TaoGem Gemstones

Chrysocolla is right up there among my most favorite minerals for cutting cabs from. Most all Chrysocolla makes for some stunning jewelry. Then there are some that are truly a bit more unique than others.

We have been sharing a whole lot of different Chrysocolla varieties on my forum.

I especially like a Chrysocolla with Hematite, Tenorite, Silver, Copper, and even Gold.. I love a beautiful metallic finish that these offer.

Then when we start talking about a druzy Chrysocolla…….. Well, ya gotta love a neat druzy cab !

I don’t really want to post pictures of all the different Chrysocolla that has been shared on the forum here. Would rather each member who shared have the same opportunity for you to see them as they were posted by each member. Plus if your as excited about Chrysocolla as we all are, you may well like to join in the conversation and share some of your own pics as well !

One of the members did send me a slab of some with Gold in it.. Can’t hardly add a blog entry without at least one image ! Never knew Chrysocolla even had Gold in it..

Thanks for stopping by !

I have blogged before about “Advantages for Gemstone Jewelry Designer who Develop Relationship with Lapidary Shop”. Much of the same really does apply when considering a reputable gemstone jewelry designer/silversmith. Your extremely lucky to find not only a reputable and qualified designer, but a designer who’s unique ability to work with precious metals place them well above what can be found within our own communities.

I know of one such designer. He is a valued member of my Lapidary forum. Extremely knowledgeable in all aspects of jewelry design.
Michael Johnson of Cosmic Folklore Studios goes well above and beyond run of the mill jewelry designers.

Just like when a designer takes the time to work with a lapidary on a regular basis for unique and unusual gemstones, folks who are truly shopping for interesting and unique jewelry designs also know the importance of looking beyond their immediate community. It is the only way we can own the most interesting of handmade jewelry.

Michael teaches and has a large following of students who attend his valued silversmithing / metalsmithing classes at his studio in Helena Alabama.

I watch Michael’s store several times a week in anticipation of seeing newly added designs within Cosmic Folklore Studios. He enjoys creating pendants, necklaces, rings, earrings, bracelets, and many other interesting pieces.

Michael will tell that it is the Lapidary/gemstone cutter who contributes so much to beautiful jewelry designs. Yes, we do our part, but in the end it is the designer who brings everything together. That is what I like so much about Michael’s jewelry designs. His ability to take unique gemstones and match them up with a variety of metalsmith and silversmithing mediums that result in absolutely stunning pieces.

Maybe you already have a unique gemstone and have a design idea for a piece of jewelry. Or maybe you have an idea for both a type of gemstone mineral and jewelry design, then contact Michael….

I am going to borrow a statement that Michael made about Lapidaries in a recent blog post. As it applies exactly the same when choosing a jewelry designer as well.

“Yes, it may cost more, but it is funny how some people strive to buy the cheapest for the ingredients for their art, when they would never just buy the cheapest car on the lot, the cheapest house in the neighborhood, or the cheapest shoes on the rack.  Some things are just worth the extra it takes to get quality and uniqueness”.

Let me tease you just a bit with a couple of his recent pieces..

Need I say more !

 

As always, thank you for stopping in and letting me share..

Just received this really pretty Ocean Wave Jasper. Have cut a lot of orb Ocean Jasper, but only ever had a couple of Ocean Wave Jasper.

One thing about buying the expensive Orb type Ocean Jasper is that it is hard to find at an affordable price without pitting or vugs. The Ocean Wave Jasper seems to come nice and solid.. Great cabbing material.

One thing I did when shopping for this was knowing I wanted to be able and get as many of the different colored bands that are offered on the slab also within a cabbing area. The dimensions between the colored bands on these will allow me to get three nice colors on a perfect sized cabochon.

If you can not live without this one, you can see it here in store.

Of course if you would like to have one cut for a custom piece of jewelry your designing, just contact me !

Thanks for stopping in and reading !

This was the first time I had purchased a ring blank to set a stone in. When I saw it in the magazine it appeared to have a bezel type setting with four prongs. I thought was simply going to be able and push the floral looking bezel and prongs up against the gemstone.

After it arrived, I quickly realized after trying to push the floral like bezel and prongs that nothing was going to budge!

After some discussion and another attempt at pushing it was obvious that at least the floral like bezel setting was too thick to move. It was a bit hard to believe that at least the prongs would not budge.

