"Handpiece Repair Service" - 3 photos

 It is not my policy to advertise anyone's repair services on this blog, but this is too important to refuse.

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Telephone number: 1 - 718 - 339 - 2640

Fax: 1 - 718 - 339 - 7901

Email: service@jewelershandpiecerepair.com

"ABOUT US" 

 He has been a family-owned and operated 'handpiece repair service' for the past 45 years. He services & repairs handpieces for Jewellers, Diamond Setters, Hobbyists, Jewellery manufacturers, Gunsmiths, Arts and Crafts, Restoration, and Musical Instruments.

 His services include advising on using tools to avoid unnecessary future repairs and problems.

 He specializes in repairing handpieces on flexible shaft machines. These consist of rotary, hammer and setting mallets. 

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This company repairs the following brand-name items:

Foredom, 

Pfingst,

Faro,

Technique,

Asaic,

Anteos,

Techno-X,

Svedia,

Grobet,

Badeco,

Joisten Kettenbaum.

 This company repairs many obsolete handpieces that were once used by a select group of craftspeople. They make it simple to get reliable repair service with FREE pick-up anywhere in the USA. 

They will quality check every item before being shipped back to their client. "If you send them 6 pieces, you only pay for only 5".

EMAIL address:: service@jewelershandpiecerepair.com

Mail your package to:

JEWELER'S HANDPIECE REPAIRS

1420 KINGS HIGHWAY

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK. 11229. USA

My CAD created jewellery. => 6 photos

  I have 6 CAD 'Computer Aided Designs' that are quite interesting, I have no copyrights on any of these items. You may copy (at no charge) any of them as you wish.

 This blue stone ring consisted of three pieces. The centre section was set first & polished before any assembly,  The main section (yellow) was as well polished, and the inside Azure (white) section was carefully trimmed and as well polished. Thus leaving very few chances for errors in cleaning.

This Ruby ring had the same technical assembly as the Blue stone ring

  The Blue Sapphires were not of the same size but had a 'tapered effect' on the stones.

 I decided on having a Tube Setting soldered on the side of the ring, this gave the ring a bit of glamour.

I wanted to show diamonds in this ring, instead of coloured gemstones

 My client gave me a large pearl that her husband bought in South America. All 'we' added were some of her Princess-Cut diamonds and made this into a beautiful butterfly brooch.

How to Channel Set diamonds in a bracelet? - 5 photos

 I've had this photo sitting in my bookcase for many years, it's time to explore how it was set. I had only one chance to photograph the stone-setting process.

 My teacher and I worked on this bracelet together 'as a team'. This was long before there were any 'Reciprocating Hammers'. He held the shellac stick with the gold bracelet in one hand and I had to "GENTLY" hit the little anvil that tightened the diamonds.

 I stood beside him and hit this anvil without any undue force.

 All of this was done ONE DIAMOND AT A TIME.

 BTW, this hammering anvil was originally a "Concrete Nail" modified into a 'new setting tool'. I held the 'nail' securely in my fingertips. Many of our tools were made at our benches and had to be modified to our exact specifications.

 After the hammering was completed, my teacher (Stan Levine) Bright-Cut on the inside of every channel wall. You can see the spacing that had to be done as this was for the diamonds. At the beginning of each row of stones was where each diamond was placed. Spacing was so critical that much time was spent deciding that there were enough diamonds for every channel. Many times Stan would change one or two diamonds, large or smaller as we proceeded.

 The next process was the use of "Pumice Wheels" of #180 grit followed by a fine high lustre Pink Wheel #1,000 grit. The 'polishing department' in this jewellery factory had no reason to improve on the setting of the stones, all they did was to give a light Rouging. 

 This bracelet was intended to be worn by the owner's wife, because of this, "extra care was the rule".  

 The burs that were used were very limited in the inventory. The burs then (50 years ago) were not like today, there were no Computer Designing or HSS burs all 'we' had was the basic "156C" undercutting bur. 

This whole process took my teacher (who himself learned his profession in London, England). This diamond setting took 'us' almost 4 days in duration, this bracelet had diamonds circling the whole item.  
 As Stan had one stone secured in place, I hit the anvil and finished the tightening. This repeated process was labour-intensive.

Hoping that this insight was interesting as it was for 'us'.

(Repaired video) "Wax Carving to Silver Pendant" this video lasts 53 minutes.

   I am giving you the 'direct link' to view this DVD all you do is 'double-click' on the BLUE highlighted link and there you are!

 You can now "view, learn and enjoy"!

  This video was made with the auspices of "Rio Grande" and "Orchid-Ganoksin". I used DVD disks 12 years ago, but now technology has improved and we use only internet links to access knowledge. 

https://youtu.be/YAZNxVKx9o0?t=1

Assembly of a wax ring prior to casting - 17 photos.

 One of the most important aspects of wax and metal casting is the assembly of the wax.

 All areas of the preferred wax MUST BE CLEANED of residual that was taken from the rubber mold.

 Here you can see the difference between the 'injected wax' and the 'casted ring'.

  I'd prefer if the Tube for the diamond be adjusted for size BEFORE THE CASTING HAS STARTED.

 This wax ring is too difficult to cast as it appears here. There will be numerous problems starting to occur. That is why the wax ring has been created in two pieces, hence the two sprues being shown.

