S5-10: Tech Team Tuesday with Shane Hendren & John Sartin

Rio Grande Jewelry Tech Team members Shane Hendren and John Sartin talk shop and answer your jewelry-making questions.
 
Join us every Tuesday at 11 am MT for Tech Team Tuesdays on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.
 
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3u2Bnwf-959Wako0Dk93TA
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/riogrande/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jewelrysupplies
 
Topics covered in this episode:
 
1) Metal Forming
2) Welders for people on a budget
3) Resizing a stone without removing it from a piece
4) Lindstrom Pliers and Cutters
5) Casting
6) Hydraulic Forming vs. hand forming 
7) Engraving


Products mentioned in this episode:

1) Orion mPulse 30 Pulse-Arc Welding System: https://tinyurl.com/2bupsthj
2) Orion PJ Pulse-Arc ADL Welding System: https://tinyurl.com/yv7rmdwf
3) PUK 6 Pulse-Arc Welder with Microscope: https://tinyurl.com/5py9fm39
4) Lindsay® BenchJewel® ArtGraver® Set - https://tinyurl.com/2k29zs98


 
Have a question for the Jewelry Tech Team? Email us at podcast@riogrande.com, and we will try to answer your question on the next episode.

The promo code Lindstrom1 expires on 4/30/24.

Transcript

00:00:06.192 --> 00:00:07.373
Hello and welcome to Tech

00:00:07.432 --> 00:00:09.273
Tuesday Live at 11.

00:00:09.273 --> 00:00:10.355
I'm Shane Hendren and today

00:00:10.375 --> 00:00:11.355
I have a special guest.

00:00:12.416 --> 00:00:14.336
Our last tech team member to

00:00:14.377 --> 00:00:15.917
appear on the show, John Sarton.

00:00:16.277 --> 00:00:17.318
But before we get to John,

00:00:17.719 --> 00:00:18.458
I want to remind you,

00:00:18.859 --> 00:00:21.521
today is the last day for

00:00:21.640 --> 00:00:22.841
our code Lindstrom1.

00:00:23.181 --> 00:00:24.682
That'll get you 10% off

00:00:25.204 --> 00:00:26.164
anything Lindstrom.

00:00:26.765 --> 00:00:26.864
And...

00:00:27.925 --> 00:00:28.806
You can see some of the

00:00:28.846 --> 00:00:30.286
Lindstrom products we have right here,

00:00:30.606 --> 00:00:32.408
but we have new products on the website.

00:00:32.448 --> 00:00:34.350
If you look under our new offerings,

00:00:34.789 --> 00:00:35.911
I know there's a new set of

00:00:36.170 --> 00:00:37.993
Lindstrom cutters as well

00:00:38.033 --> 00:00:39.173
as some needle nose pliers.

00:00:39.213 --> 00:00:40.494
So if you haven't seen all

00:00:40.534 --> 00:00:41.975
of the Lindstrom products

00:00:41.996 --> 00:00:42.877
that we have to offer,

00:00:43.277 --> 00:00:44.677
today is your last chance

00:00:44.718 --> 00:00:46.118
to use Lindstrom One to get

00:00:46.118 --> 00:00:48.740
10% off anything Lindstrom

00:00:49.261 --> 00:00:49.841
on our website.

00:00:49.862 --> 00:00:50.741
And I encourage you to do

00:00:50.781 --> 00:00:52.564
that as soon as you're done

00:00:52.624 --> 00:00:55.165
watching Tech Tuesday.

00:00:55.606 --> 00:00:56.548
John, how are you?

00:00:56.768 --> 00:00:57.250
Good, how are you?

00:00:57.570 --> 00:00:58.311
I'm fantastic.

00:00:58.973 --> 00:01:00.557
So you're a member of the tech team.

00:01:00.597 --> 00:01:01.899
Tell us a little bit how you

00:01:01.960 --> 00:01:02.841
came to Rio Grande.

00:01:03.993 --> 00:01:05.353
So I came to Rio Grande

00:01:05.394 --> 00:01:07.756
about going on nine years now.

