Are these worth getting

[Petal]

I'm thinking of getting a couple of things... A centre punch and a 925 stamp.

On my list, amongst other things, are a centre punch, which is what you use before drilling holes and a 925 stamp. I will be having my stuff hallmarked if its over the hallmarking weight, but for those items that are not, I'm thinking of getting a 925 stamp, so that I can stamp my stuff. I've read its useful when you have your stuff hallmarked, as they 'usually' put the hallmark next to the 925 stamp. I was also thinking of getting a centre punch. I think they do different sizes of stamp/punch as well, so any recommendations, hints/tips would be greatly appreciated. etc

Is that what you guys have??? What would you recommend??

[daisychain]

To be honest, neither of those are on my list.

Instead of a centre punch I use a nail and a hammer - and they've done the job well for several years now! I just make sure that I don't use the hammer I use for the nail, my disc cutter and doming punches for anything else so that I don't transfer nasty impressions onto my silver.

As for a 925 punch, I've never seen the need for one. I don't mark work that doesn't need hallmarking, and use a non-permanent pen to mark on my work where I want the assay office to put the marks. Slightly off-topic, I do hallmark work that is below 7.78g sometimes if the amount of work that has gone into it has raised the price so that customers might wonder why, at that price, it isn't hallmarked. General customers don't know about the 7.78g limit.

Sorry, I know that doesn't quite answer your questions, but personally I'd save my money for things I can't use substitutes for!

[ps_bond]

I think I have a commercial centre punch around somewhere, but I usually use one of my own. They're overkill in comparison to Jo's nail as they're hardened & tempered - and the nail is already harder then the silver.

I have a 925 punch (didn't make it though!) - but I never use it. Most of what I make for sale gets the full hallmark; I tend to view it as a selling point.

[Dennis]

Bear in mind that a dip made with a round burr, say a 0.9mm one, makes agood starting point for a drill. It is less traumatic to your workpiece, particularly if it is thin or hollow. Also if you find that you are going a tiny bit off centre you can drag it to the correct place. Kind regards Dennis.