It would be advisable if you examine the 'connecting' spots to make sure that they will fit together.

When the 'joining spots' are connected, always examine the actual wax for any pinholes. Always examine ANY WAX RING FOR DEFECTS, it's too late after the metal casting.

I prefer to see if the sprues are of the required length. These sprues need to be made long enough as the ring(s) must be attached to the 'wax tree'. DO NOT JOIN THE WAX before the metal casting.

 If you are setting large stones, make sure that the openings are of the exact size. As this will save you much time and labour.

                         QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF!

 Have you selected the correct sizes of stones? 

Are the selected stones of the correct colours?

Have the wax claws made to fit the stones?

Are the sprues long enough?

Lastly, are these waxes CLEAN?

 Use a low-temperature wax heating pen, why? If the heating pen is too hot, the chances of melting the wax will cause you much 'grief' and time being wasted in casting another wax.

 Every one of these 'shared claws' is of the same size. Thus making the 'stone setting' a much easier task if you are a beginner.

  This is when 'setting stones in wax' can be a great way to get the stones into the metal. There must not be any need for 'pushing claws' after casting.

 You can easily see that only one claw is actually holding the stone.

 This is my 'low-heat' wax pen and I prescribe it for melting wax on the delicate areas of wax jewellery.

 This is the up-close photo of the 'shared claw' ring. You will notice how uniform and thick the claws were made ready for metal casting.

This ring is the same for the two pieces seen in this essay, they were earrings. In fact, the earrings were made for my daughter Stephanie.

 This 3 wax ring style is of one casting. There must never be any residual pieces of wax remaining as it could be a disaster in cleaning after the metal casting.

 If by any chance you see some claws missing or being too short, don't waste your time fixing them. STOP and INJECT ANOTHER WAX FORM. I would, so why should you?

DEFECTS PRIOR TO "SETTING STONES IN WAX" => 13 photos

 This 560th tutorial essay is about 'defects in waxes' before the stones are set. (These wax forms were not made for casting purposes.) 

They were just to display the defects that sometimes occur before the setting of stones. 

 When you prepare the wax,  ALWAYS EXAMINE the holes where the stones will be placed. It is almost too late to make radical changes once the stones are in and ready for metal casting.

 This ring is the epitome of a wax that cannot or mustn't be used, why is that? Every hole is solid with wax, not to mention that some of the claws are either too short or just 'missing'.

 These claws need to be cleaned of extra 'injection wax' before any stone is to be set.

 I marked this wax ring in ink just to show you that 2 very important centre claws were not cast in the wax.

 It is advisable to do one of two things, the first is to scrap the wax completely and the second plan is to repair it..

I'd recast the ring again saving much time in repairing.

As you can see there are other mini-claws not good for stone setting.

  Here are some extra pieces of wax remaining from the wax injection process.

 When you are dealing with the 'Channel Setting' ring, every hole MUST BE CLEANED. (Any wax residue is always YOUR enemy).
 Never assume that it will look nice afterwards..it won't and severe casting & setting problems will ensue.

  This is a photo of the underneath of a wax ring. Here you can see the wax buildup before any drilling with a 'twist drill'. Every hole is literally plugged with wax. Get rid of it and clean those holes...NOW!

 In this photo, you can see the twist-drill at work cleaning out the wax from underneath.

 The main problem is that when you hold the wax ring, the warmth of your fingers might alter the shape of the ring.

 I'd ask you to put the wax ring on a 'tapered ring mandrel' to avoid any problems. 

 

  This photo shows the collection of dust that has been collecting while it has been sitting in my inventory for many days or months.

 This round pendant has too many mini-claws missing. It's better to recast the wax again. The reason is that it might not always be easy to find wax-shaped wires of the same diameter for the pendant.

 Always examine your wax for defects prior to your metal casting. If you feel that there are too many problems, don't spend your precious time in fixing it.

 Those little white spots are 'dust', this is an an enemy in the casting. When the dust is removed, it will leave little holes in the metal. How is the dust then removed? 

 I've seen many jewellers immerse their new waxes into a jar of liquid such as "Methyl Hydrate", or alcohol. 

 At that moment they will turn on their ultra-sonic vibrator leaving the wax 'free' from any residual 'dust'. 

 

Are these 'Diamonds', or just 'white stones'? => 5 photos

 I was asked to ascertain the validity of a ring with 'three white' stones. I came to the final conclusion that these three stones were not even 'lower-grade' cubic zirconias. 

 As I am not a "Certified Diamond Appraiser" (my experience with similar stones) spans well over half a century. The reasons were many as each stone was carefully examined using my 500x power digital microscope.

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1) The very first 'indication of problems' was that the centre stone was transparent through the "Pavilion" facets.

2) The girdle of the centre stone was too 'thick and unpolished'.

3) There was an uneven edge on the rim of the Girdle.

4) The "Crown Facets" were not polished evenly and did not meet the "Girdle".

5) The 'yellow plating' was not uniform underneath the basket of the claws.

6) The shoulder stones had additional problems, but this was due to the 'poor quality of assembly'.

7) It's very easy to see that the 'Girdles' of the shoulder stones are also very thick.

8) No 'genuine stones' would be created like the stones in this ring. 

9) The 'pre-polishing' of this ring left little to guess where this ring was made? BTW, this shoulder stone on the right was set crooked.