Thanks Jonathon!
my personal favourite bench tip is to cut your emery paper into strips of 3-6mm wide and 12-15cm lengths then thread these strips into a saw frame, using the emery paper like you would a saw blade. Simple, yes, but it make cleaning up in hard to reach areas so much easier without having to fiddle around the tiny bits of emery paper and files.
I have a few extra saw frames! I know what I will be doing with at
least one of them for class on Monday!
To think that men and women are equal is foolish. In the eyes of God we are..but If men raced against women all the time then women would almost always be losers. Thats why we have women against women, men against men or mixed against mixed. No men against women. Cause that just wouldnt be fair. Cause we are not equal... Whats wrong with women liking pink tools? And as for your comment regarding "parents who... should be smacked" I DONT AGREE. Having said that I treat women equally on the bench as i do men. But if I have a job that requires a thick gauge wire to be pulled through a draw plate I'm gonna give it to... I'll let you answer that one.
This may be fine as a generality, but there are certainly
individuals who blow these stereotypes out of the water. Take any of
the boys from the chess club when I went to high school, and race
them against the girls track team, and itās not the females who would
be losing! Athletic training can strengthen a womanās muscles quite
nicely.
You certainly had it right when you say that we are not equal. None
of us are āequalā, we are all individuals, and generalizations are
what get us into trouble.
Hi Folksā¦
That woman tend to not be the tool user is nonsenseā¦ Like most
things, if ya make up your mindā¦
Have a good lady friend that over most of the time knowing me, even
gave me a hard time over having so many toolsā¦
Then she took up stained glassā¦and a few years later took up
beadingā¦and understood why all the shapes, etcā¦
Our last tool interaction she was replacing her toilet with a new
oneā¦Rather than pay a plumberā¦ I provided one large pipewrench
she neededā¦couldnāt help much because of a broken collarbone at
the timeā¦
No leaks, neither, and thatās a job Iād think hard about tackling
and getting rightā¦
Gary W. Bourbonais
LāHermite Aromatique
A.J.P. (GIA)
As a woman over 50 I wasn't exposed to tools as I was growing up as I feel my male counter parts were.....
I am 53 and it was my dad who taught me about tools and how to fix
things, how to look at things such that IF I could not fix them, at
least I could talk intelligently enough to convey the issue and
possible resolution.
I donāt want to blame your dad or society or YOU - BUT
IN GENERAL - If you like tools, you like tools and saying you donāt
know how to use tools is no excuse for just picking them up and
learning to use them! If you donāt like tools, then just say so (I am
not saying that you donāt) and move on.
PS My husband hates it when I go to Home Depot with him, as i will
spend more time in there looking at the tools than he will.
Laurie
Adventures of an Aspiring Silversmith
http://lauriejanekern.ganoksin.com/blogs/
Hi Folksā¦
One good thing about pink tools would be that they would be sure to be returned when borrowed by a man!
Worked in Industrial Distribution close to 30 yearsā¦
L.S. Starrett brought out the first flourescent colored tape
rulesā¦ I remember the Stanley guy laughing at themā¦
Until it was shown how well they sell, because they were easy to
refind when ya set them downā¦
They originally had what could only be called a shocking pink
colorā¦which they later droppedā¦Too badā¦now maybe collectorās
itemā¦
I bought one as gift for a lady friendā¦Cause her ex hubby was
always borrowing her toolsā¦[G]ā¦
Principle workedā¦
Gary W. Bourbonais
LāHermite Aromatique
A.J.P. (GIA)
I am 53 and it was my dad who taught me about tools and how to fix things, how to look at things such that IF I could not fix them, at least I could talk intelligently enough to convey the issue and possible resolution.
OK, I have to wade in here, I am an electrical engineer (54,
female), without any encouragement from either parent. In fact,
active discouragement! But, if you want to do, you just go and do
it. I donāt feel my sex has held me back for the most part; except
for raises, and whenever that happened, when I found out, you better
believe, the company had x number of days to rectify their
āmistake.ā And, yes, it would have been easier if I had had the same
help and toys that my brother had when we were growing up; but in
the end, I became the engineer and he became a customs guard. Go
figure!