Well as things turned out, I was pretty disappointed as it became apparent that there was no way around having to glue the darn stone into the setting. I sure would not have purchased it if I had known.

My next purchase I will sure be paying closer attention.. This was a lesson learned.. Glad it was not too expensive and that I did not purchase all three that I will need during this first purchase.

If I can’t find a blank with a push type bezel setting then will buy the blank with a flat top and solder my own bezel setting.

I just received this pictorial guide to over 150 types of agates and jasper.

“There are many excellent books currently on the market describing banded agates, but there are few with an emphasis on the other structural varieties. There are virtually no current books with images and descriptions of the wide array of fine jaspers presently available. This book tries to fill that void with 240 pages and over 1000 photos and diagrams describing the structural features of both Agates and Jaspers.

It provides an introduction to their genesis, details of their structural characteristics, and a multitude of macro and micro photographs. It’s a stating-point for some of the current theories of their formation, and contains references to more in-depth studies.

No other variety of material offers so many combinations of patterns and spectral colors. Sit back and now an enjoy the complexity and beauty locked within these stones.” (Taken from the rear cover)

I am really enjoying this excellent book, and just wanted to share it here..

Can be ordered via www.theimage.com or www.theimagebooks.com

Wanted to share a really neat tutorial on how to set a square gemstone cabochon by one of our forum members, Bob of Bobs Premium Cabs shared with us.

Bezel setting a stone with sharp corners is somewhat more difficult than an oval because if it isn’t done properly the excess metal puckers at the corners.
Bezel setting is often called a “rub” over setting. This is because some people use a burnisher to “rub” the bezel “over” the stone. It is quite difficult to do this because you can’t get enough pressure especially in the corners to fully push the bezel over the stone. Because the surface of the burnisher is polished it also makes it more difficult to control the burnisher.
There is a bezel pusher that has a round wood ball handle with a small square metal rod to push the bezel over. It has such a small surface that it introduces dents and creases in the bezel.
My favorite tool is a bezel rocker. It is a wood handle with a metal blade. See full tutorial here……

Been having fun again with more multi gemstone groups that are excellent for jewelry designing.. Especially if your a silversmith and like interesting and unique pieces..

What makes the group gemstone cabochon sets a little more interesting, is the way they are cut from the original mineral slab. Somewhat similar to making a quality pair of earrings. Except instead of using back to back slabs for matching grains on each earring, these sets are cut from the same area off an area from the slab.. Done patiently, a nice contour of the grains will flow through the entire group of gemstones within the settings group.

Lot of fun to do.. They are among the most rewarding when finished.. Just something about them that I really enjoy.. I am thinking of giving a set a whirl myself.. I am still trying to get a little better at my soldering before I tackle one of my own sets!

Any way, just wanted to do a little blog entry. Below are a few examples.. Many more in store. To more easily find just these sets. Use the search box and key word “set”. Happy to do any kind of special requests for similar sets from a variety of interesting and unusual minerals.. Feel free to contact me with a request or questions.

Been a while since I have added a new entry.. All the action is on the forum !

Was finally fortunate enough to have a member from our local club come over and walk me through some basic silver soldering. She was a big help. Little things like working the torch properly, using the flux correctly, etc…

Any way, felt the urge to share the results of this Rainforest Jasper pendant. Still have a long ways to go before I can actually offer some up for sale, but getting there!

Members on my forum join in with bi monthly semiprecious gemstone cabochon contests. This time instead of picking a particular mineral this time we are doing any mineral type in freeform. Any way, as a result I ended up choosing Titainium Rutile in Quartz for my entry. Wanted to share my limited experience working with rutile minerals.

The very first example for me was black Tourmaline in quartz.

Then as a result of choosing a rutile Quartz for this cabochon contest this Gold Titainium Rutile in Quartz is only my second experience with rutile minerals. Here is a pic of the piece I sliced off the rough and the finished cab I got from it. Very hard to work with. With this Titainium the rutile ran not only up and down, but also from front to back. Difficult to orientate and think ahead about the final cab shape and utilize the rutile in the very best way possible.

This was a lot of fun and in the end very rewarding. Very pleased with how this Gold Titainium turned out. I am actually very motivated to do more rutile minerals. Although what I realize now that I am shopping for more is that quality rutile minerals of any kind are very expensive. The above black Tourmaline in Quartz as an example is next to impossible to find with any good concentration of rutile. Same with the Gold Titainium. Just can’t find nice material without sacrificing my first born.

