basic tool advice please

[poppymoon]

hello,
i've been making beaded jewellery for a while but got a bit bored so i started to play with sheets of copper - heaven!! every time i pick the hammer up i remember being told at school 'no, you can't do metalwork or woodwork. girls are not allowed'.........

soooo, i have no proper tools as yet, just making do with what i have so please could anyone advise me on what i should be saving for first to enable me to create more intricate coppery things?

thank you :)

[ps_bond]

The first tools? The core one is probably the jeweller's saw (and bench pin); that applies to pretty much every aspect of working with thinner metals. Even up to 4-6mm steel, the jeweller's saw blades will cut it - although it is quite slow going at that thickness and I wouldn't advise it for your first try!

What do you want to make?

[poppymoon]

i enjoy cutting my own shapes for earrings etc and doming them. could you recommend a decent drill? and disc cutter?

[Dennis]

i enjoy cutting my own shapes for earrings etc and doming them. could you recommend a decent drill? and disc cutter?

The answer depends a lot on how much you wish to spend and whether you are going to be in this for the long term.

The entry level drill will be a Dreml, preferably with speed control. Much better will be a Foredom pendant motor.

A simple and reliable disk cutter is the Cookson 999 772. I've never bought anything more elaborate, but you can spend £££. You will also need a heavyish hammer to work it and if you get a ball-pein one from a tool shop the ball end will texture metal sheet. That leads on to a metal block to hammer on and a sand bag to damp the noise.

I think it will be easier to decide on tools if you join a course or get a good explanatory book. A good one to start might be Two In One Manuals,Jewellery by Madeline Coles, because it gives some simple projects too. Dennis.

[Tabby66]

Hi Poppy,
As has already been said, jewellers saw and benchpin are the initial buys I think,....probably followed by files (the best you can afford) and buff paper.............a course will really help since it will give you the opportunity to try out techniques and tools and give you some idea of what you enjoy.

In my honest opinion, forget the disc cutter initially, NOT because it isn't a very useful tool, it is!!.....just far better to practice and perfect your techniques by saw and file....(very very much slower to begin with, but worth the practice in using the tools)!!

Tabby x

[ps_bond]

In my honest opinion, forget the disc cutter initially, NOT because it isn't a very useful tool, it is!!.....just far better to practice and perfect your techniques by saw and file....(very very much slower to begin with, but worth the practice in using the tools)!!

Couldn't agree more - while the disc cutter is great for cutting lots of discs in a short time, it is limited in that you *only* get the discs supported by that cutter. Learning to cut accurate circles by hand may be slower, but it gives you any size you want as well as being quite satisfying. I use 6" discs of 1.5mm material for some things - a disc cutter to do that would be a) quite expensive and b) require a moderate amount of force to shear the disc.

(And if you can cut circles, other shapes are a doddle too)

[springeth]

Agree with everyone else on the piercing saw, saw blades and bench peg. I would also add a nylon / rawhide mallet for shaping metal and a good needle file or two.

[Goldsmith]

This is the Cookson forum, so why not check out Cookson's deals on tool sets, like this one for £81 ;http://www.cooksongold.com/Jewellery-Tools/Workbench-Tool-Kit-prcode-997-1003 , it's a start :-)

James