The List...

Groom and I were treasure troving at the Flea Market on Sunday (or if you prefer frenchy-fied, le Marche au Puce), when we ran into the gentleman of Z0L0 fame. He’s the one who misread my handwriting and thought the date 2010 said “Z0L0.”

Z0L0 King, as I now call him, was curious to discover what we were hunting for. Oh, lots of stuff, we told him. Mainly tools for our new metalsmithing adventure.

“Like what?” he asked. We mentally scrolled down the list and mentioned things like an old crock pot for pickling.

“Crockpot? Pickle? I thought you were doing jewelry, not canning.”

We laughed. A pickle is an acidic solution for removing fire scale and oxidation from doing mean things to metal like soldering and annealing. Which is why we were scouting for used items like an old crock pot, hammers –

“What kind of hammers?”

Oi, so many different kinds. Riveting, planishing, forming…

“Just make me a list,” Z0L0 King said. “Write it down and send it to me and I’ll see what I’ve got lurking around the old homestead.”

“We’re not looking for charity,” I told him.

“Would you just shut up,” he said. He’s that way. Bold, unafeared, or in his term, old school. “Just send me the darmn list.”

So I went home and did as I was instructed. I compiled a (partial) list of some of the tools and supplies we need to acquire with an interesting mathematical twist. The list is larger than our current budget. Throw in shipping, especially for the heavier items, and it makes the project of rearranging and slightly remodeling our basement into a jeweler’s studio even more daunting.

Everything we read and hear exclaims emphatically to ventilate ventilate ventilate. Okay, throw an exhaust system onto the list.

Since I spent so much time compiling the list, I forwarded it to GoatMama as GoatPapa used to work in a metal shop, is handy with tools, and is a bit of a collector himself. They said they might have a thing or two.

From there, we sent it to Groom’s brother, who is a professional contractor. He has a storage unit which I call a magic emporium and he already emailed back with a couple more very useful items on the list.

As I was getting ready for class this morning, the idea struck to post this list to all you faithful readers. As I said to Z0L0 King, we are not looking for charity, but perhaps those of you who thrift shop might give us a call if you run across some of these items. Others of you will have a thing or two lying around. Still others of you will undoubtedly know a friend who knows a guy, well, you get the picture.

Often times, used tools have a proven track record and are quality made. Two different friends have had the amazing opportunity to buy the contents of somebody’s metalsmithing studio, so I know it can happen. Perhaps you know of someone who is retiring, or used to do jewelry, or thought they might like it but actually didn’t and has things for sale or giveaway. Think of storage units, garage piles, attic treasures, basement spelunking.

You can email us at http://www.cinderellalucinda.com/ and make our day.

Oh, I should probably warn you. GoatMama wrote back to me this morning and complained that her eyes were rolling back in her head from the list. It’s long. Many of the items you may not recognize, but hey, you could turn it into a challenge to see how many of them you do!

Thank you for reading and looking it over. We absolutely appreciate it.

THE LIST…

Hammering:

Heavy ball peen/light ball peen – “a popular hammer commonly used for shaping and flattening metal and for removing dents. With one round flat face and one round half-domed face.”

Planishing – “used for hardening metal and for smoothing the surface of gold, silver, brass, stainless steel and other metals.”

Chasing – “a multi-purpose hammer for chasing, chiseling, riveting or peening. With one flat face and one round face.”

Riveting - “used for forming metal and for riveting. With one round face and one chisled face.”

Plastic mallet – “useful for forming, bending and shaping without scratching or marring surfaces.”

Embossing – “also known as repousse, embossing works the metal from the back to form three-dimensional shapes. With two high-domed round faces.”

Forming - “used to move heavy-gauge metal while retaining much of the weight of the original metal. Substantial weight with a slightly rounded face.”

Anvil

Mini-anvil

Engraving Ball or Bench Mate

Vise

Mini-bench vise

Wooden hand vise (aka ring clamp)

Mandrels (earring, ring, bracelet, necklace)

Alphanumeric Stamping tools (also looking for random design stamps like heart, star, fleur de lis etc.)

Stainless steel shot for tumbler

Burnishing compound

Ultrasonic cleaner

Disc cutters

Dapping block & punches

Sandpaper with varying degrees (200-600 at least)

SOLDERING:

Work bench (plus fire resistant surface - sheet metal/ drywall (or?) so the thing does not catch on fire!

Exhaust device and /or bench top smoke absorber (Back draft, not overdraft)

Flux, flux brush

Solder (hard, medium, easy)

Soldering tripod with steel screens

Soldering picks

Third-hand (tweezer-like apparatus affixed to a base to hold piece while we solder)

Charcoal brick/magnesium/honeycomb brick to melt solder

Anti-flux

Copper tongs (or big copper tweezers)

Pickle/Citric Acid/Sodium bisulfate (Sparex?)

Plastic basket for pickle

Container for water (to plunge red hot metal into)

Stainless steel binding wire

Borax

GENERAL USE:

Optivisor or loupe

Bench pin

Bench Shear (Metal cutter / guillotine) Beverly Shear

Flex shaft

Container for liver of sulfur

Liver of sulfur gel patina

Caliper (mm gauge)

Two-hole Metal Punch (up to 18 gauge)

Soft brass brush (special, not like in the hardware section)

Steel wool and plastic brillo pad

Cut Lube/ or bees wax (Bur Life)

Tap to thread holes in metal for miniature hardware

Wire and lead bender

Leather aprons/natural fiber aprons

Lights for working in basement

Heater for working in basement

Smooth flatnose pliers

Steel burnisher

Polishing papers

Tube cutting jig for tube rivets

Shape templates (circles, rectangles, etc)

Alligator tape

OTHER:

Precious Metal Clay and supplies/tools – (which is an entirely other long list)

Digital Paragon kiln

Enameling supplies

Copper foil tape dispenser

Soldering iron (Weller 100 watt for stained glass: 700 degree tip and 600 degree decorative tip)

Scrap metal

Old license plates

Old round type-writer keys

Miniature hardware (rivets, washers, etc.)

Mini cookie cutters also known as aspic cutters (teeny teeny tiny)

1/8” cutter corner for lamination

Renaissance Micro-Crystalline Wax Polish


I’d like to say, “That’s all folks,” but every day we learn something new which dictates adding something new to the list. However, this will get us started.

Oh, and by the way, the fact that my birthday is rapidly approaching is totally coincidental.

Again, thank you very muchly!