00:01:09.356 --> 00:01:09.917
Before that,

00:01:10.257 --> 00:01:14.540
I was on the road doing art

00:01:14.579 --> 00:01:15.381
fairs and festivals

00:01:15.980 --> 00:01:17.121
throughout the country and

00:01:18.683 --> 00:01:20.224
also had quite a few

00:01:20.263 --> 00:01:21.924
galleries that carried my jewelry.

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And one day, a friend of mine,

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an ex-tech team member, Sesson Durgum,

00:01:29.469 --> 00:01:31.631
he contacted me and said

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that the tech team was hiring.

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And so I decided I'd go

00:01:36.698 --> 00:01:38.421
ahead and apply for the position.

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And luckily, I got the position.

00:01:42.469 --> 00:01:44.674
So that's how I came to Rio Grande.

00:01:46.228 --> 00:01:46.769
That's cool.

00:01:47.269 --> 00:01:49.371
So how did you get started

00:01:49.412 --> 00:01:50.472
in the whole jewelry thing?

00:01:50.612 --> 00:01:51.774
How did you get started as a jeweler?

00:01:52.194 --> 00:01:53.695
So I didn't start doing

00:01:53.756 --> 00:01:56.337
jewelry until I was about 30 years old.

00:01:57.659 --> 00:02:00.180
And it's definitely a convoluted story,

00:02:00.221 --> 00:02:03.024
like a lot of stories of

00:02:03.563 --> 00:02:06.807
how people come to, I guess,

00:02:06.826 --> 00:02:07.727
their calling in life.

00:02:09.590 --> 00:02:11.652
But ultimately it came down

00:02:11.752 --> 00:02:15.837
to being in university and

00:02:16.419 --> 00:02:19.983
I needed to take some other credits,

00:02:20.302 --> 00:02:22.306
you know, some... Electives.

00:02:22.385 --> 00:02:23.366
Electives, exactly.

00:02:24.588 --> 00:02:26.251
And I was actually a potter.

00:02:27.647 --> 00:02:29.069
And so the, uh,

00:02:30.793 --> 00:02:31.875
since I had to branch out

00:02:31.974 --> 00:02:32.997
into other electives,

00:02:33.056 --> 00:02:33.858
I went ahead and I took

00:02:33.897 --> 00:02:38.205
jewelry and I met the teacher there, uh,

00:02:38.306 --> 00:02:40.830
Julie German Melka and, uh,

00:02:42.258 --> 00:02:45.240
She just kind of let me do

00:02:45.520 --> 00:02:47.099
what I wanted to do in the

00:02:47.120 --> 00:02:47.840
jewelry studio.

00:02:48.341 --> 00:02:49.341
She didn't really put a lot

00:02:49.441 --> 00:02:50.881
of requirements on me.

00:02:51.661 --> 00:02:52.701
She saw something in me that

00:02:52.722 --> 00:02:53.921
I guess I didn't see in myself.

00:02:54.282 --> 00:02:56.042
And, uh, and that was it.

00:02:56.502 --> 00:02:57.082
I, uh,

00:02:57.462 --> 00:03:00.524
I kind of walked away from pottery

00:03:00.644 --> 00:03:01.584
and started doing jewelry.

00:03:01.704 --> 00:03:02.764
So what school did you go to?

00:03:02.783 --> 00:03:05.625
Uh, I did, uh, Metro state college,

00:03:05.664 --> 00:03:06.004
Denver.

00:03:06.884 --> 00:03:09.725
That's where, that's where I met, uh,

00:03:09.885 --> 00:03:10.406
I met Julie.

00:03:11.473 --> 00:03:11.974
Interesting.

00:03:13.195 --> 00:03:14.377
So out of doing electives,

00:03:14.397 --> 00:03:15.658
you ended up becoming a jeweler.

00:03:15.680 --> 00:03:17.040
That's kind of the same thing that I did.

00:03:17.221 --> 00:03:17.382
Yeah.