I have just recently started to try my hand at silver soldering. Now I catch myself putting some stones aside instead of selling them thinking that sooner or later my soldering and overall designs will be better. So although I did sell all the black Tourmaline cabs from what little rough I had, I am keeping this Gold Titainium one for a future piece.

Actually as long as your here reading this blog entry, if you have or know of someone offering “reasonable” prices on material like this I would sure appreciate knowing about it.  Also more than willing to barter. If you have some that you would like cabbed, would be happy to do it for you in exchange for some of the same!

Thanks for stopping by and reading this entry.

Needed something to blog about so thought would add an entry about today’s soldering project.

I wanted to try another like 1Rockhounds Biggs Jasper piece with the bezel tape on the outside of the backing. Except I tried another attempt at using flattened wire for the backing again instead of cut out sheet backing.

The order of the images are out of order, but the step are correct.. Hope not too confusing..

Step One Image B shows how I fit the shaped wire to the inside of the stones perimeter. Works out once the wire is flattened out as it spreads.
Any smaller a gauge and I realized that needed a little more flattened surface area to be able and have enough extra room to play with when fitting it to the stones size.

Step Two Image A shows the 12 gauge round wire slightly flattened.

Step Three Image D shows the wire flattened and the perimeter filed to the match the stones outer edge.

Step Four Image F shows the flattened wire ends soldered together.

Step Five Image G and H shows it cleaned up a bit and additional filing to the inside of the flattened wire so it is somewhat uniform in shape on the inside.

Step Six Image I shows the bezel tape shaped to the outside of the flattened wire backing with the ends soldered together. It only took me three tries to get this part right ! Also important to file down any excess solder on the inside of the bezel tap joint. Otherwise will have problems when trying to solder it to the outside of the backing.

Initially I use a fairly stiff wire bristle wheel followed up with the 3M bristle discs. These discs work well..

Step 7 Image K.. I like to use silver solder paste for filling the space between the bezel tape and backing. Just seems to work nicely. I am sure any other solder would work just fine.

Step 8 Image L is from the back after soldering the tape to the backing. One problem I had was the flattened wire ends came apart and became un-aligned (lower right of image L). I tried to re-heat and press back in place but it would not budge. Stuck with it as it is.. It also resulted in not having a completely nice flat backing after sanding the whole thing on a flat surface.

Images M and N are after I used bezel pusher followed up with a burnishing tool to press the tape against the stone.

This is where things went further South on me too. As the bezel pusher created little indentations that I could not smooth out with the burnishing tool. Next time will pass on using the bezel pushing tool and just use the burnishing tool.

This was because I did not fit the outside of the backing “perfectly” to the outside of the stone. The result was extra gap that forced me to push the bezel tape further than would have been necessary if it was fit properly to begin with.

On this particular setting I am going to metal glue a bail to the top back once I can order some from Rio. Normally I would solder the bail on, but became impatient and went ahead and set the stone today. Not something will be getting in the habit of doing in the future… Just got in a hurry to see how it was going to look and knew I could not order any bails for a while.

Had been making some with fair success, but going to start spending a few extra dollars on some nicely finished ones from now on..

The end results show I need more practice !!

Thanks for reading and feel free to share any of your own soldering trials, tribulations or even successes with me !

At year end we had thought after a portfolio evaluation, things were not going to be so bad.

That has changed. Another recent evaluation shows that I am going to loose some where between 20 and 30% of monthly income.

What was once a casual and non stress business/hobby now has to be picked up a notch !

Where I once was not quite as concerned about expenses and inventory, I now have to pay much more attention to even the minor details. I use to not be quite as concerned about what the competition was up too, now it is key to the difference between a potential sale and a sale.

I am very grateful that I have a good online presence. So it’s not like I have to build that from scratch.

Pricing is going probably be the biggest issue. I am pretty sure all will be well. It’s just the realization that I have to treat this much more like a business, and really concentrate on things. The online tools are there…

Realizing my own personal changes as a result of stock market issues, and or just the overall recession that we are all finding ourselves dealing with just what other consideration are important.

What about the jewelry designer experiencing similar situations. Cutting costs and expenses. Making every penny count.

What that in itself means to someone like myself who supplies them. It feels like a potential chain effect. Designers are going to be looking for the very best pricing and also the very best quality to go with it.

