Jewellery Making Supplies Blog

For PMC beginners the most confusing thing is, “What tools do I need?”, so here are a few suggestions to help you along the way:

PMC Suggested TOOLS:

A roller – used for rolling out the clay

A rolling surface – Non-stick as possible e.g. a glass board or polished tile

Spacers or playing cards – for getting the depth of the clay even

Cutting blade, scalpel – For getting straight edges and making your shapes.

A small lidded pot – to put filings & tiny offcuts into so you can save them for making silver clay paste or slip

Various grades of sanding pads - or get a 4 way nail filing block and strip the sides off.

Badger Balm or Olive Oil for stopping the clay sticking to your hands and tools.

Tools for Precious Metal Clay

FIRING METHODS:

For Hob firing, stainless steel mesh with protection net.

Torch firing – Handheld torch and a firing brick (asbestos substitute not a household brick )

Kiln – If you can get access to a kiln then use it, the metal is normally denser and the results more consistant.

Stainless steel or brass brush – for brushing off the white post firing and leaving you lovely silver.

Silver polish & Cloth – for getting the final buffed up shine.

Some Optional Extras:

For ring making – A sliding ring guage, A wooden ring mandrel, and ring papers (to stop clay sticking to the mandrel).

For Better finishes – A small set of metal files for neatening edges quicker than sanding them down.

Long Tweezers – For holding / moving the pieces when firing

Liver of Sulpher – For antiquing or bringing out fine detail

Burnishers & ultra fine sanding pads – Post firing for a REAL shine!

Cutters & Shapers – Using pre-shaped cutters e.g. hearts will same time and give you more consistant shapes

Tiny drill bits – you can twist them in your fingers to drill through the unfired clay & make jump ring holes & hanging points.

Texture Mats/plates – Roll the clay out on these and you’ll have fabulous patterns straight away!

Letter Stamp Set – For stamping words into unfired (rubber stamps) or fired clay (metal stamps).

Why not check out our ready-assembled Starter Precious Metal Clay kit packed with everything you could possibley need to get started with PMC. Alternatively, if your not a PMC novice click here to view our full range of silver clay kits including our Art Clay kit and complete silver clay accessories kit, tumbler kit and tool kit.

Starter Kit for Precious Metal Clay

Thanks to everyone who visited our stand at the recent NEC Spring Fair, and helped us celebrate the launch of the UK’s largest jewellery making catalogue – The Cook Book 2010

Richard Hill Stand manager said -

“It was great to see so many people, and we were pleased to  hand out a whopping 2,000 copies of the NEW Cook Book Catalogue, plus nearly 1,000 scrap pots ! So a BIG thanks to everyone who popped along”.

If you missed out, and still want a catalogue  they are free with orders over £75, or can be purchased for just £10.   Click here more information

Richard Hill at the Cook Book Jewellery Catalogue Launch at Spring Fair

Cooksongold’s BIGGEST EVER January SALE is now live online at Cooksongold.com with OVER 500 products available and savings of up to 75% OFF! Make sure you don’t miss out on these fantastic offers including up to 75% OFF jewellery books, 50% OFF selected jewellery tools, gems and jewellery and 40% OFF Cookson bestsellers featuring tools and kits as well as great savings available on silver and 9ct chain.

Make sure you don’t miss out on these fantastic savings at Cooksongold. Click here to enter the Cooksongold SALE NOW! Click here now to receive further updates and information direct to your inbox including our latest freepost offers, new mini catalogue release as well as new product launches.   

Welcome to the Cooksongold January Sale

Click here if you have a question for the Cooksongold team, alternatively post your comments here

This December has seen the launch of the Cooksongold  Deal of the Day event! Each day throughout the month during the build-up to Christmas Day Cooksongold will bring you a NEW fantastic daily offer. These offers will not only feature great savings on individually selected best selling products of up to 35%, but will also feature great savings on entire selected product categories up to 25% OFF, so make sure you stay in the know and visit www.cooksongold.com to be sure you don’t miss out! 

Cooksongold's Deal of the Day

If you missed Monday’s official Deal of the Day launch e-mail then click here to find out what fantastic offers we have in stall for you over these first 5 days. If you don’t already receive our weekly e-mails detailing all our daily offers, then click here to sign-up right away! Also, why not claim your FREE Christmas is Here mini catalogue packed with new products, perfect presents and stocking fillers!

FREE Mini Catalogue

Make sure you stay especially vigilant at the weekends as we will be hosting some suprise offers to make your Christmas online shopping that bit easier! Why not check out our first 5 days worth of daily deals below, but remember you’ll need to keep checking back to find out whats coming up for the remaining days before Christmas.

Fantastic Daily Offers

Monday 30th November  – 10-15% OFF Hobby Drill Kits
Tuesday 1st December – 15% OFF Starter Tool Kit
Wednesday 2nd December – 10% OFF ALL Gems
Thursday 3rd December – 10% OFF Art Clay & 5% OFF PMC
Friday 4th December – 35% OFF Starter Bench Pack
Saturday 5th – Christmas day – Remember, the offers just keep getting better in the build-up to the Big Day!
(Please notes these displayed offers will expire 04/12/2009)

In the meantime, why not check out our fantastic festive themed web pages full of incredible gift ideas including jewellery, kits, tools, clay, packaging and more…

Workshop Treats
Christmas Kits
Stocking Fillers Under a Tenner
Gifts Under £20
Top 10 Presents
Say it with Silver
Midas Touch
Finished Jewellery
Perfect Packaging
Creative Christmas
Christmas Reads
Tis the Season to be Red
They’ll be Green with Envy

Cooksongold is offering FREEPOST on all orders over £50 for the remainder of September! Simply enter e-voucher code ACP29 as you check out to claim freepost* Also don’t forget, this e-voucher code is multi-use, so you can use it as many times as you like as well as forwarding it to your friends.

FREEPOST is valid between Mon 21st – Wed 30th September! Don’t miss out, place your order online NOW! To help you reach that £50 limit here are a few suggestions on this weeks e-mail including our freepost favourite jewellery tools, jewellery making kits and machinery to maximise those P & P savings!

FREEPOST on ALL UK Orders Over £50

As well as the great savings available from our FREEPOST event, why not order yourself a copy of our latest ‘Student’ mini catalogue. This month’s catalogue features savings of up to 50% OFF selected best selling sterling silver findings, up to 25% OFF selected jewellery tools and up to 15% OFF our must-have kits. We also have a host of our rolling mills on special offer including our 80mm Durston Rolling Mills now ONLY £329.99! Why not take a look at this new catalogue in a convenient electronic flick book format.

Click here to share your thoughts on this post or ask the Cooksongold team a question

CONGRATULATIONS to Miss Tully from East Sussex who has just won our ‘Register & Win’ competition to win a rolling mill. Miss Tully was “delighted” to be informed of her stroke of luck and is very much looking forward to using her new rolling mill. Miss Tully was automatically entered into the competition by simply registering an account online which only takes a matter of seconds.

Thanks to everyone who took part, and keep your eyes peeled as there is another big competition in the horizon. Also, to further increase your chances of winning one of Cooksongold’s fantastic competition prizes sign-up today to receive our weekly e-mails including our top offers and promotions, great savings, new products and freepost events as well as those latest competitions!!!

Check out here what our extremely jealous forum members had to say on the news that Miss Tully had won our latest competition prize… Also, if your not already a forum member then what are you waiting for, register today and join over 400 jewellery professionals and enthusiasts online now for the latest industry news, information, hints and tips as well as the opportunity to make lots of new jewellery contacts as well as the chance to seek and share ideas and inspiration for your new pieces. If that wasn’t already enough, Cooksongold.com are giving away 20 mystery prizes to new forum members for simply posting comments on our NEW Jewellery Making forum, it’s as easy as that!

Cooksongold is offering FREE delivery on all orders over £50 this weekend! Simply enter e-voucher code ACP44 as you check out to claim freepost* Also don’t forget, this e-voucher code is multi-use, so you can use it as many times as you like over weekend as well as forwarding it to your friends.

FREEPOST is valid between Friday 24th July – Sunday 26th July, ends Midnight! Don’t miss out, place your order online NOW!

FREEPOST ALL Weekend on ALL orders over £50!

Simply post a comment on Cooksongold’s Jewellery Making Supplies Blog for the chance to WIN a jewellery making kit. It’s as simple as that! Also don’t forget the more comments you post, the more chance you have of winning this fantastic prize. The competition runs until the end of October where the winner will be informed via e-mail as well as announced and featured on the blog and our NEW Jewellery Making Forum. For full terms and conditions visit the competitions category on the forum or click here.

Post and WIN at Cooksongold's Jewellery Making Blog

Also why you’re here, check out our latest jewellery hints, tips and offers. Why not subscribe to of Jewellery Making blog RSS feed for fast and direct access to your desktop. Also view our other community facilities at Cooksongold.com by clicking the links below and see what we’ve been getting up to:

Have a question? Stop by the Cooksongold Knowledgebase and ask the experts: http://www.cooksongold.com/technical/

Join the conversation, start a new thread, share your wisdom and make new industry contacts, register on our Forum: http://www.cooksongold.com/forum/

Follow Cooksongold on twitter and ’stay in know’ with daily updates including latest articles, competitions and news: http://twitter.com/Cooksongold

Sign up for Cooksongold’s weekly e-mails including our latest offers and product launches: http://www.cooksongold.com/help/email_signup.jsp

Check out our NEW long awaited Jewellery Making Forum at Cooksongold.com. Simply take 30 seconds to register, then go wild! Join the conversation, start a new thread, make new jewellery contacts, ask a question and stay in the know! These a just a few reasons why you might want to join Cooksongold’s NEW Jewellery Making Forum.

