Apologies for the delay - other things have taken up my time since volunteering to get the training and quiz up to date - but hopefully I can get this kickstarted again and have the training material and quiz online soon. Thanks for your patience.
This is the example equipment page which should be used as a starting point for new pages.
All text with a coloured background and blue text like this, is instructions for creating a new page and should be deleted as the new page is completed.
This page is hidden from the navigation but is visible in the published site if you know the URL.
The purpose of the Equipment Page is:
To be the go to place for information about that particular piece of equipment.
To be the quick reference for that equipment.
To allow a new member to understand what that equipment does and to decide if they might want to know how to use it.
To provide an entry point into training or any other things needed to use the equipment safely and effectively.
The first thing on each page is the SAFETY SHEET, this is a 1 page Slides presentation which should contain
The classification of the equipment (RED: training required, members only, ORANGE: members only, use only if confident to do so, GREEN: free to use for all)
Any PPE required, using ISO7010 compliant symbols and presentation, as a single line if possible
Hazard warnings, using ISO7010 compliant symbols and presentation, as a single line if possible
Bullet points reminding users of the safety critical aspects of using the equipment. This is the set of things which all users MUST have top of mind when using this equipment. In order to maintain focus on the critical things this sheet MUST be kept to a single page, and MUST contain only safety information. Information about how to use the equipment to best effect, and even how to avoid damaging the equipment does not belong here, all RED equipment MUST have a training page on the training site and other information can be placed below on this page.
The safety sheet is presented as a single page Slides document because this can be embeddedin line in a Sites page (like this) and a Docs document which can be used for posters etc. It is important that the PPE requirements and safety sheet information is linked, rather than copied, into all the places it is needed to avoid discrepencies.
Example safety sheets can be found in the G Drive folder Training_Coursework/Example Equipment
Report minor injuries here.
Call 999 if needed.
Phones are next to both doors.
First aid kit is at the sink.
Fine metal working bench
The fine metal / jewellery bench is in the main workshop on the right hand side between the Trotec laser and the glass working bench.
Photos coming soon (after a tidy up) to show where everything is and where it should be put back
Using the fine metalwork bench - General
Avoiding Tool Damage
It is vital to '''avoid contamination of the tools for fine metalworking''' (on silver, copper, or titanium) with particles of iron, steel, aluminium, or lead, otherwise pieces can be ruined when they are soldered. Accordingly, '''this bench and the fine metalworking tools must not be used on any materials except silver, copper, titanium, or gold''': especially not for steel, iron, aluminium, or lead. Some brass alloys are leaded; other brasses are ok. Wood and plastics are ok in moderation.
Some of the tools have '''polished or machined surfaces that are easily damaged''', e.g. the planishing hammer, triblet, and bench block. These must not be used for hitting anything other than silver, copper, or titanium (especially, do not use the planishing hammer for hitting a punch, and take great care when hammering something on the triblet or bench block not to let the hammer come in contact with those).
It's important '''not to contaminate one grade of abrasive with another''': particles of coarse abrasive on a fine polishing wheel can scratch a piece heavily.
All the fine metalworking tools must be put away in the right place (the correct drawer of the grey filing cabinet, as labelled) after use. Use picture at bottom of drawer for reference.
Health and Safety
The gas torch and gas canisters (standard lighter gas) should be kept in the flammable stock cupboard in the workshop when not in use.
The gas torch should only be refilled in the open air, as there can be gas leakage in the process. It should only be used at the hot-working bench above the insulated sheet.
The pickle is a mild corrosive, and hot items should not be dropped directly into it or else there may be splashes that could cause eye damage. The pickle should not be warmed except in use. You should be wearing safety glasses when using pickle.
Consumables and Stock (to pay by use)
We keep a small amount of silver and copper stock for people to get started with (copper behaves a lot like silver, so is good for practicing). If we're close to running out, please let the owners know.
The prices are designed to just break even, not make a profit.
