Any opinions on good quality watches w/o the bands. I have seen a few but I'm not familiar with the brand names (Geneva, Legacy). I don't want cheap poor quality watches or expensive ones. Sort of a happy medium. Thanks -- Connie Ryman Cryman Studio www.eclecticbeadery.com

A lady at work was asking me about a stone cab she liked on her visit to Mexico. It was listed as a Mexican Blood stone. She said it was very red with a little bit of veining, a little like turquoise. The only blood stone I know of is green with red spots. Has anyone heardor seen something...

My husband has managed to mangle a silver ring I gave him. It saved his hand but broke the stone. I hammered it back into shape on my ring mandrel but the stone will have to be replaced. I'm wondering if bending back the prongs will work or if new prongs need to be set. Thanks, -- Connie...

My husband came back from Malaysia bearing gifts. One was a citrine that's round and 11mm across and 7mm deep. I think it's too big for a ring (at least for me). I can't think of what to do with a stone that big and pointy. I don't want to be stabbed in the chest with it. Any ideas or web...

Does anyone know of a supplier selling Argentium bezel strips? Rio Grande probably won't have them until August. -- Connie Ryman Cryman Studio

The previous thread on soldering silver plate made me wonder about soldering gold filled wire or sheet (rolled gold). The gold would be thicker than plate. -- Connie Ryman Cryman Studio

I have some brass tubing for making hinges on stained glass boxes. It's thin walled and not soft. Does anyone know if it will work well for making rivets? -- Connie Ryman Cryman Studio

What is the name/term? It looks like it is built like a bezel but goes on the end of a stone or crystal. Sort of like a cap. Also, is the stone glued into place with an epoxy? Thanks, -- Connie

Hi everyone, I usually work in glass and metal. My sister-in-law wants me make some black plastic triangles to replace some on her jacket. I guess I will try to do it since she is UPSing me a huge load of clothes. Does anyone know of some cheap black plastic I can use? I thought of using LP...

Could someone help me out, please. I'm trying to anneal brass but it's turning copper color in the pickle. I put a piece of silver wire in to see if the pickle is bad and plating it with copper. No changes to the silver yet. Most of what I've read about annealing just says to heat until it is...

Hey guys, I'm looking for a raising hammer and cross peens for fold forming. There is a raising hammer at Rio Grande, don't know if 14 oz. will be to heavy for a middle aged woman. I've tried a welding slag hammer and it is to light and narrow. Do you know of any other good sites in the US...

Hi group, I have a question about the way jewelry saw blades are numbered. I have a book that suggests using 05 or 06 size blades. I am looking at catalogs but they have 5 or 5/0. Would 5/0 be the same as 05? I will be making jump rings and eventually might cut SS sheet. Any opinions on what...

Hi all, I usually just lurk, but I thought I would ask for some options. I have found a vintage Benrus ladies watch in the parking lot. The crystal is cracked and it is not keeping good time. The back has 1951 (year?) 14K gold (it's very white metal so I'm guessing it's white gold). It has...

Hi, lost your post but here is a list of suppliers in different countries. http://www.enamellers.nl/english/suppliers.htm -- Connie Ryman Cryman Studio

Hi, I was skimming through a jewelry making book today at Borders and it mentioned using gilding wire (spelling?) with twisted silver wire. I haven't heard of this before and don't think I've seen it listed in any catalog. Maybe it has another name? Thanks, Connie Ryman Cryman Studio

Hi all, I have a used Foredom and the foot pedal does not work well. I've had problems before with my glass grinder foot pedal, maybe I have a heavy foot. Is there anything I should try or do I need to order a new pedal? Thanks, -- Connie

Hi, I hope the new year is starting out great for everyone. My Christmas present from my hubby was the Lucas foot pedal and it is working out very nicely. Thanks for the recommendations. I'm trying to drill small holes in 24g brass sheet from Rio Grande. I'm not having any luck with the small...

You may find the following sites interesting and useful. In retrospect, after my last posting, I realized that it took me a while to find these, so I'll pass them along to save you some time if you are still searching. I do apologize for not providing hyperlinks for the URLs in this message, but...

I just looked at a magazine article in which a person used an ABI Tack II machine to tack weld many small parts in place before soldering them. Sure made binding wire look like something from the dark ages. And it also seemed to open doors for some design possibilities that I'd never even consider...

I just looked at a magazine article in which a person used an ABI Tack II machine to tack weld many small parts in place before soldering them. Sure made binding wire look like something from the dark ages. And it also seemed to open doors for some design possibilities that I'd never even consider...