NEW Jewellery Making Forum from Cooksongold

And if you needed another reason to join the jewellery industry’s NEWEST and FASTEST growing community, simply post a comment for the opportunity to WIN one of 20 jewellery mystery prizes. Also remember, the more posts you place, more likely you are to WIN one of these fantastic prizes, or maybe  two! (Please see the forum for terms and conditions).

To coincide with the exciting launch of our NEW forum as part of the ever-growing Cooksongold online community, why not follow us on twitter if you aren’t already. Make sure to stay in the loop and recieve daily tweets (posts) 7 days a week from Cooksongold including industry news, jewellery hints and tips, technical advice, data sheets, NEW product launches, competitions, offers and freepost events. 

Follow Cooksongold on twitter

Our twitter following currently stands at over 1,200, so don’t miss out, follow Cooksongold today. If you aren’t already on twitter or don’t know what it’s all about, click here at learn what twitter is and why it could be good for you, and don’t worry – it only takes 60 seconds the register your own account – it’s easy!

Don't miss out - Join 1,200 other followers

If you would like to share your thoughts or have a question regarding our NEW Jewellery Making Forum or our twitter site, please don’t hesitate to post a communal question or ask us directly
 

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Forming metal is an essential part of jewellery making, and as a process the level of skill involved is often overlooked.  Forming refers to any process that maneuvers metal into the desired shape or design. Unlike many other skills in jewellery making forming is more a combination of a range of techniques that change an objects shape, rather than one particular process. 

Under the heading of forming are processes such as bending, chasing, repousse, sinking, hammering, using stamps/dies and forging.  These processes will affect the pieces shape, thickness and often the texture of the metal being worked on.

Forming Tools
The range of forming tools available is as wide and varied as the different processes contained within the skill.  The key forming tools available are:

Mallets
The simple mallet allows the craftsman to apply direct force without stretching or damaging the metal.  The head of the mallet is softer that the metal so not to mark the surface.

Mandrels or Triblets
Mandrels or Triblets are used for forming shapes, and are most associated with rings or bangles.  Mandrels are available in a variety size and shapes, and in both steel & wood.

Hammers
Hammers can complete a variety of jobs from stretching the metal, polish/smoothing or adding texture. Jobbing hammers are ideal for general use and metal forming. The planishing hammer is used for smoothing, shaping and polishing metal.  Riveting hammers are designed with a small head for detailed rivet work. Raising, bossing and chasing hammers are used in the different stages of forming.

Doming Blocks & Punches
Doming blocks & punches are the ideal way of shaping metal and making domed, shaped pieces or hollow beads. Pieces of circular metal/discs are place over the hollows of a doming block, and then using punches and a hammer the metal is formed into a shape. 

Steel Blocks
Steel blocks provide the ideal flat surface for working, flattening sheet or wire or to support work as it is raised or forged, riveted or textured.

Swage Blocks
Rather like doming blocks, Swage blocks help form metal into tubes, curves and channels.  Different blocks will allow different shapes and sizes to be formed.

Sandbag / Grit filled Cushion
These bags provided support whilst you work and form your piece. They help keep your work firm and in place whilst working.

Pliers
Pliers have a multitude of uses but they are the most basic tool for holding/gripping, forming and shaping wire.  Having a basic selection of needle nose, round nose, flat nose, half round and a pair of parallel action pliers, will give the jeweller the flexibility to complete most jobs.

Stakes
Often used by silversmiths, the metal is placed over the stakes (usually clamped independently into a vice) and hammered to achieve the shape required. Various shapes can be achieved by using different stakes.

Files
Files are essential for removing excess material, and fine tuning and shaping your piece.  The different sizes available allow the jeweller to work large areas or at a more intricate level. To start with buy a selection of shapes containing round, square, triangular, half round and warding.  Plus consider the cut ranging from 0 the coarsest, to 6 the finest.

Draw plates
Draw plates are most commonly used to reduce the size or change shape of wire. Each plate has a series of holes through which the wire is passed through, this then changes the size of the wire. The holes in the plate are of decreasing size allowing you to continue draw down the wire to the required size.

Rolling mills
These larger machines often seen in jewellers’ workshops are ideal to reduce the thickness of sheet, or help decorate sheet. If used with Square and D shape sections rolling mills can be used to form or shape wire. 

This selection of forming tools & equipment allow jewellers, and metalsmiths to create any number of shapes, textures and patterns.  As with all jewellery projects the range of forming tools jewellers have will start with the basic i.e. pliers, hammer and perhaps a doming set, and then expand as their projects demand.

Forming Tools

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