E-Bench Volume 3 Issue 8

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A New Method of Learning in a New Millennium

August 2002
Volume 3 Issue 8 circulation over 1,800

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<> <> <> <> ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER <> <> <> <>

E-BENCH is a FREE monthly newsletter for
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E-BENCH is a BENCH MEDIA Publication

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Turn Your Computer into a Multi-Media Training Center

From the publisher of E-BENCH comes an exciting new

educational product – BENCH ROM - The Multi-Media Training

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BENCH ROM is a complete multi-media educational experience

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<> <> <> <> <> TABLE OF CONTENTS <> <> <> <> <>

REVERE’S TIPS FOR JEWELERS

Tips for Jewelers, Who Do Repairs from Alan Revere

FEATURE ARTICLE

Learn how to make your shop more profitable, a new technique,

or brush up on basic skills.

STEWART'S BENCH TIPS

Bench Tips from Stewart’s International School for Jewelers

AT THE PLATINUM BENCH

Tips for working on Platinum from Platinum Guild International

FAVORITE TIPS

Tips and Tricks to make your work on the bench a little easier
and more productive from Bradney W. Simon CMBJ and
E-BENCH Readers.

GERRY’S GEMZ

Stone setting tips from Gemz Diamond Setting

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THANK YOU

We received a tremendous response to our On-Line Survey. In

fact, we had such a great response on the first day that our

server could not handle all the traffic. As a result, many of you

received an error message when trying to submit the form.

Your input is extremely important to us. If you received an error

message, we would appreciate you taking a few additional

minutes to re-do our on-line survey. As traffic to our site has

slowed somewhat, you should not experience any more difficulty.

We are in the process of reviewing the responses, which will

definitely effect the future direction of B W Simon, and BENCH

MEDIA. Watch for announcements in future issues of E-BENCH

for exciting new opportunities resulting from this survey.

If you have not yet completed our survey or were unable to

submit it previously go to: http://bwsimon.com/Survey.htm

Thanks again for your valuable input.

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<> <> <> REVERE’S TIPS FOR JEWELERS <> <> <> <>

Tips for Jewelers, Who Do Repairs from Alan Revere

Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts

http://www.revereacademy.com/

Avoid damaging the quality stamp when repairing an item. If you

remove the stamp and replace it, you may be held responsible

for its accuracy.

The right tool is half the job.

Select the largest tool possible to do a job: file, bur, sanding

stick, hammer, etc.

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<> <> <> QUOTE WORTH RE-QUOTING <> <> <> <>

The greatest discovery of my generation is that you can change

your circumstances by changing your attitudes of mind.

William James

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<> <> <> <> <> FEATURE ARTICLE <> <> <> <> <>

PLATINUM WIRE FILIGREE

Bradney W. Simon CMBJ

Platinum wire filigree can be easily added to an article of jewelry

providing a unique design element. The filigree can be a simple

scroll filling an air line to the predominant design component in

the article of jewelry. Whether the platinum wire filigree is a

section placed into a gold or platinum article, or the entire piece

of jewelry fabricated from the filigree wire, the same techniques

are applied. Learning these techniques will provide the jeweler

another instrument to use in their design arsenal.

To make the filigree wire, begin with a piece of round platinum

wire. The diameter of the wire depends on the opening in the

jewelry to be filled with the filigree. Generally, I use between 0.6

mm to 0.8 mm wire. Next, roll the wire through a rolling mill to

approximately 60% of the wire’s thickness. This will create a flat

wire with rounded edges. Looking from the edge, this wire has

the illusion of fine round wire needed for fine filigree work.

However, being flat gives the wire extra depth, providing strength

to the filigree work, and it makes soldering easier. Before rolling

the wire make certain the rollers are clean and smooth. Any

marks the rollers put into the wire will be difficult to remove.

Next, polish the wire. To do this use Tri-M-Ite Polishing Paper

manufactured by 3M. Hold one end of the wire firmly in one

hand. Fold the paper around the wire and grasp with your other

hand. Then, pull your hands apart running the wire through the

Polishing Paper. DO NOT RUN THE PAPER BACK AND

FORTH, AS THIS WILL KINK THE WIRE. Pulling the wire

through the paper 5 or 6 times for each grit will generally suffice.

What grit of paper you need to begin with depends on the

condition of the wire after rolling. If the wire is smooth and clean,

you can start with 4000 grit paper then proceed to the 6000 grit

and put on a final polish with the 8000 grit paper. These

Tri-M-Ite Polishing Papers are clean and do not leave any

residue behind. This allows you to move from one grit to the

next without cleaning the wire between steps.

Next, cut off a section of the wire to form the scroll. The length

depends on the size of the area you are filling, and how tight you

want to make the scroll. Trial and error will provide the best

guide - 2 to 2 ½ times the finished length is a good place to start

or 3 times the length if you want a tight spiral. If you are making

several identical pieces, you may want to make a pattern with

round copper wire the same diameter as the thickness of the

platinum wire. The copper is soft and easy to bend. Then once

the pattern is established, you can straighten the wire and

measure the length needed.