00:03:17.521 --> 00:03:17.741
Yeah.

00:03:18.043 --> 00:03:18.522
Interesting.

00:03:19.204 --> 00:03:19.503
Cool.

00:03:19.965 --> 00:03:21.646
So what was it about jewelry

00:03:21.787 --> 00:03:24.129
that you were drawn to that

00:03:24.651 --> 00:03:25.451
won out over pottery?

00:03:25.472 --> 00:03:26.993
Specifically, it was working with metal.

00:03:27.594 --> 00:03:27.895
So...

00:03:29.599 --> 00:03:31.201
I was born and raised in a

00:03:31.241 --> 00:03:33.604
body shop working on automobiles.

00:03:34.485 --> 00:03:37.448
And so it's not that big of a leap.

00:03:37.707 --> 00:03:39.408
It's just a smaller tooling,

00:03:39.830 --> 00:03:40.931
but kind of the same

00:03:41.471 --> 00:03:43.432
concepts of how to move metal.

00:03:44.354 --> 00:03:47.296
And that is the focus of my

00:03:47.377 --> 00:03:49.239
work is really the metal work itself.

00:03:49.799 --> 00:03:51.060
And I utilize stones as

00:03:51.221 --> 00:03:53.162
accents to the metal work.

00:03:54.582 --> 00:03:55.663
It's just a different way of

00:03:55.723 --> 00:03:56.864
sculpting other than

00:03:58.224 --> 00:03:59.585
sculpting fenders on a car,

00:04:00.605 --> 00:04:03.007
sculpting rings and

00:04:03.167 --> 00:04:04.926
bracelets and pendants.

00:04:05.287 --> 00:04:05.568
Cool.

00:04:06.027 --> 00:04:08.068
So now is your chance, everyone.

00:04:08.549 --> 00:04:09.949
You can call in.

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Oh, you can't call in.

00:04:12.110 --> 00:04:12.909
You can text.

00:04:12.969 --> 00:04:13.670
You can message.

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Get your questions in for John.

00:04:16.463 --> 00:04:17.485
Anything you want to know

00:04:17.824 --> 00:04:19.367
that John... John is our

00:04:19.487 --> 00:04:20.747
tech team person today.

00:04:21.627 --> 00:04:23.089
We have a leftover question

00:04:23.129 --> 00:04:25.692
from Facebook from last week, John.

00:04:25.812 --> 00:04:27.894
Deborah Dowles from Facebook asks,

00:04:28.533 --> 00:04:30.055
which gauge of sterling

00:04:30.115 --> 00:04:31.997
wire would you use for

00:04:32.076 --> 00:04:34.238
prongs on a fine silver bezel?

00:04:37.841 --> 00:04:40.004
So I am assuming that

00:04:42.579 --> 00:04:44.521
Because typically prongs are

00:04:44.562 --> 00:04:46.202
associated with faceted stones,

00:04:46.702 --> 00:04:47.504
but I'm assuming that

00:04:47.524 --> 00:04:49.925
you're making a bezel to

00:04:49.985 --> 00:04:53.908
hold a cabochon and using

00:04:53.968 --> 00:04:56.870
the prongs as your retainer.

00:04:57.310 --> 00:05:01.673
So it all depends on the

00:05:02.233 --> 00:05:03.153
design of the piece.

00:05:03.834 --> 00:05:05.675
It depends on what you want

00:05:05.694 --> 00:05:06.415
it to look like.

00:05:06.495 --> 00:05:08.197
If you want the prongs to be

00:05:08.637 --> 00:05:09.737
more of a minimalistic

00:05:09.798 --> 00:05:10.939
design aspect or...

00:05:12.059 --> 00:05:16.742
more of a design aspect with the piece,

00:05:17.401 --> 00:05:18.523
but I wouldn't go with

00:05:18.682 --> 00:05:21.464
anything less than 16 gauge.

00:05:23.305 --> 00:05:25.646
And that's just because if

00:05:25.747 --> 00:05:27.307
you are doing any type of

00:05:27.387 --> 00:05:28.709
cutting seats and prongs,

00:05:29.468 --> 00:05:30.430
You don't want to thin that

00:05:30.490 --> 00:05:31.990
prong out to the point that

00:05:32.190 --> 00:05:33.132
it becomes fragile.

00:05:33.812 --> 00:05:36.894
So 16 gauge would be the absolute minimum,

00:05:36.915 --> 00:05:39.276
and that would be on smaller stones.

00:05:39.336 --> 00:05:41.278
If you're talking about much larger stones,

00:05:41.778 --> 00:05:43.480
then I would go up from

00:05:43.519 --> 00:05:47.083
there into larger diameter wire.

00:05:48.564 --> 00:05:48.843
Great.

00:05:49.043 --> 00:05:50.225
We got our first question on

00:05:50.345 --> 00:05:52.706
Instagram from Night Owl Designs, John,

00:05:52.846 --> 00:05:54.608
and they want to know what

00:05:54.687 --> 00:05:58.190
kind of jewelry did you start out making?

00:05:59.952 --> 00:06:01.415
Started out making my own

00:06:01.475 --> 00:06:02.314
style of jewelry.

00:06:02.615 --> 00:06:04.737
So I was really I was really

00:06:04.778 --> 00:06:06.439
interested whenever I

00:06:06.499 --> 00:06:09.281
started doing Whenever I

00:06:09.302 --> 00:06:10.322
started doing jewelry

00:06:11.966 --> 00:06:17.029
I met Harold O'Connor, which is an artist.

00:06:17.069 --> 00:06:18.810
He used to be up in Santa Fe

00:06:18.831 --> 00:06:20.291
and now he's in Colorado.

00:06:21.033 --> 00:06:22.934
And he did a lot of

00:06:22.973 --> 00:06:24.535
granulation work and

00:06:24.696 --> 00:06:26.757
utilizing also a lot of

00:06:26.956 --> 00:06:27.997
different surface textures

00:06:28.038 --> 00:06:28.918
like reticulation.

00:06:29.499 --> 00:06:33.901
So I was really drawn to that style.

00:06:33.922 --> 00:06:36.303
I wanted something that looked more,

00:06:37.464 --> 00:06:38.326
something that looked kind

00:06:38.365 --> 00:06:39.406
of dug out of the ground

00:06:39.687 --> 00:06:41.208
rather than highly finished.

00:06:41.767 --> 00:06:44.970
So it's kind of hard to put

00:06:45.110 --> 00:06:47.271
my jewelry in any type of a style.

00:06:47.290 --> 00:06:53.694
I didn't really follow many

00:06:53.774 --> 00:06:56.456
design aspects other than

00:06:57.675 --> 00:06:58.896
the art of granulation and

00:06:59.476 --> 00:07:01.899
utilizing reticulation and patinas,

00:07:02.038 --> 00:07:02.559
things like that.

00:07:04.107 --> 00:07:04.367
Cool.

00:07:04.908 --> 00:07:07.970
So it's a very naturalistic look.

00:07:08.190 --> 00:07:08.511
Correct.

00:07:08.591 --> 00:07:09.552
Is there some place that

00:07:09.591 --> 00:07:11.173
people can go to see your work now?

00:07:11.192 --> 00:07:12.814
Do you have a website?

00:07:12.995 --> 00:07:14.315
JohnSartonDesigns.com.

00:07:14.475 --> 00:07:15.036
Okay.

00:07:15.377 --> 00:07:16.999
So JohnSartonDesigns.com.

00:07:17.499 --> 00:07:19.940
We've got another question from Instagram.

00:07:20.641 --> 00:07:21.622
And this one is from...

00:07:23.762 --> 00:07:24.502
I don't know if this is a

00:07:24.583 --> 00:07:28.884
word or abbreviation, K-F-I-N-N Designs.

