Jewelry Tutorials

Online Jewelry Training Classes for Metalsmiths

Jewelry Making Tools and Tips

Jewelers Bench Tools and Jewelry Making Tips

Jewelrs Bench Tools and Jewelry Making Tips

Here you will find many tool tips and tricks, that we use in the workshop on a daily basis, which makes working on the bench easier and more streamlined. This section also covers jewelry making tools and the modifications to these tools that makes for better work. The tool tips will be added regularly here.

Keep up to date with the latest metalsmithing news and release of new jewelry making tutorials

Jewelry Making Tools - Tips Categories

Specialized Jewelry Bench Tools

Drill-Str8 Mini Drill Press

Portable Mini Drill Press on the Bench

The Drill-Str8 is a device that easily integrates into your bench top drilling system allowing you to instantly transform you flex shaft hanging motor into a rigid and accurate miniature drill press.The Drill-Str8 is a device that easily integrates into your bench top drilling system allowing you to instantly transform you flex shaft hanging motor into a rigid and accurate miniature drill press. --> Read More

Making adjustable ingot mold

Making Adjustable Ingot Mold

To solve a big bugbear for me, I made an easily usable wire ingot mold. --> Read More

DIY Make gravity soldering clamp from nails

Making Gravity Soldering Clamp Tool

I made a gravity soldering clamp tool from nails to hold down a component while it is being soldered in. --> Read More

Using Different Jewelers Soldering Tweezers

Using Different Jewelers Soldering Tweezers

Using different jewelers soldering tweezers to aid with the soldering task. --> Read More

Making a Jewelers Holding Guillotine Clamp Tool

Making Jewelers Holding Clamp Tools

Straight forward to make this guillotine holding clamp from materials available at the general hardeware store. --> Read More

Making a valve metal flattening tool

Making Your Own Tool To Flatten Metal Plate

Here are two valves sizes that I use in my workshop to flatten metal plate or use when I dome a ring in the doming block. --> Read More

Wire draw bench diy instruction

DIY Wire Draw Bench

A draw bench makes light work for drawing heavy gauge wire profiles. You only need a few components to make your own. --> Read More

DIY Rivet Helper Tool Tip

Rivet Helper - Jewelry Making Tool DIY

This diy rivet helper makes peening rivets so easy and prevents deforming the ball on the other end of the pin. --> Read More

Jewelry Making Soldering Tips

Fusing wires for making claws / prongs

Fusing Wire for Claws

Some designs call for a freeform style collet using a technique of fusing wires to create prongs for setting the gemstone such as the ring example.

--> Read More

Protect Gemstone Soldering Tip

Protect Gemstone Soldering Tip

When soldering to do a sizing / repair the gemstone must be protected from heat. --> Read More

Using wire support for soldering components

Wire Support Soldering

Sometimes, aligning things up for soldering is really tricky. Working with two third arms, or using a set of spring tweezers become a bit of an hit or miss affair.

This method of soldering temporary support wires on components require two random solder joints, admittedly, but it absolutely guarantees that the two pieces are soldered perfectly in line.

--> Read More

Soldering a Ball - Jewelry Making Tip

Soldering a Ball

Jewelry making tip for soldering a ball or bead which is round in shape to a flat surface.

--> Read More

Automatic Torch Lighter Handy Tool

Automatic Torch Lighter Handy Tool

A handy tool for any metalsmith --> Read More

Workbench Tool Organizition Ideas

Arrange workbench for maximum efficiency

Organizing Jewelers Workbench

To make a pin the wire is held with a pair of spring tweezers vertically in a soft flame. --> Read More

Build portable jewelers workbench

Build Mobile Workbench

These are the notes on how I built my compact portable jewelers workbench to optimize the space.
--> Read More

Tip on organizing burr tray

Burr Tray Organizing Tip

A tip on organizing a burr tray with result in reduced search time and frustration.
--> Read More

Sealed Acid Box Tool Tip

Sealed Acid Box Tool Tip

Keep acid / pickle in a sealed glass box on the workbench. --> Read More

Servicing Cavallin Rolling Mill

Servicing Cavalling Rolling Mill

How to take your Cavallin Rolling Mill apart, service it, put it back together again and then alignment of the rollers. --> Read More