If you use any of the stock, please (a)write in the fine-metalworking stock book the item and the amount you've used, your name, and the cost, and (b) pay by izettle in kitchen as follows:
Wake up the tablet
Scroll to find items you need to pay for and click them to add to basket
If items are not listed use the Add Amount bottom to input the amount
Press pay
Min amount £1.00 | Card + phone only (no cash) | pay before use
If you want to buy your own stock or tools, UK suppliers include:
Cookson [http://www.cooksongold.com/]
Sutton Tools [http://www.suttontools.co.uk/]
HS Walsh [http://www.hswalsh.com] [http://rashbel belore.com]
It might well be worth clubbing together with other people to get volume discounts and share shipping. Copper and brass sheet can also be found at
Mackay's in Cambridge [http://www.mackay.co.uk/Metals-Warehouse.html]. Use car park at back - the metal sales are in small shed.
Fine metal working bench
The fine metal / jewellery bench is in the main workshop on the right hand side between the Trotec laser and the glass working bench.
Photos coming soon (after a tidy up) to show where everything is and where it should be put back
Using the fine metalwork bench - General
Avoiding Tool Damage
It is vital to '''avoid contamination of the tools for fine metalworking''' (on silver, copper, or titanium) with particles of iron, steel, aluminium, or lead, otherwise pieces can be ruined when they are soldered. Accordingly, '''this bench and the fine metalworking tools must not be used on any materials except silver, copper, titanium, or gold''': especially not for steel, iron, aluminium, or lead. Some brass alloys are leaded; other brasses are ok. Wood and plastics are ok in moderation.
Some of the tools have '''polished or machined surfaces that are easily damaged''', e.g. the planishing hammer, triblet, and bench block. These must not be used for hitting anything other than silver, copper, or titanium (especially, do not use the planishing hammer for hitting a punch, and take great care when hammering something on the triblet or bench block not to let the hammer come in contact with those).
It's important '''not to contaminate one grade of abrasive with another''': particles of coarse abrasive on a fine polishing wheel can scratch a piece heavily.
All the fine metalworking tools must be put away in the right place (the correct drawer of the grey filing cabinet, as labelled) after use. Use picture at bottom of drawer for reference.
Health and Safety
The gas torch and gas canisters (standard lighter gas) should be kept in the flammable stock cupboard in the workshop when not in use.
The gas torch should only be refilled in the open air, as there can be gas leakage in the process. It should only be used at the hot-working bench above the insulated sheet.
The pickle is a mild corrosive, and hot items should not be dropped directly into it or else there may be splashes that could cause eye damage. The pickle should not be warmed except in use. You should be wearing safety glasses when using pickle.
Consumables and Stock (to pay by use)
We keep a small amount of silver and copper stock for people to get started with (copper behaves a lot like silver, so is good for practicing). If we're close to running out, please let the owners know.
The prices are designed to just break even, not make a profit.
If you use any of the stock, please (a)write in the fine-metalworking stock book the item and the amount you've used, your name, and the cost, and (b) pay by izettle in kitchen as follows:
Wake up the tablet
Scroll to find items you need to pay for and click them to add to basket
If items are not listed use the Add Amount bottom to input the amount
Press pay
Min amount £1.00 | Card + phone only (no cash) | pay before use
If you want to buy your own stock or tools, UK suppliers include:
Cookson [http://www.cooksongold.com/]
Sutton Tools [http://www.suttontools.co.uk/]
HS Walsh [http://www.hswalsh.com] [http://rashbel belore.com]
It might well be worth clubbing together with other people to get volume discounts and share shipping. Copper and brass sheet can also be found at
Mackay's in Cambridge [http://www.mackay.co.uk/Metals-Warehouse.html]. Use car park at back - the metal sales are in small shed.
Tools are kept on the bench and in the filing cabinet under the bench in labelled drawers. Please put back where you find them as it takes time when others are looking for tools you have misplaced.
4*Bench Peg and Anvil (these clamp on to a bench edge, to support work)
a joint cutter (a V-block with a clamp to hold fine tube, an end stop and a slot for a saw blade, for making square cuts in fine tube). feel free to make and shape your own bench peg. Try to use a hard ish wood.
150mm Ruler * 3
Standard Steel Scriber
centre punch
digital calipers (there are two calipers, a cheap axminster one and a better quality one)
3" square
Optivisor 2.0x No5 (NB: this is *not* eye protection). This is great for small stuff, we also have overhead light and magnifying lamp fastened to the bench.