Iāve never had a problem in a hardware store or in an electronics
store, but that could be because I live in Silicon Valley and I walk
in expecting that I will be treated as if I know as much, if not
more, that the sales person. So, I donāt think its because you
werenāt exposed to them growing up; you need to tell yourself that
you can do it yourself now. Because the past is over; you need to
live in the present and work toward the future and believe in
yourself.
Jaynemarie
I love the sanding tipā¦
I back my sand paper with contact paper then cut it into strips so
that it doesnāt break so easilyā¦ It has really helped me out in
areas that I need something to fit info a 1mm or less size spaceā¦
I would also like to add my boyfriend Robās tip how to sharpen a
drill bit (psā¦ heās not a metalsmith but a fellow tool enthusiast,
we have collected a great deal of tools over the years to work on our
86 year old house)ā¦
It is very easy to sharpen dull bits as opposed to buying new ones.
If you have a bench grinder or a fordom, you are have enough tools to
sharpen dull bits.
Drill bits have 2 cutting edges, directly opposite each other. What
is important is to take care of the cutting edge. To sharpen a drill
bit, take it to your grinder, which is rotating down toward you,
align the cutting edge of the drill bit perpendicular to the wheel as
if you were wanting to shave it with the cutting edge of your drill
bit. Do not twist the drill bit around the axis, but rather remove
material immediately behind the cutting edge (this makes the cutting
edge sharper). Keep your sights on creating a sharp edge. The key is
to not produce an rounded > 45% cutting edge/surface, which will only
squeak instead of cut. Always start at greater than a 45% angle
(perpendicular) and smoothly work the angle to create a sharp cutting
edge on both sides. It will perform and act like new!
Christine
www.christinebossler.com
Right, Chris, I didnāt say anything about men and women being equal
in terms of physical strength. I think we all know our own biology,
and we are a sexually dimorphic species. Although I work with some
women who are stronger than many men I know, the strongest men will
always be stronger than the strongest women, and so there will always
be a few jobs for which menās physical strength makes them better
candidates.
However, we all know, or should know, that this is not the issue
weāre discussing here - weāre talking about men and women being
SOCIALLY equal, with equal opportunities in careers and creative
fields. In my statement, I was referring to people who raise
daughters to think of themselves as merely decorative, marriageable,
baby-making objects, or who raise their sons to believe that
emotional development is unmanly. I believe that to raise I child in
a way that limits his or her potential is tantamount to abuse.
What Iām saying is that neither gender should be considered superior
to - ābetter thanā - the other. Being stronger than a woman doesnāt
make you better than her. Thereās nothing āfoolishā about that. You
claim that you treat women at the bench the same as you do men, but
if you automatically assume that a woman canāt perform a particular
task, how will you ever know what she is truly capable of?
Jessee Smith
Cincinnati, OH
www.silverspotstudio.com
This works very well if you apply filament packing tape to the back
side of the abrasive paper for strength. With the filament tape you
can apply a lot more tension. Works great for piercing.
Mike DeBurgh, GJG
Henderson, NV
I back my sand paper with contact paper then cut it into strips
I back sandpaper with double sided tape and have two sides to use and
the added strength.
Richard Hart G.G.