To cut the wire you can use a pair of cutters and then file the end

flat or use a saw to cut the sections of wire. I use end cutters

and have altered them by marking lines using a cut-off disk at 5

millimeter increments down the side of the cutters. This allows

me to measure and cut the wire in one step.

Then use a #6 cut needle file to taper the ends of the wire to one

half its thickness. This tapered end will allow you to form a

tighter curl to begin the spiral. Use silicon polishing wheels in

your flexible shaft to remove the file marks. A brown wheel is

adequate to remove the marks and a green wheel will restore the

polish. If you are forming a single scroll, you need to file only

one end. However, both ends need to be tapered when forming

an ‘S’ or ‘C’ scroll.

Modify a pair of chain nose pliers by rounding the inside edges of

the jaws. This prevents nicking the wire while bending. In

addition, thin one jaw by grinding the outside of the jaw. This

allows you to form a tighter spiral around it. After grinding,

smooth with emery paper and polish. Any nicks or abrasions in

the pliers’ jaws are transferred to the platinum wire while

bending.

For most of the bending you can hold the wire with your pliers

and bend the wire using your fingers. However, sometimes it is

necessary to use two pairs of pliers, especially to touch up and

even out the scroll. For the second pair of pliers use a pair of

bent nose pliers. Hold the scroll with the first pair from

underneath and use the bent nose pliers from the top. The bent

nose pliers allow you to keep the body of the pliers and your

hand out of your line of sight. This makes it easier to see the

adjustments you are making and to observe your progress.

There are three basic shapes you can make:
1) A single spiral
2) An ‘S’ scroll
3) A ‘C’ scroll.

Numerous variations can be made from these three basic

shapes. For example, bending a point in the curved backside of

a C spiral will form a heart shaped scroll. Combining several

scrolls together allows different patterns to be developed.

An interesting pattern is made by adding several single spirals to

flow outward from an S scroll. First, file a taper on the outside

end of the single spirals. This will help create the illusion that the

spiral is flowing out from the center stem. Then solder in place

with at least 1500 solder. The higher melting point solders are

needed at this point to help keep the solder joint from showing.

To hold the parts in position while soldering use a product called

‘Place-It 2’. Place-It 2 is a thick paste that you smear on your

solder pad. Then place the parts to be soldered into the paste.

The paste will harden as it is heated and it will hold the parts in

position while soldering. Place-It 2 will withstand the high

temperatures needed for platinum soldering. Although 1700

solder can be used, I prefer the 1500 or 1600 solders. The

Place-It 2 paste acts as a heat sink, and it is easy to melt the

platinum wire while trying to melt the higher temperature solder.

If you are making just this single section, use 1500 solder. If

however, you will be soldering this section to others, use 1600

solder at this point, then use 1300 solder for the subsequent

joints. Be certain to use a minimum amount of solder, as

removing excess solder is difficult and will leave an undesirable

appearance.

Next, use a #6 needle file to blend the wires together and to

remove any excess solder if present. Use a light touch and do

not over file. Remove the file marks with a brown silicone wheel

in your flexible shaft and restore the polish to the area you filed

with a green wheel. Silicone wheels are hard enough to keep

from drawing solder out of the seams yet will provide a good

polish on the platinum.

The last step in making the filigree sections is to apply the final

polish. To do this use a bristle brush mounted on a flexible shaft

mandrel using platinum tripoli. On solder joints between sections

where 1300 solder was used, polish WITH the solder seam.

This will cause some of the solder to ‘pull’ from the seam.

Generally, this is an undesirable situation. However in this case

we are using this property of platinum solder to our advantage.

By allowing the solder to drag from the seam, it will look from the

surface as if there is no solder present. The remaining solder

will hold the pieces together. When finished with the tripoli,

clean the platinum in your ultrasonic cleaner and polish with

rouge using a soft bristle brush mounted in your flexible shaft.

There are a number of good platinum rouges available today and

the choice is entirely personal preference. I favor the final color

of the platinum obtained from using carrot rouge.

Once the platinum wire filigree is polished and cleaned, you are

ready to solder it to the article of jewelry. To solder it to a gold

item use cadmium free solder matching the karat and color of the

gold. For platinum, use 1400 solder. When attaching the filigree

to a platinum article you may solder it first, and then do the final

polishing of the filigree. However, I prefer to always pre-polish

the filigree before attaching it to the jewelry.

Making Platinum Wire Filigree in this manner is not difficult to

accomplish. Once you have mastered the techniques involved,

you will be able to add interesting design elements to your

jewelry easily and quickly.

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<> <> <> <> QUOTE WORTH RE-QUOTING <> <> <> <>

Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will

find it again. Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let

not your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed,

whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.

Ecclesiastes 11:1,6

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