The Optivisor fits over your head (including over glasses if necessary); the knob on the back controls how tight it is, and those on the side control how tight the flip action is. It is *not* eye protection - the lenses are just glass, so don't use this when using the flexible shaft drill.
two 6"/150mm Flat Files, Cut 2 Vallorbe
one 6"/150mm Half-round file, Cut 2 Vallorbe
Set Of 12 needle Files, 16cm - All Cut2 (one has to avoid contaminating silver with iron, so we'll want separate files for ferrous metals in addition to this)
two Grobet/vallorbe Saw Frame Adjustable
6" Deep Adjustable Saw Frame
Vallorbe Saw Blades Grade 2/0, Bundle Of 12*12; Vallorbe Saw Blades Grade 6/0, Bundle Of 12 (£3.70) (those saw blades are consumables - they break easily)
Straight 7"/17.5cm Shears (for brutal cutting of sheet metal. It's usually preferable to use a saw instead, to leave a square edge without bending the metal)
Two blocks of beeswax to lubricate the saw blade.
These should only be used on silver, copper, or titanium, *not on steel, iron, lead, or aluminium*, otherwise silver pieces may be permanently damaged by contamination when they are soldered.
Jeweller's saws have a thin flexible blade held under tension by a saw frame.
The blades come in different grades, from 4 (the coarsest) to 8/0 (the finest). In general one wants a coarse blade for cutting thick metal and a fine blade for cutting thin metal, and for tight curves. Fine blades are also more fragile.
Grade 2/0 is a normal (medium) blade, with thickness 0.26mm, width 0.52mm, and 22 teeth per cm. The drill size for piercing is 0.55mm. These are ok for cutting metal from 0.5 to 1.0mm thick.
Grade 6/0 is a rather fine blade, with thickness 0.18mm, width 0.35mm, and 32 teeth per cm. The drill size for piercing is 0.4mm. These are ok for cutting metal from 0.3mm to 0.5mm thick.
The saw frames have adjustable length. To fit a blade, loosen the knob that fixes the length and shorten the saw to be just shorter than a blade. Loosen the knobs at the ends that grip the blade, remove any broken blade fragments (and throw them away properly), insert the blade ends, and tighten the knobs (just finger-tight - you can strip the threads if you use too much force). The blade should be oriented with the teeth pointing towards the handle - if you run your finger (gently!) along the blade away from the handle, it should catch. Then tension the frame so that the blade rings a little when plucked, and tighten the associated knob - again, just finger-tight. Remember the blade cuts backwards rub your finger lightly and you will feel it drag.
To use the saw, first arrange the workpiece (with your cutting line marked) so that it is supported very close (within a couple of mm) to the cut, and so that you can hold it down firmly (so it doesn't vibrate). Usually you can put it on the edge or end of a bench peg. Then arrange your chair so that your dominant hand and arm are in a vertical plane, with your forearm perpendicular to the bench. The saw cuts away from you, and usually one controls the direction of cutting by moving the workpiece rather than moving yourself. Hold the saw lightly with the blade vertical, and cut with an up-and-down motion. To get a cut started, sometimes it's helpful to take a short stroke downwards keeping the blade in the right place with a finger next to it or behind it. Now cut! Keep the saw vertical, and remember that it cuts on the down-stroke. You shouldn't need to push very hard at all, either down or forwards.
If you need to cut around a sharp corner, remember to keep cutting, otherwise the blade will break. And don't twist the saw sideways in the cut, otherwise the blade will break. And if it jams, unjam it gently, otherwise the blade will break.
To start a cut in the middle of a sheet, you need to drill a clearance hold at least as big as the size above, depending which grade blade you're using. Then thread the blade through the piece when fitting it. Don’t forget the beeswax to lubricate the blade it really helps and cuts the cost of blades.
These should only be used on silver, copper, or titanium, *not on steel, iron, lead, or aluminium*, otherwise silver pieces may be permanently damaged by contamination when they are soldered.