00:07:29.586 --> 00:07:30.505
And their question is,

00:07:31.005 --> 00:07:31.987
which welder would you

00:07:32.047 --> 00:07:33.747
recommend for someone on a budget?

00:07:34.468 --> 00:07:36.569
And I'd use it for small

00:07:36.629 --> 00:07:38.129
jump rings and tack things

00:07:38.189 --> 00:07:39.550
into place before soldering.

00:07:40.975 --> 00:07:43.478
So you could utilize any of

00:07:43.499 --> 00:07:44.418
the Pulsark welders.

00:07:45.040 --> 00:07:46.420
It depends on how small of a

00:07:46.461 --> 00:07:47.382
budget you're looking at.

00:07:48.483 --> 00:07:50.966
The least expensive one

00:07:51.326 --> 00:07:54.728
would be the MPulse 30.

00:07:54.728 --> 00:07:55.110
However,

00:07:55.129 --> 00:07:58.413
it depends on the size of material

00:07:58.833 --> 00:07:59.834
or the gauge of material

00:07:59.874 --> 00:08:00.555
you're working with.

00:08:01.656 --> 00:08:02.276
The Impulse,

00:08:02.516 --> 00:08:03.879
I wouldn't use for anything

00:08:04.699 --> 00:08:06.281
less than 26 gauge in

00:08:06.341 --> 00:08:08.283
thickness because you can't

00:08:08.362 --> 00:08:11.146
turn the power down that far.

00:08:11.987 --> 00:08:12.867
That being said,

00:08:12.887 --> 00:08:16.271
the PJ Welder by Orion does

00:08:16.312 --> 00:08:18.033
have the controllability

00:08:18.112 --> 00:08:21.076
that you can turn that down to, I believe,

00:08:21.076 --> 00:08:22.137
1 volt, which is...

00:08:23.598 --> 00:08:26.281
which is a lot better to use on thinner,

00:08:27.002 --> 00:08:27.742
smaller items.

00:08:30.146 --> 00:08:30.665
From there,

00:08:31.086 --> 00:08:32.969
then you can just go up within

00:08:32.989 --> 00:08:33.589
the welders.

00:08:34.169 --> 00:08:36.293
I personally like the PUK.

00:08:37.533 --> 00:08:39.615
It's something that I have in my own shop,

00:08:41.238 --> 00:08:44.402
and I never turned back after I got that.

00:08:45.697 --> 00:08:46.376
Fantastic.

00:08:47.418 --> 00:08:49.119
So we got another question

00:08:49.158 --> 00:08:51.139
from Instagram from Coyotito,

00:08:51.759 --> 00:08:52.580
and they want to know,

00:08:53.039 --> 00:08:54.160
what are your favorite

00:08:54.201 --> 00:08:55.662
kinds of pieces to make?

00:08:57.182 --> 00:08:58.623
I really like pendants.

00:09:00.563 --> 00:09:01.984
I like anything that is more

00:09:02.004 --> 00:09:02.965
of a large piece.

00:09:03.789 --> 00:09:04.850
canvas to work with.

00:09:05.471 --> 00:09:07.552
Because the smaller the the

00:09:07.591 --> 00:09:10.774
canvas is the the less

00:09:11.714 --> 00:09:13.294
detail I can get into it.

00:09:13.715 --> 00:09:15.696
So my favorite thing is pendants.

00:09:15.916 --> 00:09:16.255
Actually,

00:09:16.655 --> 00:09:18.177
I really love pendants and necklaces.

00:09:19.097 --> 00:09:19.357
Cool.

00:09:20.658 --> 00:09:21.538
We have another question

00:09:21.558 --> 00:09:24.360
from Instagram from hollering designs.

00:09:25.080 --> 00:09:26.900
What do you use for resizing

00:09:26.980 --> 00:09:28.322
rings without taking the

00:09:28.381 --> 00:09:30.383
stone out other than using a welder?

00:09:32.566 --> 00:09:33.706
So it depends on the stone.

00:09:34.207 --> 00:09:36.571
If the stone can accept heat,

00:09:36.990 --> 00:09:38.192
then you don't necessarily

00:09:38.232 --> 00:09:39.453
have to take the stone out,

00:09:39.673 --> 00:09:40.455
depending on the metal

00:09:41.076 --> 00:09:41.797
you're working with.

00:09:43.399 --> 00:09:45.221
If you're working on a silver item,

00:09:45.660 --> 00:09:47.823
I always recommend removing the stone.

00:09:49.568 --> 00:09:50.970
And that's just because if

00:09:51.169 --> 00:09:53.171
it's something that cannot

00:09:53.211 --> 00:09:55.792
be easily replaced Silver

00:09:55.971 --> 00:09:57.293
conducts so much heat that

00:09:57.653 --> 00:09:58.813
you could easily crack a

00:09:58.854 --> 00:10:00.394
stone if you're not careful

00:10:02.934 --> 00:10:04.096
So there are some heat

00:10:06.817 --> 00:10:08.677
heat shields out there that

00:10:08.697 --> 00:10:10.418
you can use on on some

00:10:10.457 --> 00:10:12.337
things but again if you're

00:10:12.378 --> 00:10:14.438
working with really

00:10:15.038 --> 00:10:16.339
sensitive stones to heat

00:10:16.979 --> 00:10:18.678
like turquoise or lapis or

00:10:19.500 --> 00:10:20.980
opals or things like that

00:10:21.720 --> 00:10:22.799
the best thing is go ahead

00:10:22.820 --> 00:10:24.041
and remove the stone out of

00:10:24.100 --> 00:10:26.160
the piece and then repair

00:10:26.201 --> 00:10:27.681
the piece and then it's

00:10:28.902 --> 00:10:30.022
it's a better outcome all

00:10:30.062 --> 00:10:32.861
in all so so doing doing it

00:10:32.902 --> 00:10:33.903
the hard way is usually the

00:10:33.962 --> 00:10:35.982
best way yeah absolutely agree

00:10:36.399 --> 00:10:38.801
So today is the last day for Lindstrom.

00:10:39.140 --> 00:10:41.562
Lindstrom One gets you 10%

00:10:41.562 --> 00:10:42.442
off anything Lindstrom.

00:10:42.883 --> 00:10:44.144
Do you have a specific

00:10:44.283 --> 00:10:45.924
Lindstrom product that you

00:10:46.004 --> 00:10:47.365
prefer or something that

00:10:47.385 --> 00:10:48.405
you like from Lindstrom?

00:10:49.307 --> 00:10:51.368
I really like the Lindstrom cutters.

00:10:52.589 --> 00:10:54.349
They are, and I do have,

00:10:54.710 --> 00:10:55.429
I don't know that the

00:10:55.509 --> 00:10:58.751
number of cutters that I do have, but

00:10:59.769 --> 00:11:00.250
Overall,

00:11:00.291 --> 00:11:02.952
the Lindstrom pliers are some of

00:11:02.993 --> 00:11:04.254
the best pliers that you can get.

00:11:04.914 --> 00:11:07.217
So they're finely finished.

00:11:07.798 --> 00:11:09.821
The joints are tight.

00:11:12.023 --> 00:11:14.625
The cutters cut nice and clean.

00:11:15.927 --> 00:11:16.748
There's nothing you could go

00:11:16.788 --> 00:11:17.609
wrong with a Lindstrom.

00:11:18.328 --> 00:11:18.950
Absolutely not.

00:11:19.250 --> 00:11:19.811
Fantastic.

00:11:19.850 --> 00:11:20.951
We got another question on

00:11:20.991 --> 00:11:22.614
Instagram from Jenna Highlander.

00:11:24.485 --> 00:11:26.525
I'm sorry if I butcher this, Hans Schell.

00:11:27.506 --> 00:11:28.626
Why do you think it's so

00:11:28.687 --> 00:11:29.927
hard for jewelers to find

00:11:30.028 --> 00:11:31.989
production casters and stone setters?

00:11:35.910 --> 00:11:37.072
That's a really good question.