Jewelers Gallery
Just for giggles I thought I would mention that emails can exert as
much strength and will power as menā¦ I used to work for a landscape
company and just for giggles and validation, I was happy to work on
the snow removal crew hand shoveling snow, moving 100 lb bags of
salt, and drinking like a sailor just because I couldā¦ Although I
have long since passed this needā¦ It was sure fun to drive a big
truck and see the 180 lb plus men get freaked out at the sight of a
120- lady keeping in stepā¦
Christine
www.christinebossler.com
Just a tip to shareā¦ often when making small rings or bezels, they
are not āflush flatā after soldering. I employ a used engine valve as
a flat faced punch to ensure the ring/bezel is flat. The ring/bezel
is placed on my bench block, the valve positioned resting on top. The
long valve stem makes it easy to ensure that the valve face is
parallel to the bench block surface. A slight tap(s) to the valve
stem with a hammer and the ring/bezel is evenly flat The engine
valves can be acquired from almost any auto mechanics shop and they
come in different sizes. A used one would be normally trashed so
they are normally free. The face of the valve needs be cleaned up
(they are normally sooty and coked up - do not use them if the face
is pitted ) and polished. Incidentally the steel used to make engine
valves is very high grade and, having an extremely hard tip, the
stems can be used for a myriad of other tools and applications. For
example, used in reverse as a punch, the wide valve face acts as a
reverse chasing hammer face. Options are boundlessā¦
saludos
John Bowling
I back sandpaper with double sided tape and have two sides to use and the added strength.
I use double sided foam mounting tape to mount sandpaper to some of
my sanding sticks. The resulting surface has some give and is good
for domed surfaces. I usually put two different grits on opposite
sides of the stick.
Rick Hamilton
I like these tips about backing the sandpaper with either more
sandpaper, or contact paper, or tape or some such thing. This sort of
thread is always an interesting & useful one.
My offeringā¦ My current favorite flux applicator is a medical
needle syringe (with the tip cut off a bit so as not to spear
yourself!). It puts the flux right where you need it, there are no
bristles to accidentally get melted to the metal, the flux doesnāt
dry in globs at the end of it, since you arenāt actually touching
the metal with the applicator you donāt risk bumping anything out of
place, I love it! I have my regular little jar of flux on my bench,
and a dropper nearby to refill the syringe from it as needed. With
the work I do, often attaching bits of wire, I donāt usually have to
apply flux in large amounts, so this works very nicely.
Lisa
Designs by Lisa Gallagher
Incidentally the steel used to make engine valves is very high grade
and, having an extremely hard tip,
An engine valve is indeed a very good tool. I use them all the time.
One word of caution though. Be sure to anneal the tip of the stem
well. It is hardened steel and if one hammers on it it can shoot a
chip of metal of at high velocity. I know, because a goldsmith
friend of mine lost the use of one eye like that. But once annealed,
they really are nice to make things flat with.
Cheers, Hans
http://www.meevis.com
http://hansmeevis.blogspot.com
Incidentally the steel used to make engine valves is very high grade and, having an extremely hard tip,
Iāve found however that, once annealed, some engine valves cannot be
re-hardened in the studio. The ones I have cannot.
Brian
Brian Adam
Auckland NEW ZEALAND
www.adam.co.nz
Lisa try this for backing your sandpaper, all those fine little
blister packs made with vacu-formed plastic. Glue the sandpaper to
the plastic, either flat pieces or the unique shapes created to fit
the items in the package. The plastic comes in various thickness and
can be cut into fine narrow strips after the sandpaper is glued. CD
Jewel cases work well for a really flat rigid surface.
Enjoy. Frank Goss
Incidentally the steel used to make engine valves is very high grade and, having an extremely hard tip, the stems can be used for a myriad of other tools and applications. For example, used in reverse as a punch, the wide valve face acts as a reverse chasing hammer face. Options are boundless...
GREAT tips, John. Iāve made MANY chasing tools from the āvalve
stemsā. They come in a variety of shaft sizes, which lend themselves
to larger work as well as jewelry scale. Not sure if itās ok to send
pix with this replyā¦but Iāll try it.
Bill Roberts
there are no bristles to accidentally get melted to the metal
One way to prevent bristles from melting to a hot piece of metal is
to use a natural bristle brush. Unlike nylon or other synthetic
bristle brushes, natural bristles wonāt melt & stick to things when
they get hot.
Usually hardware & art supply stores have natural bristle brushes.
Dave
Just this week I discovered something. I needed to apply Black Max
patina to a tight, specific area, and the fine sable brush was too
inaccurate. I found a dried-up Sharpie marking pen, the very finest
size, and dipped the tip of it into a small lid with a bit of the
patina in it. Perfect control! It really solved my problem.
Mālou