There are needle files (cut 2), two 6"/150mm Vallorbe Flat Files, and a 6"/150mm Vallorbe half-round file, also Cut 2. Files come in different finenesses; cut 2 is a medium general-purpose grade. Profile files are there to help you file different shapes, holes etc.
It's often useful to put the flat file on the bench, hold it in place, and move a workpiece along the file (the file cuts when the workpiece is moved towards the tang), especially when filing a straight or gentle curve saw-cut smooth. Because of this, it doesn't have a handle - but that does mean that when filing free-hand, one must be careful not to push the tang of the file into the palm of your hand, if the file suddenly becomes stuck on something. Remember files cut on the downward stroke. Diamond files cut both backwards and forward.
Remember: files cut on the push stroke. On the left above, the file is being pushed (leftwards) along the metal. Dually, on the right above, the metal is being pushed rightwards along the file, towards the tang.
Filing the edge of a piece of sheet square will usually leave a tiny burr of metal along each corner of the edge, which should be removed with the file or with abrasive paper.
To make a rounded edge or corner, it's often best to first file off a small flat at 45 degrees (so one can easily control the size of the flat) and then smooth off.
These should only be used on silver, copper, or titanium, *not on steel, iron, lead, or aluminium*, otherwise silver pieces may be permanently damaged by contamination when they are soldered.
Abrasive paper comes in grades from 200 (very coarse) through to 1500 (very fine). To smooth a surface or edge, one usually wants to start from (say) grade 600 and then work down through successively finer grades. It's usually good to cuts in a particular direction for one grade, then at 90 degrees to that with the next grade until all the scratches from the preceding grade are gone. It's often useful to support the abrasive paper on the bench, moving the workpiece against it, or wrap it around a piece of wood or scrap metal. This may be used wet or dry remember to clean and dry afterwards. Please don’t put wet paper into the drawers this will cause rust on the metal tools. Just leave it on bench. We will have small box on top of bench to put it in.
Always wear eye protection before turning on.
Polishing Kit No 2
Set Of 20 Drills 0.3-1.6mm (£15.96) (consumable)
diamond burrs (set of 30) (4.80) (consumable)
There are two handpieces: one with a chuck, for small drills, and one with a choice of two collets, for polishing tools and such like with standard-size shafts. To remove a handpiece, just grasp in and the knurled black part of the flexible shaft and pull apart:
To attach a handpiece to the shaft, look inside to see which way round the coupling is, turn it so that that matches the tab on the end of the flexible shaft, and push together. If it doesn't go, you may not have them precisely aligned enough.
First mark out exactly where you want the hole to be, with the scriber. Then support the sheet metal on the anvil of the bench peg or on the steel bench block (not on wood, otherwise the sheet will deform too much), position the tip of the centre punch exactly on the mark, and hit it gently with the ball pean hammer (not the planishing hammer, otherwise the surface of that will be ruined!) to make an indentation.
Now get the drill size you want (likely from the grey box on the counter on the right hand side of the secure workshop). You might have to clean it and to check its size with the calipers. Put it in the chuck and tighten with the chuck key.
Put on eye protection, turn on the flexible shaft drill, and spin it up with the foot pedal to get a feel for it. Then support your metal on a scrap of sacrificial wood, locate the drill tip in the indentation, hold your metal to stop it rotating, and gently spin up the drill and push. How much speed and pressure to use is a matter of experience.
The collet handpiece has two collets, small split metal pieces with holes of particular diameters to suit burrs and wheels with 2.4 or 3.2mm shafts. They are held in by a small black threaded cone - to remove that, stop the handpiece rotating by putting the black pin through the hole in the handpiece side (you might need to rotate it to get the holes to line up) and use the little black spanner on the cone. It should be finger-tight, not tightened with all your force. Then you can change collets and refit the cone.
To fix a tool into the handpiece (assuming the right sized collet is in place already), just loosen the black cone a bit, put the tool in, and tighten.
We have two blocks of polish. Trippoly brown and rouge red.
The brown one is for first polishing then rouge is for final polish. Brown for getting rid of scratches rough for final polish
We have different mops for each ones. This does get mixed up so may be better buying your own they are quite cheap. The mop is a piece of cotton wadding at the end of a shaft that goes into Chuck of pendant motor. Be careful the faster you use it the hotter it gets. Just use less pressure on foot control practice on bits of scrap copper it polishes the same as silver. Sterling silver has copper in it. 925 parts silver to 75 copper. We have a set of bits and polishes we will give a brief explanation as to what they do.