00:11:37.711 --> 00:11:40.033
And the only thing that I can say is

00:11:42.014 --> 00:11:43.154
the jewelry industry is not

00:11:43.215 --> 00:11:45.775
what it used to be decades ago.

00:11:46.356 --> 00:11:49.359
There is not a large influx of jewelers.

00:11:49.379 --> 00:11:53.360
Um, and if you go into a lot of places,

00:11:53.961 --> 00:11:55.802
the, a lot of the, the,

00:11:55.842 --> 00:11:56.763
the jewelers that you do

00:11:56.823 --> 00:11:59.225
see bench jewelers are, are older people.

00:12:00.066 --> 00:12:02.886
So the younger people are not coming in to,

00:12:02.907 --> 00:12:05.649
um, into the industry, which is,

00:12:05.828 --> 00:12:06.570
which is a shame.

00:12:06.590 --> 00:12:06.629
Um,

00:12:08.451 --> 00:12:10.932
as far as getting people that know what

00:12:10.972 --> 00:12:11.452
they're doing,

00:12:13.624 --> 00:12:14.744
Yeah,

00:12:14.764 --> 00:12:16.565
that's a difficult question to really

00:12:16.644 --> 00:12:16.945
answer.

00:12:17.365 --> 00:12:21.245
Well, my observation is as far as casters,

00:12:22.046 --> 00:12:23.446
all the casters that I know

00:12:23.525 --> 00:12:24.807
have more work than they want.

00:12:25.086 --> 00:12:26.006
Yeah.

00:12:26.027 --> 00:12:27.466
And if anybody out there is

00:12:27.687 --> 00:12:28.606
thinking about getting into

00:12:28.647 --> 00:12:29.587
the casting business,

00:12:30.207 --> 00:12:32.268
there is a huge opportunity there,

00:12:32.307 --> 00:12:33.288
especially if you have a

00:12:33.349 --> 00:12:35.149
background in CAD or 3D printing.

00:12:35.808 --> 00:12:36.469
That kind of thing.

00:12:36.789 --> 00:12:37.529
That's one of the reasons

00:12:37.570 --> 00:12:38.711
why we started our

00:12:39.091 --> 00:12:41.011
customization process here at Rio Grande,

00:12:41.032 --> 00:12:43.092
because there's a huge demand.

00:12:43.952 --> 00:12:44.773
During COVID,

00:12:44.913 --> 00:12:46.073
we saw a lot of people

00:12:46.553 --> 00:12:48.815
develop the ability to design jewelry,

00:12:49.535 --> 00:12:50.456
but they didn't have the

00:12:50.535 --> 00:12:51.817
skill set to produce it.

00:12:52.756 --> 00:12:54.538
And I have some friends that

00:12:54.558 --> 00:12:55.458
have a custom casting

00:12:55.479 --> 00:12:56.399
business in Santa Fe.

00:12:57.000 --> 00:12:57.780
And because of that,

00:12:57.841 --> 00:12:59.062
their business is booming.

00:12:59.761 --> 00:13:01.303
And that's why we do

00:13:01.344 --> 00:13:02.924
customization here at Rio Grande now.

00:13:03.365 --> 00:13:04.446
So people can send in their

00:13:04.485 --> 00:13:06.106
CAD designs and then we'll

00:13:06.147 --> 00:13:07.989
grow them and cast them and

00:13:08.729 --> 00:13:10.289
completely finish them, package them,

00:13:10.330 --> 00:13:11.311
the whole nine yards.

00:13:11.370 --> 00:13:12.491
We can do it all here.

00:13:13.192 --> 00:13:14.293
So for anybody out there

00:13:14.332 --> 00:13:15.394
who's interested in doing that,

00:13:15.774 --> 00:13:17.014
we sell the equipment to

00:13:17.075 --> 00:13:18.496
start your own casting business,

00:13:18.677 --> 00:13:19.616
which is a great business

00:13:19.657 --> 00:13:20.317
to be in right now.