Flex shaft T-30 handpiece service maintenance

Servicing Flex Shaft T-30 Handpiece

How to take the flex shaft Laboratory T-30 Handpiece apart to do repairs and maintenance. --> Read More

Jewelry Making Polishing Tips

Sanding Tricks

Sanding Difficult Areas Trick

Sanding in v-shapes and grooves made easy.
--> Read More

Sanding Mandrels at the Ready

Sanding Mandrels and Sandpaper at the ready

Having various mandrel shapes and sizes ready for use makes sanding and polishing easy and speeds up time spent on finishing jewelry pieces --> Read More

Polishing Collet / Domed Shapes

Polishing Collet / Domed Shapes

Easy way to polish collets and domed metal shapes. --> Read More

Custome Shaping Rubber Wheels

Shaping Rubber Wheel Tool Tip

Custom shape your rubber wheels for the best polish of intricate corners. --> Read More

Making your own buff (emery) sticks

Making Buff Emery Sticks

Making your own buff sticks also called emery sticks from a soft fine grained wood is easy and you can make profiles as needed. --> Read More

Silicone Rubber Wheels Tool Tip

Silicone Rubber Wheel Tool Tip

This is an excellent polishing rubber wheel to bring the surface up to a fine finish. --> Read More

Polish Screw Caps Made Easy

Polish Screw Caps Tip

Large scale polishing of screw caps is made easy by putting them on a threaded rod. --> Read More

Luxor Polishing Compound

Luxor Polishing Compound

The best allround polish for jewelry. --> Read More

Jewelry Making Tips and Tricks

Making a pin tool tips

Making a Pin

To make a pin the wire is held with a pair of spring tweezers vertically in a soft flame. --> Read More

Making solid metal sphere trick

Making a Solid Metal Sphere (Bead)

To make a solid sphere (bead) melt metal in charcoal hollow. --> Read More

Twisted Wire - Jewelry Making Tips and Tricks

Twisted Wire

Trick for making large quantities of twist wire. --> Read More

Quick and Easy Seamless Tubing Making

Making Seamless Tubing

Quick and easy way to make short pieces of seamless tubing --> Read More

Sawing Jump Rings - Jewelry Making Tip

Saw Jump Rings

An easy way to saw jump rings -Wind the wire around the desired mandrel diameter in neat tight windings. Reverse the saw blade and saw the jump rings.

--> Read More

Modify Tools for Use on the Bench

Modified pliers for jewelers bench use

Modified Pliers for Jewelry Bench Use

Some general purpose tools bought at your local hardware store can be modified for use on the jewelers bench such as these examples of pliers I now use daily. --> Read More

Modified pliers for jewelers bench use

Sandpaper Jaw Grips on Pliers

Sometimes parallel pliers are not completely true and gripping a thin piece of metal tightly is virtually impossible. --> Read More

Protective Cover Flex Shaft Tool Tip

Protective Cover Flex Shaft Tool Tip

Make a cover to protect your eyes from flying particles when using flex shaft drill --> Read More

Modifying flex shaft handpiece mandrel

Modifying Flex Shaft Handpiece Mandrel

Modify a mandrel into a drill bit extender or an adapter for different drill and burr shaft sizes such as dental drill bits. --> Read More

Modified Square Needle File

Modified Square Needle File

All my square needle files are ground to a flat pointed shape. --> Read More

Making Your Own Rotary Burnishing Tools

Making Rotary Burnishing Tools

Make your own rotary burnishing tools which are used in various metalsmithing applications to smooth out and cover up porosity holes in metal. --> Read More

Gem Locking Tweezer Modification

Gem Lock Tweezer Modification

I use lock tweezers for delicate soldering work. The tips are modified to a spring tweezer shape. --> Read More

Setting Collet Holder Tool

Setting Collet Holder Tool

A diy setting tool to help hold the collet when setting prongs. --> Read More

Gemstone Setting Tool Tip

Gemstone Setting Tool Tip

Make a gemstone cup for quick picking up of gem when using a microscope to set --> Read More

Optivisor Sweatband Tip

Optivisor Sweatband Tip

To cover the optivisor with a sweatband sew on an open ended zip on absorbent cloth --> Read More

Search for Gemstone in Ultrasonic Tip

Searching for Gemstone in Ultrasonic Tip

Tip on searching for a missing gemstone in the ultrasonic without pouring out hot cleaning liquid. --> Read More