Anyone who reads this blog will know I love buying new hammers, tools or any sort of silversmithing equipment. Rather than go on about all the expensive tools I want I thought I’d write about the unconventional tools in my workshop that I wouldn’t be without.

So here we go, my favourite uncoventional tools

1. Cotton buds These are just perfect for cleaning and polishing small areas and getting into small corners. You can add some polishing compound to really bring up the shine in a small area. I also cut the top off them and use the plastic bit to get into the corners.
2. Cocktail Sticks Like the cotton buds these are great for doing small detailed work. I also use them when touching up my resists for acid etching. I dot a tiny drop of nail varnish on to the tip to fill the tiny little patches where the resists doesn’t take.
3. Clothes Pegs I wrote about setting pearls some time ago and my handy tip was to use a clothes peg to hold the pearl in place. The ones that I use at the moment have a cushioned edge so they don’t mark a highly polished surface yet they really do holds things in place.
4. Gramophone Needles Ok I know these probably aren’t the easiest thing to get hold of but I’m lucky enough to have a father who collects everything! I use these as scribers as I can clamp them in different scalpel handles and pieces of wood. They have an extremely fine point and are very tough so perfect for marking a really fine line.
5. Paper Clips and Picture Cord I’ve grouped these two together because they serve the same function. I use them to hold pieces I’m polishing on the lathe. Anyone who has polished tiny items of jewellery on a polishing lathe will know that they can often slip out of your hand and go flying across the workshop. By using the picture cord of paper clips it allows me to keep hold of the piece while still giving the entire surface a good polish.

I would love to hear what unconventional tools you use in your jewellery making and silversmithing.

I’ve only just gotten a chance to sort out my photos from the workshop I attended in Birmingham. I took lots of photos of all the different processes we used during the week. I think this set of pictures illustrates best the various stages of hand raising and will hopefully give you an appreciation for how slow a job it can be!

When practising hand raising we began with a flat disc of gilding metal. This was marked with a series of circles which we would use as a guide when hammering.  Then using our raising hammer and stake we began hammering from the inner most circle.

As the metal moves up the form starts to develop. I played around with the angles and curves of the bowl and brought it to this stage. I’ll post more photos when I have completed the finished piece.

Last week I spent a few days in Birmingham at a hand raising workshop at the Birmigham School of Jewellery. This was one of there short summer courses which run from May until the end of July.

The course was run by Samantha Chilton. It was a great four days we did lots of work on hand raising and forming. I know four days of hammering metal may not be everyone’s idea of a holiday but I came back refreshed and relaxed!

As I mentioned last week I was also using my time in Birmingham to stock up on some new tools. I wasn’t able to get everything I had wanted but considering the weight of my suitcase I didn’t do too badly!.  Here are just some of the tools I brought home.

As we were working in the silversmithing department of the college we also go the opportunity to try out the Bonny Doon hydraulic presses. I had never used these before so was delighted to get the chance to play around with them. I made a simple beaker shape and then decided to put add a step on the design. Alan the technician showed us some amazing tricks on how to get some really impressive forms. I’ll post photos of some of the work I did next week.

After my busy week of in Birmingham it was lovely to get back to the workshop and try out my new tools.