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#1
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$1,000 - where it went...
Well, it's mostly all gone and here is how it was spent:
Smith Little Torch, tips, regulators, etc. Acetylene/Oxygen tanks (full) Hoses etc. Just the above was almost 500.00 Also purchased: Fairly powerful externally vented range hood Bench pin with anvil 4" Jewelers saw frame 6" Jewelers saw frame Plethora of saw blades Set of small twist drills Two ring clamps copper tongs annealing pan soldering pads soldering tripod binding wire silver solders flux pickle assorted files That's about it. I already have a steel plate for hammering and a dual head hammer. I need to pick up some more hammers. I don't even have a rawhide one, yet. I also picked up a cheap generic dremel-type flex shaft tool (20.00) just to pierce sheets. I'd still like to get a little bench grinder, and - eventually - a rolling mill. So much to learn! |
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#2
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Raane wrote:
Well, it's mostly all gone and here is how it was spent: Smith Little Torch, tips, regulators, etc. Acetylene/Oxygen tanks (full) Hoses etc. Just the above was almost 500.00 I told you so A Propane setup would have cost you about $100 - $125 Abrasha http://www.abrasha.com |
#3
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You *DID* tell me so - and you were right. I must admit that working
with gases where there is the potential for harm makes me somewhat nervous - something that I must get over in order to be able to approach this adventure fully. But living, as I do, in a very rural area, I felt more comfortable working with something that someone near-at-hand had experience with, and that entered into my choice. My gas cooking stove runs on propane tanks and it is likely there is a way to run a propane set-up off those tanks, but I fear that if I had tried it on my own, the results may not have been positive. Abrasha, when you first began - did you feel excitement and joy? Does it continue over time? I have trouble going to sleep at night because I can't stop thinking of things I want to learn and do! Best - C. Abrasha wrote in message . .. Raane wrote: Well, it's mostly all gone and here is how it was spent: Smith Little Torch, tips, regulators, etc. Acetylene/Oxygen tanks (full) Hoses etc. Just the above was almost 500.00 I told you so A Propane setup would have cost you about $100 - $125 Abrasha http://www.abrasha.com |
#4
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#6
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No, I think for quickly killing the joy of this stuff, my day today set a
good example. Had a job in the shop where the client (a store) wished a 1.45 carat, rather well cut and nice quality diamond removed from a new filligree style, rather fancy and costly platinum mounting, in order to set a slightly larger older cut diamond, which they felt would be consistant with the antique style of the mounting. The center was set in six short thick little prongs, coming up from a center "plate", or undergallery, that the stone was set down on. While it wasn't so hard pulling the prongs back enough to get the first stone out, the prongs were short and stiff enough that I was needing to put a fair amount of pressure on them with a prong pusher to bend them back down over the second stone, after recutting the seat, of course. Not actually a difficult setting job. it's no different from many others I've done many times over the years. but... Maybe my hand shook for a moment, or who knows what, but the tool slipped off the prong, Probably no shaking, it's just one of those things that happens on occassion. Usually we are just lucky and/or skilled enough that it doesnt break the stone. Sounds to me like just a matter of bad timing on the wrong stone. glancing off the girdle of the stone, which as bad luck would have it, happened to be VERY thin at that point. I didn't hear the "snap" sound it probably made over the shop noises around me just then, but i sure saw the good sized flake running down the pavilion surface, about halfway to the culet. It will take cutting off a substantial amount of weight to fix this stone... How do you have this worked out with your boss? Just an FYI to everyone else: If you do this long enough, something like this will happen. It's inevitable. No matter how good you are. Work out IN ADVANCE who is responsible for the cost of making this right. Oh, and for those of you fighting terribly with bead setting, if you do enough of it, consider one of the power gravers. Someday I'm going to have to try that route. I've always used hand gravers for all of this type work. I guess it's just hard for me to get away from the old ways I learned the hard way. Nastiest job I ever had is still the 5ct emerald I had to pull out of a bead set setting (without ruining the setting), bead set it in a used old white gold mounting made for a smaller stone, and then bead set emeralds running down both sides of the ring. There outta be a law. |
#7
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#8
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Here I sit, still in my nightgown, checking this group - now a part of
my starting the day's routine. I am laughing at the helpful hints to knock "that joy business" out of my soul! You guys read between the lines, knowing that it would probably get gone eventually, might as well show it the where the door is and yell "don't let it hit you in the rear" as it scurried away. You have to work harder, though...it is still hanging around. I don't mean to be a Pollyanna - but really, as I am reading the notes, part of me is commiserating, but the other part is thinking about how I can't wait until I know how to set stones, or until I have enough experience to appreciate the differences in "gravers." I've yet to even hold a graver! So it is all relative - I'm still work on not making tiny dings in sterling wire if I'm making jump rings, or trying to figure out how to get a particular finish on sterling sheet! I have beautiful ornaments dancing in my head like sugar plums and dozens of techniques to master before being able to make them a reality. I have to admit, though, Peter, that reading it, I did not envy your yesterday Cyberhug and one whispered chorus of "The sun will come out, tomorrow..." And, yes, you MAY, cybershoot me. Raane wrote in message . .. On 18-Feb-2004, (Raane) wrote: Abrasha, when you first began - did you feel excitement and joy? Does it continue over time? I have trouble going to sleep at night because I can't stop thinking of things I want to learn and do! I'll tell you how to stop that joy business. Try stone setting, no not the store bought prong type, I mean the drill a hole with that fancy fordom tool you got and use gravers to make a bur to hold the stone in...Arrrrrgggg!!!! Les |
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