Tools. What to buy as a beginner jeweller?

This is the list of tools you need first of all — the ones that will let you start the online course "Jeweler Profession: Beginner".

Flex-shaft

For example foredom-cc-30, genuine Foredom, K.SRH440-22 FS

A review of flex-shafts by one of the members of the Telegram chat JAE • Jewellers' Community:→

Foredom

On the whole a good machine: you can work on small jewellery as well as fairly heavy pieces weighing up to a kilo. Easy to use, easy to service and repair; spare parts are inexpensive and easy to replace

Pros: a fairly powerful motor (you can do almost any job with it), a handy three-jaw chuck (you can use a wide range of bits with different shank diameters),

Cons: a little runout; if you work with it for a long time your hand gets tired. The flexible shaft is very restrictive and takes getting used to; it often breaks from overheating and doesn't like high speeds.

Not very convenient for small parts or engraving

Strong

An excellent tool, but in my view it's for fine jewellery work

Pros: small size, light weight, no flexible shaft — just a soft power cord on the handpiece, practically no vibration (ideal for precise work). The motor is small but quite powerful.

A handy quick-change mechanism for burs.

Cons: the bur-change mechanism has a catch — its collet takes only one shank size, 2.3 mm.

The motor is small, and there's enough power for engraving or small parts

Not a beginner's tool: the design is well thought out and well fitted, it needs proper care and handling, there are lots of small parts, and I wouldn't advise repairing or dismantling it yourself. If bearings or anything else need replacing, it is better to take it to a specialist repair workshop. Replacement parts and repairs are expensive.

Speed — how do you choose it?

For jewellery work, a Foredom with speeds up to 20,000 is fine.

Very high speeds, 20,000+, are needed for high-precision drilling, grinding, polishing and engraving on stone, bone, glass, ceramics, wood, metal and other materials.

How do you use a flex-shaft properly, so it serves you long and doesn't break?

You must not push the pedal all the way down straight away, run it at full speed and only then touch the metal with the bur or drill. At that moment the drill heats up and we are, in effect, annealing it. And that softens the tool — the drill or the bur.

As a result the drill goes soft and can't drill anything. The tip starts to blunt and spread sideways, and the cutting edge of the drill disappears.

You have to make sure the flexible shaft and the handpiece don't overheat.

Shears.

For example "Rockwell - Solinger", the version without a spring is fine.

Titanium tweezers for the pickle.

Ordinary steel tweezers.

Lancet (self-locking soldering tweezers)

A video by Stanislav Volskyi on how to make a lancet yourself 👇

A glass-fibre brush (it doesn't burn), for wetting the joint with flux.

To start using a new brush you have to set the tip alight, let the binder burn off, put it out and rinse it.

A rod for stirring the metal while melting

The options:

•A nichrome rod.

•A quartz rod — you can cut one from quartz sheet (look in chemistry suppliers, they stir acids with them)

•Ceramic ones rated above 1000° — an alundum rod.

•A titanium rod

Mandrel.

Several kinds:

First of all round ones, they are the main ones,

To buy later: square, rectangular and oval mandrels.

If you are having them made to order, they must be hardened.

Vernier caliper.

A propane gas cylinder.

To begin with, use propane only. Some jewellers work with oxygen as well, but it is more dangerous.

Regulator.

Gas torch.

Torches — for example the Polish-made "Termet" ones are sold as a set of 4 or 5 torches, but in practice you use 2: a large flame for melting and a small one for soldering.

You can see them at minute 01:52

in this video →.

By the way, subscribe to our YouTube channel.→

A set of pliers

(Antilope, for example)

The main ones:

•round-nose pliers

•flat-nose pliers

•snipe-nose pliers

Only the ones shown in red in the photo:

Needle files

(Cuts can be no. 2, 3, 4)

•triangular, (cut no. 3 or 2 or 4)

•square (flat), (cut no. 3 or 2 or 4)

•half-round, (cut no. 3 or 2 or 4)

•round, (cut no. 3 or 2 or 4).

Files

•Square (flat, cut no. 6, 2, 3),

•Half-round (no. 2, 3)

Steel dental hammer

10 mm face

Leather/rubber mallet

Ball-pein hammer, 0.5 kg

Jeweller's ingot mould.

Vertical, adjustable, for round ingots (of various sizes) and for a sheet ingot.

Saw frame

To begin with, one with a small frame.

But 2 is better:

•with a small frame (for small pieces)

•with a deep frame for large pieces (with a deep frame, blades break more often when sawing small things) — buy this one later.

Saw blades in various sizes.

Preferably Swiss or German — sizes no. 4 and no. 5.

Drawplate for wire

from 0.3 mm to 3 mm.

Steel dental burs (not diamond), cutters, rubber abrasive wheels

Of various thicknesses and grits

•disc-shaped

•conical

•flat

•round

Mandrels for discs, rubber wheels and abrasive papers.

The more variations the better. You can start by buying an assorted (mixed) set.

Green GOI polishing compound.

You can also use red Crocus or others available in jewellery shops.

Ceramic crucibles.

It is strongly advisable to have separate crucibles for each metal.

One crucible for gold and another for silver.

A separate crucible is particularly needed for brass. Brass contains a lot of zinc, which changes the molecular structure, and if brass gets into silver or gold they become brittle.

The crucible contains silicon and carbon, and if they get into the metal we melt in it, the metal will become brittle. To stop the molten metal touching the crucible walls, you must coat the walls with a film of borax.

A video showing how to glaze a crucible with borax:

Wheels

•wool felt,

•felt,

•muslin,

•rubber polishing wheels.

Polishing brush.

Bezel pusher for setting stones.

Gravers

•Graver Vallorbe Flach LO-0401- 18 WS-80

•Graver Vallorbe Spitz LO-0403- 3/0 WS-80

•Graver Vallorbe Facetten LO-0405- 14 WS-80

Stones for sharpening gravers.

Bench pin

Hand-operated combination rolling mill

How do you choose a rolling mill?

Get a purely mechanical rolling mill, because a motorised one is unsafe.

A motorised mill can very easily catch your clothes or your fingers and leave you disabled. 🤷‍♀️

Go by the country of manufacture: Germany, England and the USA make decent ones. With Chinese ones you have to be careful — sometimes the rollers are not hardened, which makes them weak, and after a few passes they lose their shape.

❌ Mills that only roll sheet are NOT suitable. 👇

Get the ones that have grooved profiles. These are fine 👇

The work itself will tell you what you need, and along the way you'll realise what you are missing.

To try these tools in practice, join the online course "Jeweller Profession. Beginner".

All the details here: