Since this is about Benchwork Tips, I just remembered something I
thought of a while back.
For those that have a buffing machine with metal hoods to catch the
dust, isn’t it annoying when your piece is removed from your grip and
thrown at high speed against the metal hood, hopefully without a
piece of you accompanying it! Try getting some of the magnetic
material the pizza places use for refrigerator magnets and line the
inside of the hoods. It can be cut out to match the shape of the
hood, being magnetic, it should stay in place, and it will provide
some cushioning.
Just a word of caution with engine valves, some have stems filled
with sodium to keep cooler ! If the stem of the valve gets much
bigger as you go down from the collet grooves, dont heat it !! Best
wishes,
I often need tapered pins and so, to make them, I mount 2 Dremel
sanding disks face to face on an arbor. Holding the wire in a pin
chuck, I just run it between the two spinning disks and get a lovely
taper pin in no time.
Try getting some of the magnetic material the pizza places use for
refrigerator magnets and line the inside of the hoods. It can be
cut out to match the shape of the hood, being magnetic, it should
stay in place, and it will provide some cushioning.
They sell that magnetic sheet sticky on one side in the size 8.5 x
11, you could even buy that and add some thin foam padding. I’m
thinking Fun Foam from the crafts store, or mounting tape, if it
comes in larger pieces.
Mike reminded me of a past Orchid tip on cushioning the base of a
buffer. Save a sheet of that flexible foam used to pack for shipping.
The best stuff seems to be used to protect electronics. Cut the sheet
to fit in the buffer’s base and stick it in place with rubber cement
or double-stick tape. Replace when you think it’s too grubby - or
not.
I think I’ll use the flexible refrigerator magnets to line the top -
what a great idea and use for those things!! Now my 'frig will look
so much cleaner.
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!
I use the tip of a wooden toothpick in the same way. If the old
Sharpie is not available, try a toothpick.
Judy in Kansas, where we were sweatin’ on Sunday and wearin’
sweaters on Monday.
My current favorite flux applicator is a medical needle syringe
(with the tip cut off a bit so as not to spear yourself!)... I have
my regular little jar of flux on my bench, and a dropper nearby to
refill the syringe from it as needed.
I agree that the needle application of flux is superior to brushes.
I use the squeeze bottle dispenser with needle tips. They’re
available with 18, 20, 22, and 26 gauge tips.
File handles can be a bit of a pain sometimes and I’m sure a lot of
jewelers use their files with out any handle at all. I did this for a
while until I speared my palm one time too many. As a solution, I
went to a home improvements store and bought a handful of unfinished
draw or cupboard handles. The little round wooden ones. Very cheap,
they come pre drilled and are great palm savers when filing.
I have an aversion to “benchwork tips” I’m afraid - it makes me
think people are looking for a magic bullet… Anyway…
Counting. People ask, “How does a musician know to play on that very
spot - every time, too… Must be magic…” No, they are counting all
the time. 1-2-3-4, 2-2-3-4, 3-2-3-4, 4-2-3-4…25-2-3-4 and then
the coda…
That’s a very useful skill that’s maybe hard to get, but useful. I
count everything in the back of my mind. Much of the time I don’t
even know it, I’ll just think, “Is that it, am I done? – No, it’s
only 11…” Cutting bearings on prongs - 1-2-3-4-5-6. Making leaf
petals - 1-2-3-4-5, 1-2-3-4-5. First the lefts, then the rights…
1-2-3-4-5… You have 4 operations to do on 24 prongs, count your way
through, don’t wonder if you’ve reached the end. Sometimes the work
is so subtle it can be hard to see easily.
I don’t mean this as having a pile of work and counting the pieces
as you work through it. It’s more about operations - set a stone:
cut 4 bearings, remove 4 burs, clip 4 prongs, file 4 prongs, cup bur
4 prongs, rubber wheel 4 prongs… All of which is a LOT easier if
you’re counting, trust me.
If you don’t have it, you can start… Eventually it becomes
unconscious and you won’t notice it - like a ticket counter in the
back of your mind…
People ask, "How does a musician know to play on that very spot -
every time, too.. Must be magic.." No, they are counting all the
time. 1-2-3-4, 2-2-3-4, 3-2-3-4, 4-2-3-4....25-2-3-4 and then the
coda.....
Actually, that’s not true. When learning music, one does indeed
count every bar to facilitate learning a piece of music. But if you
have any real musical ability, then you soon get to the point that no
counting is necessary - it gets in the way of really playing the
music. You “feel” the beat and it becomes part of you.
