Jewelry supplies for the metalsmith in you

Jewelry supplies offer you loads of possibilities and there are endless tools to make your life easier.

Save time and increase your jewelry making efficiency using the right tools for the job. Find all the tools you need to make the jewelry projects shown here.

Here I show you 3 tool kits varying in the level of experience you have with metalsmithing. The tools are easily found in the major jewelry suppliers and some other in beading shops.

NEW: After byuing your first tools, start making jewelry with these easy and practical step-by-step projects. Look here.

1. Basic Tool Kit

This list will let you make rings, basic pendants, earrings and necklaces out of sheet metal, wire and other ready-made metal findings you add to your designs. Read a special article about jewelry files.

Includes:

• Maple wood bench pin (V-slot and flat bench pin)
• Denim or cotton apron
• Wood ring clamp
• Sawframe (throat depth of 3”)
• Sawblades (size 3/0 and 7/0)
• Beeswax
• Plier set of 4 (round-nose, chain-nose, flat-nose, bent chain-nose)
• Super Flush cutter
• Hole punching plier or Screw-action hole punch (instead of flex-shaft)
• Swiss 8” flat hand file
• Swiss 8” half round file
• Swiss needle file set of 5 (half-round, square, round, three-square, pillar)
• Emery paper (grit: 150, 220, 280 and 1000)
• Steel bench block (dimensions: 4” x 4” x ¾”)
• AA Tweezer
• Soft charcoal soldering board
• Soldering flux
• Butane micro torch (to make minor soldering things)
• Scriber
• Divider (3” legs)
• Steel ruler
• Vernier calipers (sliding, pocket-size) or Degree Gauges (10mm capacity)
• Cross-locking tweezer
• Ring sizer (steel finger gauge set)
• Tapered ring mandrel
• Rawhide mallet
• Chasing hammer
• Torch lighter
• Soldering pick

2. Intermediate Tool Kit

Includes the tools mentioned above plus these listed below:

• Jeweler’s workbench
• Sweep scoops (chrome)
• Polishing assortment
• Polishing cloth
• Wire hand brush
• File cleaner
• Gem-setting graver kit (onglette, flat, round, oval, knife, tapered square, square with handles)
• Beading tool set (12 beading tools)
• Burnisher
• Bezel roller
• Chasing hammer
• Plastic mallet
• Brass mallet
• Dapping set (14 to 16 piece set is enough to start)
• Bezel pusher
• Prong pusher
• Center punch
• Small bench vise (3” jaw width)
• Foredom Flex shaft (SR series with No. 30 chuck-type handpiece and foot speed control)
• High speed drill set
• Bur assortment (set of 12 or 24: round, hart, krause, knife-edge, stone-setting, bud minimum)
• Safety glasses
• Finger safety tape (alligator skin)
• Magnifying visor (Optivisor)
• Two-bulb fluorescent lamp (with floating arms and universal clamp vase)

3. Professional Tool Kit

Metalsmithing has so many specific techniques and specialty equipment that it’s impossible to own everything and not necessary at all. The professional tool kit has more advanced tools particularly to make different kinds of stone setting.

With some years of jewelry making practice you’ll start buying all these tools and other jewelry supplies, depending on the kind of techniques you develop.

• Reversible ingot mold
• Melting dish with tongs
• Acetylene / Oxygen torch kit (not good for working with platinum)
• Annealing pan with pumice
• Domed planishing stake set
• Drawplates (round shaped)
• Drawtongs
• Combination Rolling mill (sheet, half-round and square wire)
• Polishing machine
• Polishing buffs (muslin, cloth)
• Polishing compounds (Tripoli and Red rouge)
• High illumination bench lamp
• Triplet 10X Magnifier
• Digital scale (0-500g)
• Stone setting graver set
• Bezel block