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I've been wanting to make some silver discs with some printed words on them (peace, etc.) but I'm not sure which metal stamps to buy. They range anywhere from $16.00 a set to $300.00 a set. Anyone know of a good company to buy from? Thanks

Hi All does anyone spincast pewter here?? Thanks Craig

What's up with this stuff? I can understand that it can be a bit on the expensive side but what's the big secret? Why all the hoopla about being "cerrtified" at a cost of $500!! And then on top of that they want you to buy $12K a year just to get 50% off the retail price.

Hey, I wanted to get a water torch such as the HydroFlux but was put off by reports that it doesn't work so well with sterling silver. Apparently, sterling has great "heat sinking" abilities and the small pin point flame produced by the HydroFlux won't heat the metal enough for a good...

Alexandrite, The Tsarstone Collectors Guide by David Weinberg Chapter 1: Insidious Siberian http://www.multicolour.com/alexandrite/chapter1/ On 17 April 1834, the Russian Empire was celebrating the sixteenth birthday of the future Tsar Alexander II, one of the most controversial characters...

In email, a regular participant of this group wondered whether something was wrong with the group, or I was away on vacation or something. No such situation. You guys simply haven[t had much to say, it seems. The last allowable post was on saturday. Since then, just spam has arrived... maybe I...

What jewellery is appropriate for everyday wear? Some say that, in terms of metal, it shouldn't be heavy because of comfort and practical reasons, but also not light cause it might be too sensitive and break often. Some even say that it should be limited to chains, pendants, necklaces and...

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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

All this talk about soldering and the like - got me thinking about silver tarnish. Specifically, I was wondering why a piece of silver jewelry bought from a store does not tarnish as much or as fast as what I am able to purchase online to make my own jewelry? For example - a few years ago at...

This may seem medieval compared to the gem setting skills of many, but I want to set a small round cut stone into a titanium pendant. I drilled into the Ti with a regular bit until the gem would sit down flush. First I used regular loctite superglue and that lasted only one days wear. Next I used a...

Hello everyone! I have a predicament that I'm just all sorts of confused about, and I'm hoping that someone will be able to help me. I have a pair of sterling silver earrings that are clip-ons, but I want to make them studs. They are 3 dimensional, so in the crevices there is a black paint to...

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

Hello, I'm hoping for advice on soldering non-sterling silver plated jump rings and headpins. I am making charm bracelets with various real and man-made stones, pearls, polymer clay beads, etc. which are put on silver plated headpins and attached to an also silver plated chain via a silver plated...

Greetings... I see a lot of Peruvian jewelry around made with "alpaca silver". It claims to be an alloy of a few metals to include nickel. It also claims not to tarnish. Is this a good material? I wonder how many people are allergic to nickel? Thanks.

I'm having trouble removing swirl marks for final mirror finish on 6al/4v Titanium. I'm starting with grey cutting compound on a sissal wheel and then switching to a airated cloth wheel and then to a soft buff w/ either white rouge (for stainless) or gessweins mirror compound. I tried red rouge...

A tv company, has requested the return of some London Blue Topaz rings. Any thoughts? http://tinyurl.com/zthfp Bertie

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I've seen gold-on-steel jewelry, as well as gold applied to steel in sculptures (Daniel Brush, for example), and I find myself wondering how the gold is applied. Is it a plating, or gold leaf applied with a size, or mercury gilding, or a variant of Kum-Boo, or something else? My guess is that it's...