There are those who will always need to count in order to play a
piece of music - but they are not true musicians. My DH struggles
with the very same thing, and whilst he can play certain pieces of
music, it’s somehow very mechanical and with no feeling (I’m not
being unkind - he’s the first to admit it). A little like painting by
numbers compared to a true artist.
John, Wow…not sure what you are doing with your jewelers files. I
have not used handles on my files for at least 25 of the 38 years
I’ve been a jeweler and never ‘speared’ a hand once!! I do have a set
that I dipped the handle end into some of that rubber paint you can
get at hardware stores but never cared for em much.
Ah,…maybe your talking about your larger files? I DO use handles
on them. Sorry if I misunderstood. Cheers, Don in SOFL
Well…I have real handles on all of my files now! Had a large file
mounted in the vise…handy for holding and can use both hands for
the process. However, I forgot it is there and left for a few
minutes, went back to reach for something on the bench, and behold
that TANG is a viscious stabbing item. As a result I had a great
three corn inch and a half tear in my forearm… laid the skin back,
exposed fat cells, etc and was a gruesome sight. Having been a first
aid instructor in my former life…grabbed a sterile wipe, put the
skin back where it belonged and put pressure on to stop the bleeding.
My two students whisked me off to the Sunday ER at the local=
Kaiser where the Doctor looked at it and told me I had done what he
would have done…put the skin back…WOW… he cleaned it with
stuff, put Antibiotic cream on it and bandaged and sent me
home…$30.00! Great handles at Naja are only $3.75!
I like the sold handles - much easier to hold! Besides they fit over
the edge of the work bench and can be handy to have both hands able
to drag items toward you.
Love all these suggestions…the hypodermic needle for flux,
toothpick for patina - have tried that! And the bee hive is
absolutely unbelievable and beautiful.
I have made most alloys and most findings by hand, but only when I
had to. Normally, I look at a job, decide it will take whatever
number of hours and then try to make it in less. Less means the
morgage payment will be on time and alot less means my wife and I go
to London again this year. Neve use a product or a shortcut that will
lessen the quality,but just making your own findings or alloy just
for fun mean you cannot make as many pieces because each one takes
too long.
Great idea John… and I could use colored permanent markers to draw
the shape of the file on the wood for easy selection. Ken Bova shared
a great tip in a workshop I recently attended. Wine corks as file
handles. I think this was for needle files. I have a collection of
beautiful plastic (?) wine corks in a variety of colors, some with
fun designs on them, that I now have a real purpose for. I use the
same corks for covering the sharp ends of scribes so I no longer
stab myself with them. Best of all… wine corks are free… sort of.
I have a student who sings to her soldering. Sometimes the tune is
too slow and the flux dies, as she gets more experience the solder
will flow sooner; but she has her 1.2.3.4, as mentioned.
Interesting!
I will try the counting! Fun!
Rose Marie Christison
But if you have any real musical ability, then you soon get to the
point that no counting is necessary - it gets in the way of really
playing the music. You "feel" the beat and it becomes part of you.
No quibble, Helen. I don’t think it’s quite so accurate to say that
you “quit counting” so much as that you develop an internal
timekeeper (“feel the beat”). Whether that’s accurate or not doesn’t
mean a whole lot - if you count as I suggested in my post, eventually
you quit counting, too, and develop an internal timekeeper. Then,
instead of literally counting you just ask your timekeeper, “Where is
that? 14? Ok”… it becomes unconcious after awhile…
There has been a fair amount of comment about storage options for saw
blades, etc… I have a real favorite which I have used for years.
Brownells (Brownells.com), sells “vinyl storage tubes"in various
diameters. The tubes come in lengths of about 18” and you buy caps
which insert into a tube and securely hold whatever contents are
placed within. The tubes can be cut to length for specific items
with an ordinary pair of scissors. I have a drawer in my tool cabinet
which is specifically dedicated to items which have been so stored.
Let’s see: saw blades, gravers, drill bits and reamers in different
sizes, buss fuses, small taps in both metric and American pitches.
dental picks, scalpels and blades… Well, you get the idea. Buy an
assortment. You will be glad you did.
Glad to know I'm not the only one finding themselves counting
things without even thinking about it.
The counting thing is in my head and won’t go away… I even count
clothes pins hanging out my laundry… I thought i was finally
“losing” it… good to see others do it too.