Flat Stake (this is a small anvil with a machined-smooth surface on all sides) [17]
Round triblet (for forming rings and suchlike) [18]
Planishing Hammer (a polished-surface hammer for surface finishing and work-hardening) [19] (don't hit steel things such as punches with this)
Rawhide mallet [20] (for hitting things without marking the surface)
Generic ball-pean hammer, labelled `clonking hammer' (a non-polished hammer for hitting punches etc.)
Both the flat stake (or bench block) and triblet have machined-smooth surfaces so that they don't mark any silver that one hits against them. To keep them smooth, it's important not to hit the stake or triblet directly with any steel tools. Use the rawhide mallet it won’t mark your work. Remember you have two sides one to use on flat surfaces and the other for banging your rings etc down the mandrel.
The triblet (or mandrel) is a long hard-steel cone, used to make rings circular. To use it, push a ring down the cone as far as it will go, then hit it all round with the rawhide mallet (pushing further down), trying to keep the face of the mallet (when it hits) parallel with the tangent plane of the cone. Doing this aggressively will also stretch the ring. Remember start at your solder mark and work round until you reach where you started.
Assorted fine pliers: a Cookson 5 Piece,115mm Pliers Set (box-jointed with smooth jaws)
Ring Bending Pliers, Cookson Value Range
5.5"/ 140mm Maun Flat Pliers Parallel Action [21]
Tweezer set [22] (brass and plastic tweezers for pickle, reverse and third-hand tweezers for soldering, fine tweezers for manipulating tiny things)
Hand Torch (for soldering or annealing small pieces, up to 10-20mm. We also have a larger torch with the glassworking kit)
Magnesia Soldering Block
Soldering Sheet 300mm X 300mm X 9mm
Picklean Safe Pickling Powder 150g
crock pot for keeping pickle warm
hard silver solder paste
solid strip solder in hard, medium, and easy grades (melt ranges 745-778°C, 720-765°C, 705-723°C)
liquid flux (kept in the small metal cupboard in the workshop) and a flux brush
’
The torch is kept in the flammables cupboard in the secure workshop. To light it, open the valve on the back and push the piezo button. To turn it off, close that valve firmly (not using your full strength, though). If the torch doesn't have enough gas in, you'll need to turn it off and recharge it from the canister of lighter gas (also kept in that cupboard), by (1) going outside, (2) turning the torch and canister upside down, (3) pushing the small red tube from the canister against the valve on the bottom of the torch, and (4) letting some gas flow in. 5 when it’s full it will just spray out that lets you know it’s full. It’s good to have your own gas as you can never know if last person finished last canister. Nearest place to buy either paper shop on kings parade or Sainsbury’s Sidney street at the cigarette counter. It should be kept in metal chest near bandsaw.
Silver and copper (and many other metals) *work-harden*: if the metal is deformed, e.g. by bending or hammering, it gets harder (and more brittle). To soften it again it can be *annealed*: warmed up to let the crystals grow. For copper and silver, it suffices to warm them up to the point at which they just glow (in fact, that's hotter than necessary, but usually this isn't a problem). They don't need to be held at that temperature for any significant time, and they can either be left to cool naturally or dunked in water (this is simpler than steel annealing). After annealing you may need to remove any firescale, by abrasives or pickling. Remember not to put hot metal into pickle pot.
Silver soldering can be used to create a strong join between two metal surfaces - normally silver, but it can also be used for joining copper, brass, and even steel (though the pickling for steel will be different). For silver, it should be possible to make an essentially invisible join. Silver soldering is to join two pieces of metal together, not to fill gaps so try to get your joints as near as possible.
Silver solders are high-melting-point alloys; the solder paste we have in Makespace is a silver/copper/zinc alloy with a melting point of 770 C (usually attained with a gas torch). They are not to be confused with the lead-based solders used for electronics, which have melting points less than 200 C (usually applied with a soldering iron) and do not produce a mechanically strong joint. Please don’t use electrical lead solders near silver soldering block or sheet.