I also have just started to try my hand at designing my own line of jewelry. My last online order for silver and misc supplies made me pay close attention to what I was buying. What do I absolutely need, what can I make due with a little less of, etc…  So I am getting a taste of what a professional jewelry designer might be experiencing in these tougher times.

I feel that what was a high end cabochon will have to come down in price to be competitive and affordable to designers who are in the same boat as I am.

They are not going to want to cut corners on stone quality. So I am expecting some serious price reduction to make the sales to them.

Truth is, I am ok with that. As a cutter, there is room to reduce pricing on even the highest end cabochons and still profit.

Not sit on gemstones because my ego insists that it is worth something more. I would rather sell those stones and make a little less.

As a cutter, and or designer, are you finding the recession effecting you in similar ways. If so what kind of change are you presently or do you foresee making to be competitive and still profitable for your business.

I would very much like to hear your expectations as a designer who is feeling the pinch as a result of the markets, job loss, and other things that are a result of the recession that our Country is in and how it may be effecting your online business activities.

Maybe your like myself. Finding yourself in need of taking what was more of an online past time or business/hobby into a more serious online business to supplement your income.  Maybe even actually in hopes of  turning it into a serious and primary source of income.

What can a cutter like myself do to help you make your jewelry more competitive to your customers in these difficult times when people are thinking twice about spending their extra money on jewelry.

There are options, including possibly buying in quantity and obtaining discounts that way. Dealing with a single lapidary shop like myself can and will result in substantial discounts. Repeat customers are of great value. We are likely to offer discounts based on repeat business. Purchasing rough yourself and sending it to my shop is another way to save towards gemstone purchases. Bartering has always been highly recommended method of two businesses getting what each needs and can both profit from in the short term.

Thanks for stopping in and reading !

For most Lapidaries, cutting gemstone cabochons has most likely resulted in at least a few undercutting experiences.  For the purpose of this blog entry, I wanted to post a bit about undercutting as related in dealing with combined soft and hard mineral compositions . Different from that of flat spots that result from sanding and or polishing across sharply rounded cabochon corners and or edges as an example.

“Undercutting” occurs when softer grains in the rock grind down faster than the harder grains and you end up with a pock-marked effect - some people call it an “orange peel effect. Look at the way the peel on an orange has hollows in it. Picture the hollows as spots where softer grains ground down faster than the surrounding harder grains. Undercutting happens when you have a lapidary material that consists of more than two minerals where there is a significant difference in hardness or the rate that the material will be removed varies significantly because of the differences in hardness within the mineral. It is the structural characteristics that make certain minerals susceptible to “undercutting” and an “orange peel” surface effect.

The effect is more pronounced when using loose grits because the grits can move about, with both individual grains of grit able to move into attitudes where they have “high spots” that grind into the soft grains of the material, and the grains can pile up into little clumps that also sit higher than the surrounding grains - doing their cutting deeper into the soft grains of the stone being worked. Grinding wheels can have similar difficulties because they tend to wear down unevenly - leaving some high spots and/or grains that will undercut the softer materials in a stone. Using sandpaper reduces the effect significantly because all the grains are glued onto the backing in a relatively level fashion - not much chance for grains of grit to end up sticking up higher, or for clumps of them to form and grind deeper into the stone. But as sandpaper wears you can end up with loose grits on it that will cause undercutting, so it is probably best to change the paper at the first signs of trouble - and not use old, worn sheets at all for any material that is prone to undercutting.

The best way to avoid undercutting in materials prone to this is to use sandpaper instead of loose grits or grindstones. And it may still take you a while to come up with the best combination of sanding grits and polish to get the best results: Not all sandpaper is created equal.

Hard felt polishing surfaces are especially recommended for opal, agate and other materials.

Remember too that no degree of polishing will correct a stone which undercut during sanding.

What about possible solutions?

A preform cutting and grinding guide assembly can be used in conjunction with Graves and Diamond Pacific cabochon machines. The Graves grinding or cutting guide assembly can be integral or attached to a cabbing machine.

The reason I mention this particular tool, is because of of “cams”, undercutting is eliminated because the cab is forced to shape to the contour of the cam. The softer mineral compositions in the stone can not undercut the harder compositions, and the harder compositions also have to conform to the shape of the cams. These cams can be home made into any shape to match desired cabochon preforms from any semi-precious mineral that you expect undercutting issues with. Not to mention of course any other semi-precious material as well.

Here is the limitations though.. It is strictly for preforming. It does not solve dealing with surface undercutting.

