Thank you so much for your time and encouraging words. I just started Jewelry Repair Technician school. Looking forward to working with the different metals and stones. I'll keep in touch with you as I make my way through my journey. Beautiful shop.
I am also a beginner at this but I must say you are dem right about the tools , they ar newer enough , iwe invested until now more then 15k , and I need more of them
The resin wax weighs 1.900 mg. How much metal should be used for casting if the purity of gold is 18K? Should it be 1.9 × 18 and please tell me how to estimate the amount of investment powder and water.
I will never stop! No matter who tells me that im not cut out for it! I absolutely love it and wouldnt want to do anything else with the rest of my time on this earth! You're right its not for everyone!
I'm a novice jeweler who has watched probably hundreds of jewelry-making videos. This is the first time I've seen the technique of putting a notch in the base piece in order to give more surface area when soldering a curved piece like a jump ring. Great tip! Thanks.
A brilliant video! New subscriber from the UK. And I really wish we had jewellers like you in this country! I've been making jewellery (yes we spell it differently😀) for around 12 years or so now as a hobby. I agree on the tool thing, I ended up having to build a workshop at the bottom of my garden for all the tools and equipment I've bought over the years and it's STILL not big enough! I'm still doing it as a hobby but I do pay for training with a master Jeweller based in Australia. I've stalled a little recently but I'll get back into it as I always do. It's a lifetime thing for me now, I'm too far in to stop now.
Paul, Welcome to the rabbit-hole. Now that we have you hooked, I hope you find time to create and create joy for yourself and others. I was in the UK a few months ago consulting with The Royal Mint on a jewelry project they are launching. Next time I go back I will have to send you a message, maybe we can grab a tea or a Guinness. Doug
@@DougNapierJewelryMonk rabbit-hole, a fantastic way to describe it. I'm off work for a few days now so hopefully, in-between motorbike riding and a few other jobs, I might get at the bench. When you get back here let me know and I'll see what I can do for a brew or a pint. Cheers!
Hi Doug, I was hoping to pick your brain about casting and porosity issues if possible. I cast a variety of different metals - silver, brass, bronze, various gold flavors - and I consistently have porosity issues with brass and bronze castings in particular. It is oxy-acetylene torch casting with crucibles, with the flask on a vacuum table ( not a vacuum sealed chamber ). It appears to be gas porosity, showing up when the pieces are ground/polished. I’ve been told that it is caused by too much oxygen in my torch flame, but when I reduce the oxygen I have incomplete castings due to too low of a metal temperature, failure to fill. Have some thoughts toward my predicament?
What is your flask temperature? Large pieces or small? How are you spruing them? (These are the first questions I would need answered. email me if you get a chance. Doug
Hi Doug. I just wanted to thank you for your video. I was stuck in a rut and watched so many videos and it was yours that got me out of it! I appreciate you passing along your knowledge :)
Hi Doug, question, if your going to cast fifty pieces of silver rectangular flat design into a metal mold, do you need an exhaust/exit point? Or it will just like what you said "will go forth when its full"? Thankf for the answer.
@@DougNapierJewelryMonk that would be awesome. hope you do and post up a video about it. many builds even in club racing use a delrin idler gear now, not all brass and not all delrin gears. the mix seems overall better IMO. always wondered if I should do any sanding or polishing on them to get any more speed, reduce chatter etc.
Ingots are what is created from the mold. The mold can be plaster, brick, steel, wood, etc. If you are making a number of ingots, steel works great, and if you are needing to make many at the same time, multiple molds would be needed. Doug
Hi there I hope you can help me, I traded some placer gold for some jewelry store sweepings that seem to have a lot of very small gold inside the sludge. Can you tell me how to wash the metal sweepings, I have tried very hot water and dish soap but no luck.. there might be some kind of oil in with the gold shavings? Thanks so much! Wendy Ps. I live in southern Oregon now but I graduated high school from rapid City Central long time ago
Hi Wendi, I bet RC has grown a bit since you grew up. You can try an ultrasonic cleaner, but you might run into the same problem with the water/soap trial. I would heat it up and melt it, all the impurities will float and you can clean them away. Doug
@@DougNapierJewelryMonk Yes, excellent idea! I will do exactly that, and yes I graduated in 1986 when Rapid was quite a bit smaller my mom still lives there so I visit often I'm always amazed by how much it grows
Getting tools , gee that is hard living in Australia . Getting better tools besides beadsmith is very hard . I find I need tools with a better grip but they are too expensive to get from the USA. Tools let me down on advancing from just simple jewellery because of the bad tools here. Kym
I am considering creating some jewelry designs, it would dovetail nicely with an artistic business I already have. I think, as an entrepreneur, that knowing something about scaleability, revenue streams, and budgeting/pricing is very, very helpful.... as you create, you can think, how can I monetize this - and mindfully retain the creative aspect that I love. :)
Would this be a way to economize if one used a casting service? Or, maybe they make their own trees depending on what they have for jobs...Just curious! Your videos are fantastic. THanks!
