Tool Review! Curved and Straight Burnishers

Tool Review!

Curved and Straight Burnisher

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Sutton Tools:

Curved: £3.20 exc VAT

www.suttontools.co.uk/curved-burnisher-with-wooden-handle.html

Straight: £3.20 exc VAT

www.suttontools.co.uk/straight-burnisher-with-wooden-handle.html

Cookson Gold:

Curved: £11.38 inc VAT

www.cooksongold.com/Jewellery-Tools/Curved-4-Burnisher---With-Handle-prcode-999-AJL

Straight: £8.29 inc VAT

www.cooksongold.com/Jewellery-Tools/Burnisher-4-Straight-With-Handle-prcode-999-CJE

eBay: 

Curved: £3.75 inc VAT and P&P

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Curved-stainless-steel-burnisher-jewellers-tool-/300455939566?pt=UK_Crafts_JewelleryMaking_GL&hash=item45f491cdee

Straight: £3.75 inc VAT and P&P

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Straight-stainless-steel-burnisher-jewellers-tool-/300375470087?pt=UK_Crafts_JewelleryMaking_GL&hash=item45efc5f007

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Now as you can see there is a bit of a price difference between all 3 and from looking at the ones on eBay they have the same packaging as the ones I bought from Sutton so they are exactly the same. It pays to do your research!

My main use for these is when I'm stone setting cabochons.

Ive found that I favour the curved one more as the straight is awkward to use and doesn't really do what I want it to do.

The curved one is perfect for when you are pushing the metal over the cabochon as it shaped to the stone but doesn't scratch or damage the stone in the process It is also ideal for getting a high shine.

The stones I work with are usually quite small so I find that the Curved is easier to use.

Ive had both of these for almost 3 years now and Ive rarely used the straight one, but its always handy to keep when the curved cant quite cut it.

They are both of really good quality and the curved smooth wooden handle is comfortable to hold.

Overall If your going to buy one, go for the curved and get it off eBay!

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Tool Review! Emery Boards

Tool Review!

Emery Boards

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Here we have a review of Emery Boards, which I know is more of a consumable than a tool, but they are something I use pretty much constantly whilst making Jewellery.

I wish someone had introduced these to me sooner during university, my sandpaper days would of been long gone! I cant imagine making any thing without these, they are pretty much an essential to me now.

These come in a variety of grades from fine to coarse so you can work your way through them to achieve your desired finish, they also come in different shapes which are the best things ever!

They come in flat, round and triangular.

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The Flat:

The flat are great for pretty much any aspect of sanding. Depending of the job I usually start with a Red stick working my way through to a dark grey stick and then a lighter grey stick for finishing, occasionally I skip out the red stick as this is really coarse and sometimes isn't needed.

(I realise that this probably isn't the 'proper' way to do it but I don't really pay much attention to the grades, I just go with my instinct which seems to work)

The Round:

Next we have the round ones. These are life savers when it comes to making rings/bangles, it means you can get to the soldering join with ease without over sanding

 (which I found happened quite often when using a file or sanding paper and a split mandrel in my Dremel) These make life 10x easier and I don't know what I'd do without them now!

The Triangular:

And Finally we have the triangular ones. These are a recent addition to my tools. I found this one to be really useful for getting into angles/corner of joins, I don't tend to use these as much as the other two as I find the flat ones tick most of the boxes for my requirements, but when I do stone setting these are good for sanding the join between the setting and the ring.

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Overall I highly recommend these and I don't know what I'd do without them. If you don't already use them, what are you waiting for!

I don't live too far from Birmingham, so whenever I take a trip to the Jewellery Quarter I tend to stock up on these I buy them from Sutton Tools as they are slightly cheaper then Cooksons.

If your ordering offline I suggest ordering from Cooksons as thats mainly where I buy 99% of my things from and they often have free postage.

By the time you've done a separate order on Sutton tools and added the postage on it works out about the same price

They range from 95p - £1.90 exc VAT on Sutton Tools

http://www.suttontools.co.uk/emery-sticks.html

And range from £1.10 - £2.14  exc VAT on Cooksons Gold

http://www.cooksongold.com/category_select.jsp?query=ermery+sticks

 Flat Sticks

L-R Fine, Very Coarse, Coarse

Round and Triangular

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Tool Review! Disc Cutter

Tool Review!