Preformer Attachment:

Made by the Graves Company. Take the guess work out of shaping and sizing cabochons and faceted stones. Simply assemble the proper cam, turn the handwheel and the preformer will guide the grinding of the stone to the precise size and shape of the cam. Easily adapts to most grinding and faceting machines. For special sizes or shapes, machined metal or nylon cams can be made in your own workshop.

Here is one of a couple of actual semi-cabbing machines that will deal completely with undercutting for the entire cabochon.

A Colbaugh Semi Cabbing unit. It provides me complete semi-cab forming opportunities. It too incorporates the use of cams ( shown below in first pic ) that allow me to overcome potential undercutting of any semi-precious cabochons.

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Another similar unit is the Addexton Semi Cabbing unit. Similar operating procedures as the Colbaugh unit.

I brought these two units up only to offer possible solutions to dealing with semi-precious minerals where undercutting is an issue. Not meant to promote by any means.

One of the many minerals I have ran across where undercutting was unavoidable, as an example was this Azurite/Malachite with Quartz. It matters not what ya try to do, the Azurite/Malachite undercuts the Quartz. For myself it has been these Quartz and or Gem Silica mixed minerals that I have had most all my undercutting problems with.

You can see a finished cab here cut from the slab clearly showing the Quartz and or Gem Silica. The semi-cabbing machine deals well with the combination of the softer Azurite/Malachite prone to undercutting the much harder Quartz veins, leaving a nice smooth surface.

I have searched high and low online and have yet come across a technique that will aid and or overcome undercutting when working similar materials freehand on a cabbing machine.

One mineral I did run into with undercutting suggestions was for the different types of Jade.

The fibrous texture of jade and variation of hardness are the reasons for its reputation as a problem. Apparently some Jade can be sanded dry and works up beautifully. Other material in its final sanding begins to undercut. When this happens, it is suggested to stop immediately and try a new approach. First, a final sanding on a new piece of 600 cloth. Many times this will correct the difficulty and after a few moments the cabochon will be smooth, free of under-cut or peel, and appear almost polished.

Feel free to comment on minerals that have proven difficult for you to work, and undercut on you.

Also…… Please leave tips and tricks comments that you suggest to overcome undercutting while cabbing freehand.

About a year ago I began exploring various marketing and promotional techniques for the purpose of boosting my online presence.

I think just like myself, a lot of brand new online lapidary related business owners find ourselves somewhat overwhelmed with the many different possibilities that just sorta seem to present themselves to us as we embark on SEO related techniques.

These practices are completely different in application and technique today than they were when I first gave thought to developing my online presence a little over a year ago.

Different in technique and application, but the basic practices are much the same. Not much sense in sharing in detail. Today my main primary online sites although different are similar in a lot of ways.

I have gone through a couple of different selling sites and have now settled into a great shopping cart. Gone through several blogging software packages and have now finally settled into one that is excellent.

Online jewelry design related business owners like myself who have at least these two basic and very important type of sites up and running properly have just by the nature and course of events that lead to accomplishing them, found ourselves also educated about a few other very important things along the way.

Without a doubt we were told the importance of participating in at least a couple of forums that discussed jewelry design related topics. We learned the importance of joining in discussions and starting topics of interest related to our jewelry related niches. The forums we choose can be a little different for each of us depending upon what exactly our jewelry design related niches are.

From the time I first started out right up until just recently, my jewelry design related niche solely consisted of the sale of gemstones to jewelry designers. Because of that I settled into a couple of fun forums that were a mix of jewelry making related topics.

Still today, this “practice” is still the same, although the technique has changed because I started a lapidary related forum of my own. Still…. the need to mingle with others who share my same interests is extremely important. One big bonus is that I am truly having a great deal of fun. Although I have not actually met any of our forum members in person, we have connected. Connected with many who I have come to feel share a friendship as well as our common interests.

Let there be no mistake though. No matter if I had created a forum of my own or not, the need to mingle and connect with others is a must. Making participation in a couple of forums a daily routine is beneficial because sales can and usually do result from participating.

We also without a doubt learned yet another important, almost daily practice that would become just as routine to us as forum participation. “Social networking”.

Not just any social networking, but a group of people that socialize within a community. Unlike a forum, these communities consist of many different categories of network groups. This was much harder for me to get an understanding of than was the straight forward and easy to understand forum process. When I would participate within the arena of a forum, it all made perfect sense. You post a topic that you want to share or learn from and or reply to someone elses post.

