Jewellery Making Supplies Blog

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

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!

If you’d like to make a comment about this article, or post a question please click here

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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This weekend only Cooksongold.com are offering an incredible 50% off starter bench packs. The bench pack contains 11 quality jewellery tools at an amazing price of ONLY £23.08 this weekend only - WHILE STOCKS LAST!

50% OFF Bench Packs

Every good jeweller’s workshop needs a quality supply of findings… and with many sensational new lines, and up to 50% off our most popular findings, you won’t find more choice or better value than Cooksongold.com.

We’ve got lots of other new products to tempt you with; a fabulous selection of glass beads and stringing supplies, silver chain, silver beads and spacers, display materials and a series of price offers for workshop essentials. What’s more, spend over £100 and you will automatically be entered into our Win a Workshop competition!

If you would like to receive a FREE copy of our NEW Workshop Materials mini catalogue click here. Alternatively, click here to view these new product online via the website.

Click here for your FREE copy

If you’d like to make a comment about this article, or post a question please click here

Making jewellery doesn’t require a large space or big pieces of equipment or even furniture. A selection of key workshop pieces combined with basic hand tools provides everything for the first workshop. Cooksongold.com provides a full range of jewellery tools - everything from basic hand tools, pre-packed tool kits, consumables, larger machinery right through to the professional jewellers bench.

Your first workshop
Often the beginner or student will start making jewellery on ‘normal’ desk, worktop or even kitchen table!  Adapting the table can be easily be achieved by clamping a G clamp bench vice or anvil.  The jewellers peg/pin can then be held in place securely giving a simple, yet sturdy place to work.

Work Benches - Click here

The peg is perhaps the most vital part of any setup allowing the jeweller to work quickly and efficiently. This wedge or triangle of wood supports the piece, holding it in a notch or v shape insert. This holds the piece rigid, allowing the jeweller to saw, cut, & file. 

If adapting an existing desk, the desk should be elevated, so that the working area is at mid chest level when the jeweller is sat upright, thus allowing maximum control of your tools and metals.

Let there be light and ventilation

Although normal desks can be adapted, two factors must be in place when setting up your ‘bench’ – light and ventilation. The work area needs to well ventilated to ensure a safe working environment combined with good bright and direct lighting. Natural light can be complemented by adjustable lamps ensuring that no shadow falls over your piece from the jeweller or the equipment.

Workshop lighting - Click here

The professional jeweller’s bench

The traditional jeweller’s bench is a purposed designed and provides the perfect working area for any project. Often mistakenly seen as expensive luxury, a good bench will last you a lifetime and most importantly will help in improving your technique. Benches are higher than a normal desk (mid chest level if the jeweller is sitting uptight) ensuring that the jeweller does not stoop to work. Most benches have the semi circle cut out ensuring that you can sit close to the to the work, and with the aid of a bench skin collects scrap and protect the jeweller from hot or sharp objects.

Organising jewellery tools  

Keeping a workshop tidy, and the tools organised will help the jeweller when working, creating an efficient working environment. Both tools & materials should ideally be kept close to the bench, with the aim of trying to keep all materials within arms reach. Practically many of the basic jewellers tools will be actually left on the bench – Pliers, files, cutters, tweezers are used so often that they can be left on the work top for immediate access. 

As a large part of jewellery making involves heat often a section of the bench will be dedicated to the equipment needed for soldering. Often the soldering area will be based around the placement of a torch, with the soldering block placed alongside a borax cone and dish.

For other materials such as jewellery findings, settings, and metal, storage containers should be used. These ideally have sliding draws to allow you to split different carats, sizes or types of findings.

Storage - Click here

Once the workshop is established all that remains to be added is the essential basic selection of popular jewellery tools such as files, saw & saw blades, emery & polishing sticks, pliers, cutters, verneirs along with forming tools and heating/soldering equipment.

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With so many projects and often so little time, keeping my workshop tidy is always a challenge. When designing, my aim is always to have a clear working space, with everything close at hand. Both tools and materials should ideally be kept within arms reach.  However, I don’t always follow my own sound advice, and realistically, most of my basic jewellers tools - pliers, files, cutters, torch, etc – are always left out on the bench. When all these tools are combined with all those exciting bits (that I leave out ‘just in case’ or for inspiration), such as findings, coloured beads, bits of wire, sheet and solder, that’s when I get into real problems! 

So, with the saying ‘Tidy desk tidy mind’  firmly in my thoughts, and spurred on by the launch of our new storage range, I decided to spring clean my workshop! I started by organising my tools, using a pliers stand for hand tools – ensuring that blades/jaws are kept away from each other (this also lengthens the life of tools). I moved all my reels of wire onto a workstation that allows me to dispense them easily, plus creating a dedicated area for soldering; with my soldering torch, block, Borax cone & dish all in one area.

 

Click here for NEW Storage

Then onto the BIG task: organising my jewellery findings, settings, and stock of sheet & wire. The bullion element was relatively easy, just ensuring that my 9ct sheet is kept separate from 18ct sheet, easily achievable with some simple drawers. However, organising components was unfortunately a much bigger job! I am forever being frustrated by having mixed sizes, colours, types of findings – or the worst case scenario – mixing up silver findings with carat gold findings!  I used a variety of simple containers, and plastic bags to organise my components. These simple, and thankfully cheap containers are all clear – so I could easily see the pieces, had tight fitting or locking lids – so no danger of losing any, and many of them conveniently stack together to save space.

Click here for NEW Containers

Click here for beads

Beads are commonly made from Sterling silver which is a silver alloy made up of 7.5% copper, 92.5% silver.  Pure silver is designated as 99.9% pure, but this purity tends to make the metal very soft. In jewellery applications, this can mean that delicate work is easily damaged or broken through the slightest of knocks. Adding another base metal to the silver gives it greater durability and strength. Sterling silver has this additional alloy and is only 92.5% silver.

Silver beads are used in almost every type of jewellery, from simple necklaces to modern body jewellery. A silver necklace carries with it an air of sophistication and elegance, particularly if the silver beads are offset with other precious or semi-precious stones or pearls.

Necklaces are not the only use of silver beads in jewellery. Because of the huge range of designs available, they can be used in earrings, bracelets and cufflinks to match a simple but stylish necklace. Silver beads can also be incorporated into all kinds of applications, such as embroidering onto clothing or bags, eveningwear or shoes. Designers across the world continue to be captivated by the myriad of uses that silver beads have in fashion and couture, with the top design houses often including beading in their collections.

Semi-precious stones

Silver has the advantage of being the ‘black’ of jewellery in fashion terms – it goes with practically anything. A delicate, silver bead necklace can casually compliment a simple outfit of jeans and tee shirt. That same necklace can be worn with a cocktail dress with equal flair and finesse. A handful of silver beads, a well-thought out design and a little bit of patience can produce something that is unique and timeless. The best way to begin to incorporate silver beads into your jewellery making is to buy a small selection and let your imagination loose. The results will be uniquely yours and always a favourite part of your jewellery collection, no matter what the occasion