Disc Cutter

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So here is my first review of 2014!

Set of 7 Disc Cutter, 6mm-16mm

After contemplating buying one of these for a while I recently purchased this from eBay.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SET-OF-7-CIRCULAR-DISC-CUTTER-CUTTING-TOOL-6mm-16mm-/290578928191?pt=UK_Crafts_JewelleryMaking_GL&hash=item43a7da923f

The one I bought was £17.99 which was more in my price range compared to a similar one from Cookson Gold which came in at £34.30 Inc VAT

http://www.cooksongold.com/Jewellery-Tools/Disc-Cutter-7-Hole-prcode-997-3603

When this arrived in the post I was a little disappointed as it was covered in oil, but after cleaning it up it was fine.

Disc cutters are really simple to use, you place your sheet metal in the centre under which size hole you desire, you then put the punch through the hole and hammer until the punch has cleared through the cutter.

You do get a slight bit of excess metal which can easily be filed off. I do recommend oiling this from time to time to make sure it works as smoothly as possible.

I dont recommend this if your cutting copper, I tried and found the copper was too hard of a metal and it works better with soft metals such as silver.

If your looking to make masses of circles or just want them to be uniform each time I highly recommend this product, Although I haven't personally tried the one from Cooksons I cant see there being much different between the two, as at the end of the day this has given me the uniform circles I want. For someone on a budget such as myself this item was perfect.

£17.99 Via eBay

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Cookson Gold Gift voucher!

So a few months ago I had a bad experience with Cookson gold, which is so unusual as I never have a bad word to say, their customer service is next to none and the products are always of good quality. 

I'd placed an order to pick up at 11am and I was still waiting in the store well after 12 for it. But to reimburse me for my wasted time Cooksons kindly offered me a gift voucher! (Which automatically hoists them back to the top of my good books)

Now I still have this gift voucher and have been uming and aring what to put it towards, and for a while now I've had my eye on one of their texturing hammers. I'd looked into getting one off eBay as they were about £10+ cheaper, I've bought tools from eBay before and they've been a bit hit and miss, you also can't tell what the quality is going to be like until it arrives. So with gift voucher in handI've  decided to put it towards a slighter more pricey hammer as in the long run it will be better quality and last me longer!

The only decision I've got left to make now is which texture I want! I could be a while figuring this one! 

Also over the next few weeks I'm going to be doing reviews on some of the tools and products Ive purchased and use. 

I hope these will be super useful for people just starting out, students on a budget (as I was myself) or makers who are looking for some opinions on tools!

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Recent Commissions

 Ive had quite a few commissions recently!

Any of these can be customised to your own needs.

Childs Initial and Heart Charm Bangle

Childs Initial Heart Charm Bangle

12mm Tigers Eye Pendant on 22" Chain with 

personalised tag clasp.

Personalised Dog Tag Necklace

The Harley Gallery

With all the commotion of getting ready for Harley Gallery and Christmas I have been so slack with Blogging! 

Im doing a few posts to update you all on my goings on since my last post.

My weekend at the Harley Gallery was really successful! It was really nice to be in an atmosphere where everyone was like minded and the people who are there have to come buy arts/crafts/jewellery things which have a medium to high price point.

I got so many compliments about my work and lots of people were really friends and interested in knowing about what I do, where I studied etc..

I feel like I learned so much from the Art Market; how to set up my own stall, displays, pricing, selling my work and working out what sells. I did lose quite a few sales due to not having a customers ring size which is disappointing, but you live and learn and I have a few people email me for orders after the  weekend.

I put some of my degree show work out to show but didn't really have any intention of selling, but one woman loved the large coiled earrings and was adamant she wasn't leaving without them. Im so pleased that I've sold some of the pieces!

Overall Im so so proud of myself, I worked hard and it paid off.

The GIveaway!

Recently over on my Facebook page I was doing a give away when I hit 200 likes.

This went really well and I gained over 200 followers due to people sharing my page.

A winner was picked on Christmas Eve and one lucky girl called Kate was the winner.

The giveaway incurred a lot of interest and I plan on doing another giveaway soon when I hit another milestone on my page!