Social networking did not come so easy for myself, and that is really putting it quite mildly. With the exception of the very first community that was introduced to me. It is the Squidoo community. At least this Squidoo community did make sense. Although….. when a person becomes a member and creates a “lens” which is your home page within the community, the interaction with other “lensmasters” is different from that of truly socializing within a network of community members. It is really just a community of home pages, or lenses.

Squidoo was really the only community that I found and participated in where at least it made some sense. You could add your jewelry design related lens to other jewelry design related groups within the Squidoo community. The ideal result for myself was for an actual designer to see my gemstone supply lens and hopefully purchase from me after visiting my lens.

This was not really social networking. I was sure that social networking had to be somewhat similar to participating within a forum. No matter which social network I signed up with, they just make absolutely no sense at all. Networks like StumbleUpon, Delicious, and others just seemed completely unorganized. I could not see how social networking was suppose to improve upon my internet presence in any way.

Finally I gave up on the whole thing…..

Then recently while trying to come up with some ideas for my forum members to use for their own developing of an online presence, I posted several social networking communities and shared how important it is to participate within one or two. Yes, for myself too !

I could hardly preach such a thing without at least giving it another whirl myself. I tried to list social networks that in one way or another had something to do with lapidary, gemstones, jewelry, and or jewelry design. While going through and looking at each of the networks that I listed for members to consider, I found one called Ning. The Ning community consists of a wide range of social networks. They have several jewelry and jewelry design related networks within the community. There are several perfectly fine jewelry design networks to pick from.

It was not long before I had created a page about myself. Then I headed off to the main page for the network I joined. I picked the Jewelry Design Network. I don’t really want to go into lengthy details about the group. I just really wanted to share that the Ning community networks made sense to me right away. The Jewelry Design Network consists of a variety of different kinds of jewelry design related members.

I am really glad that I found a jewelry design related network that has other online lapidary businesses as well as a variety of other crafts people. In no time at all I found myself joining in and discussing lots of interesting topics.

Joining this network is turning out really a-ok. Turning out to be a lot of fun. Not to mention that I can report some sales directly related because of participation within a social network. A network that finally made sense to me.

Just felt like adding a blog entry with a few of my own trials, tribulations and success with trying to get started in social networks. There are many out there to pick from. What my have been awkward and or uncomfortable for me to participate in, may well suit someone else just fine. The bottom line, is that it really is something that everyone should really include in our arsenal of tools/sites towards developing and maintaining the best possible jewelry design related online presence that we possibly can.

Just to share …..

One of my recent pieces started out so well…… I was smiling through the entire process of shaping and soldering the three step bezels for this three piece necklace.

Then came the last two solders for the little bails on the top of the two hanging pieces. That is when disaster set in ! After three or four attempts the metal became so oxidized that they became unusable.

Both of the bails kept falling off, and had to re-heat and try again.

On the last attempt on one piece, it was such a disaster, that I melted part of the bezel !

Your first question to me is probably asking if I used one of the 3rd arms with clamps. That was in fact the root of the disaster. I was trying to hold them in place with a pair of pliers in one hand and the torch in the other. I had overheated the clips on a previous project so they lost the springy ability to clamp.

I was impatient and, well….. the results show it !

I do not have enough of the same matching step bezel to give it another whirl yet. Next Rio order !

Just felt like sharing my recent disaster. Hopefully I can return with a positive update once I get some more bezel tape !

Thanks for reading. Maybe you have a similar soldering disaster to share ?

TaoGem.com

A Glance at Jewelry - Scale Silversmithing Methods by William Fretz Designs 
I would like to acknowledge the Lapidary Journal / Jewelry Artist magazine. Permission to do this blog entry was kindly provided by William Fretz. The original article was from the November 2007 issue.Forging is a controlled method of moving metal by stretching or compressing it using a hammer and a stake. There are many forging methods used to shape sheet metal. Unlimited variables contribute to the ultimate form and finish of a forged piece. Wood, metal, and plastic tools - both stakes and hammers - and their many combinations and shapes can all contribute tot he final outcome of a forged piece. The key to all successful forging is a delicate balance between force and control, and like all techniques, good hammership comes with practice. There are three main hammering methods: Raising, embossing, and planishing - metal is manipulated in different ways when the three techniques are used.Raising compresses metal down to the stake without stretching it. The trick is to angle the metal off the stake so there is an air gap for the compression.