To make a good solder joint, good preparation is essential. Molten solder is very runny: it flows freely over the surface of clean metal and flows into a hot joint by capillary action, but it is very bad at filling gaps (it's not like a glue or cement). Hence, the two bits of metal to be joined have to be shaped to fit precisely, ideally with no visible gap (less than 0.1mm, perhaps) between them. They also have to be clean, with no oxide layer or grease. Freshly cut or filed silver is fine.
To keep the metal clean while it gets up to temperature, and to help the solder run, one also needs a flux. The silver solder we have is in paste form, pre-mixed with a flux, which is convenient for making small solder joints (e.g. joining the ends of a ring, attaching earring parts, or making little loops ("jump rings"). For bigger pieces one usually uses snippets of solder sheet and a separate flux (which we also have).
Prepare the two surfaces to be joined, filing and using abrasive papers as necessary to make them clean and smooth in tight contact.
Make a clear space on the hot-working bench (the stainless steel one) with the insulated block on the 30cm square flameproof sheet.
Make sure you've got water to hand (e.g. in the steel pot) and the pickle ready if you're going to use it.
Find the small gas torch (see above). For larger pieces you'll need the bigger propane torch.
Arrange things so that the pieces will be held in contact while you heat them up. Sometimes they can just be resting next to or on top of one another (on the insulated block); sometimes a piece can be bent to hold the two surfaces in contact (e.g. for a ring); sometimes it's useful to hold one in the reverse-action tweezers (attached to a third-hand base) in contact with the other resting on the block; sometimes one needs iron binding wire and more ingenuity.
Dissassemble your arrangement to apply some solder paste. This is in a syringe - it's very stiff, so you'll need to push (but pull back on the plunger when you've got enough, otherwise it will keep going). You only need a little bit (e.g. a line for a ring, or a 1mm cube for a jumpring).
Warm your piece up with the torch. You want to get it quickly up to temperature, otherwise the flux will all burn off too early. And you need all the metal to be hot - focus the flame first on the bulk of the piece, not on your joint (solder likes to flow towards hot). The hottest part of the flame is just in front of the blue cone.
Watch the joint carefully (taking care not to burn yourself, point the torch at anything flammable, or inhale the fumes). When it's hot enough (a glowing orange) and the solder melts, you should see a flash of the molten silver flowing. Keep the flame there for just a moment (1s?) longer, then take it away.
Don't try to re-heat or mess about - it has to work in one go or not at all.
Let the piece cool - perhaps picking it up with tweezers or pliers (but not the fine pliers!) and dunking it in water (watch out for splutters).
Pickle it or use abrasives to remove any firescale.
The easiest way is find a drill bit for the size of jump ring you need. Get your wire and wrap it round the drill bit so it looks like a springTry to do it as tight as possible as it is easier to cut individual split rings. The cutting is quite easy: hold the saw on an angle as if you are going to cut several at once. As you cut one you are starting to cut the next one and so on, it’s easier to have a cut to start your next one.
Planishing is a way of putting a decorative pattern on to your metal. Once you are happy with your nearly finished article you can find a hammer with say a blunt point and hit the piece with the hammer so it leaves a dent. Carry on with this until you are happy with the pattern. Always hammer your piece on the metal block or the metal part of the bench pin or on the mandrel for rings.
Once you have made your ring or split ring, put it over mandrel and hammer round with leather mallet. Once you have done one side take it off then put it back on and repeat. Use leather mallet so as not to mark your work.
Gallery
Please do add pictures of anything made using the fine metalwork tools. Here are some practice pieces from a training session.
and some oxidised-silver tentacles (this is about 25x28mm):
TASKS
* Quiz with 10 questions
QUIZ
NOTES
Do not remove tools!
Andrew Berry Youtube
Film Andy making a copper ring - workshop
Ask Gabia and Goskaa to send in photos of work for the gallery
Ring size table
Check the Makespace Meetup Group for a practical assessment session. If there is no practical scheduled there, please email: fine metal bench owners
The trainer will demonstrate how to properly and safely use the machine, as well as answer any questions you may have.