The budget is
limited and we need to get the most possible for the money.

Can anyone suggest manufacturers that do offer school discounts? Currently
we want to upgrade an old Highland Park Arbor to diamond cutting blade and
wheels. The Instructor is more into metal work than lapidary and the job
has fallen to another student and myself. For expediency Rio Grand’s
wonderful catalogs have been used to order. I know that the service is
excellent, but we need to bring the overall cost down.

To not muddle things up we would pay state tax where applicable. The
catalog selection is limited to Rio and S’west, and some vintage others.

Today we attempted to change the torch heads, three licks of flame out of
one head was too much to handle. We were only able to swap out large size
heads. these are natural gas torches and we had a couple of Veriflo N-?'s
only, they are too big for small work with new students. the gent that has
been ordering cannot find Veriflo Corporation anywhere. The torch tip box
says Richmond, Ca. We need type 13400120 size N-2 or N-1 whichever is the
smaller. He cannot find it in any catalog on hand. Can anyone help us
there?

During the same time period in this room are Jewelry 1, 2, 3, Enameling,
casting, and a whole bunch of us on “Special Projects.” That is the
category we come under after having completed all the others enabling us to
continue attending class.

For any manufacturers online that may like to send their Catalog, address
as follows,

Anthony Lugo,
Chairman Art Department
Palomar College
1140 West Mission Road
San Marcos, Ca. 92069-1487

If you can offer a discount to us, please advise me directly and I will
take the to class. I attend Tuesday and Thursday. We are
interested in anything of value to the above classes including Silver,
Tools, Casting supplies, Molds, etc. Everything in that room is ancient.

Thank you very much,
Teresa

Teresa, I would give Diamond Pacific a call and see if they could help,
they may require you to work through a dealer if so let me know I have a
friend who is a dealer and has helped out some other schools. Ernie Phelps,
http://www.ernestcreations.com

Just two items after your request in Orchid you’ll find a note from
Elaine Corwin at Gesswein Co. - one of the finest tool and supply houses
going. Contact her at :

Elaine Corwin
GESSWEIN CO INC USA
Tel: 203-366-5400
Tech Support: 1-800-544-2043, ext 287 (for me)
Fax: 203-335-0300 

and I’ll bet she can help solve your problems. Good Luck.

Check out Lapidary Journal, National Jeweler, Modern Jeweler, and /or
Professional Jeweler for machinery and equipment suppliers - they are
legion ! - When I taught a month-long jewelry class at a local high school
I equipped each student with a basic toolbox of pliers, saw, files, etc.
and got a 20% discount from my local supply house for purchasing in
quantity. “Ask and ye shall receive.”

Tereasa, the torch you mentioned is called the National Hand Torch. It=
is
(or was) manufactured by Veriflo Corp. in Richmond, CA. I used to have=
one
of these torches and have contacted the company in the past for techni=
cal
info on valve replacement, but I think they changed their name to some=
thing
else a few years ago, so that may be why you can’t find them.

The National torch is very commonly used by scientific glassworkers an=
d
people working borosilicate glass. It is widely distributed by compani=
es
selling scientific glassworking equipment. A good source is Wale Appar=
atus
in Hellertown, PA. 1-800-334-WALE, 610-838-7047. Wale carries all the
accessories for this torch, including all the tips for both propane an=
d
natural gas. There is also a “jewelry tip” for this torch which they c=
arry.
(This was my first jewelry soldering torch, and I found it too big and=
hot
to learn with at the time.) I don’t know whether Wale will offer you a=
ny
school discount, but they are a major glassworking supply company and
wholesale to other places, so they might. They’re friendly folks. You =
may
be able to find out from them the new name and number of Veriflo in
Richmond if you need technical help with this torch. Explain your plig=
ht to
the folks at Wale and hopefully they’ll help you out. Good luck!

Rene Roberts

Just an addition to the list of publications that carry ads for
machinery and equipment suppliers: Don’t forget AJM Magazine. Since
their focus is on jewelry production, rather than retailing, most of
their advertisers are offering products for making jewelry, including
findings, tools, casting equipment, etc. Plus they have a very helpful
ad index, which lists advertisers not only alphabetically, but by the
type of product they sell.

If you’re teaching, you may be able to get a free subscription for
your school. Drop an e-mail to Rich Youmans, the editor, at
RYoumans@mjsainc.com, and ask about it.

Hope that helps!

Suzanne Wade
AJM Contributing Editor
SuWade@ici.net
Phone 508-339-7366