Embossing stretches metal by hammering from the inside. When the metal is hammered into a cavity, it’s called blocking - an alternate embossing method. Freeform embossing can also be done with a sandbag.

Planishing smooths the metal against a stake by overlapping the hammer blows. This stretching technique also forms the metal to the shape of the underlying stake. With practice, a morrorlike surface can be achieved.

For all forging, the size of the hammer as well as the corresponding stake will be dictated by the size of the work.

RAISING HAMMERS

(Photo 1) Wideraising hammers can be used to raise sheet metal into a bowl against a wooden or metal stake. They are also useful in cylinder forms for raising metal into a concave shape. Subtle planishing of concave shapes is possible with the narrow, curved faces of this type of hammer. Here the wide raising hammer is used to form a tube into a concave shape on a concave stake.

(Photo2) The tighter curves on the faces of a narrow raising hammer allow the raising of small sylinders and concave shapes. The thinner head allows this kind of hammer to fit into tighter curves for both raising and planishing. It’s also useful for fuorging and texturing. Here, the narrow raising hammer is used to raise in (thicken the metal in) the neck of a small sterling bottle.

A short narrow raising hammer can subsititure for the narrow raising hammer when a smaler striking head and a lighter tough is desired. Likewise, a short, wide raising hammer has a profile which makes it a more subtle substiture when a lighter hammer is desired.

EMBOSSING HAMMERS

(Photo 3) Small embossing hammers are used to form small raised areas by hammering from the inside in preparation for chasing or general shaping. A very fine dimpled texture with infinite variations can be produced depending on the strength of the blow. The small end of the embossing hammer can be used to texture surfacees, both flat and curved.

(Photo 4) Larger embossing hammers are used to dome metal from the inside. Metal is stretched from the inside as it is supported on a sandbag or a depression carved in wood. Doming a piece of metal before raising makes ite easier to control because the shape becomes rigid. This type of hammer also leaves a very interesting dimpled texture on flat or slightly domed metal if the mannering is done on the outside of a form while supported against a stake. The embossing can be used to stretch a small bottle from the inside.

A more rounded narrow raising or embossing hammer can emboss narrow raising or embossing hammer can emboss narrow pod or oblong shapes, like a spiculum form. Smoother overlapping marks are easier on long thin shapes tthan with a round embossing hammer.

Embossing hammers with wider, longer profiles are ideal for blocking bowls and broader width strips into concave shapes. As with all embossing hammers, this type of hammer is intended to stretch the metal from the inside.

PLANISHING HAMMERS

(Photo 5) The planishing hammer is for smoothing metal and is typically the most used hammer. The round head is used if the metal being worked has hammer markds from a previous round of raising that need to be smoothed out. The flat head of the hammer will also refine the markds made by the round head for a nearly smooth finish. This hammer is also used to size rings and form bezels. It’s a good general forming hammer when used with mandrels and stakes. Here, the round head is used to shape a hollow donut form from a flat tube.

(Photo 6) Smoothing and squaring the corners of a band ring can be accomplished with the flat side of the planishing hammer.

(Photo 7) Asingle ended planishing hammer with inserts has a plastic head that can be removed with a hex key. The flat plasic head forms metal while leaving it smooth. The metal head is slightly domedto make it easier to strike flat or slightly dome metal. I designed this hammer primarily for the bench jeweler who sizes rings and only wnats one hammer. Here, the plastic head will move the metal with out leaving marks.

Double insert hammers have interchangeable plastic heads of carious shapes that work the metal without leaving marks. The wide range of head shapes duplicate metal planishing, embossing, and raising hammers, and are useful for forming metal without stretching it. The hammer head is heavy enough to move metal with assurance.

TEXTURING HAMMERS

(Photo 8 ) Sharp texturing / raisig hammers are primarily for rings or other metal surfaces where very detailed hammered textures are needed. This type of hammer can also be used to make extremely tight curves when raising portions of jewelry. Here, the sharp edge of the hammer is used to form the texture on a band ring. A shorter, smaller version can be used on wire or other very small surcases. A texture that simulates raw silk is produced with a planishing hammer that has been randomly ground on the heads. It’s similar to a texture that could be rolled onto flat metal in a rolling mill. This type of hammering makes it possible to produce the texture on dimensional shapes.

MALLETS

Plastic head mallets are used to flaten and shape metal without leaving marks.