00:13:20.654 --> 00:13:22.337
And we can help you get

00:13:22.437 --> 00:13:23.740
involved in the casting

00:13:23.759 --> 00:13:24.442
business if that's

00:13:24.481 --> 00:13:26.184
something that you are wanting to do.

00:13:26.684 --> 00:13:27.767
And we can help with...

00:13:28.754 --> 00:13:29.916
Any types of problems that

00:13:29.956 --> 00:13:31.255
you have in your castings,

00:13:31.317 --> 00:13:32.336
we can actually guide you

00:13:32.376 --> 00:13:33.477
along if that is something

00:13:33.518 --> 00:13:35.239
that you actually want to learn and do.

00:13:35.578 --> 00:13:35.778
Yeah.

00:13:36.019 --> 00:13:37.460
And then as far as stone setting,

00:13:38.801 --> 00:13:40.121
I know here in Albuquerque,

00:13:40.162 --> 00:13:41.241
there's only a handful of

00:13:41.282 --> 00:13:42.863
people that do outside stone setting.

00:13:43.102 --> 00:13:43.783
Yep.

00:13:44.024 --> 00:13:46.684
You go to places like New York and LA,

00:13:46.725 --> 00:13:47.946
you're going to find more people.

00:13:48.365 --> 00:13:48.505
Right.

00:13:48.546 --> 00:13:50.187
But in between the coast,

00:13:50.287 --> 00:13:51.008
there's not a lot.

00:13:51.508 --> 00:13:52.389
And the ones,

00:13:52.629 --> 00:13:54.149
the people that do do outside

00:13:54.190 --> 00:13:54.669
stone setting,

00:13:54.710 --> 00:13:56.291
they stay as busy as they want to stay.

00:13:56.490 --> 00:13:56.931
Exactly.

00:13:56.971 --> 00:13:57.951
A good stone setter can

00:13:57.971 --> 00:14:00.153
never can never lack for a job.

00:14:00.472 --> 00:14:02.214
The challenge, I think,

00:14:02.254 --> 00:14:03.715
that a lot of outside or

00:14:03.774 --> 00:14:05.596
small jewelers or people

00:14:05.635 --> 00:14:06.657
that are starting up run

00:14:06.697 --> 00:14:09.158
into is those people also

00:14:09.298 --> 00:14:12.899
charge a premium for their work.

00:14:13.240 --> 00:14:13.400
Right.

00:14:13.561 --> 00:14:15.361
Because it's all about supply and demand.

00:14:15.402 --> 00:14:16.383
And there's a huge demand

00:14:16.403 --> 00:14:17.143
for what they do.

00:14:17.582 --> 00:14:19.004
And it takes it takes years

00:14:19.063 --> 00:14:20.225
to develop that skill set.

00:14:20.865 --> 00:14:23.607
So, so they can, I, I was, uh,

00:14:23.687 --> 00:14:24.828
I was in a class recently

00:14:24.849 --> 00:14:25.548
and there was a stone

00:14:25.589 --> 00:14:28.351
setter in that class and, um, he,

00:14:28.451 --> 00:14:31.014
he made over 75,000 a year just,

00:14:31.434 --> 00:14:32.395
just setting stones.

00:14:32.735 --> 00:14:32.875
Right.

00:14:33.115 --> 00:14:33.817
That's all he did.

00:14:34.076 --> 00:14:35.158
So for the limited amount of

00:14:35.177 --> 00:14:37.059
jobs that are out there, um,

00:14:38.561 --> 00:14:39.381
you definitely will have to

00:14:39.442 --> 00:14:42.184
pay a good wage to get a

00:14:42.225 --> 00:14:43.706
good stone setter or caster

00:14:43.725 --> 00:14:44.187
for that matter.

00:14:44.267 --> 00:14:44.626
Oh yeah.

00:14:44.787 --> 00:14:44.947
Yeah.

00:14:45.027 --> 00:14:45.447
It's, it's,

00:14:46.879 --> 00:14:47.880
It's kind of the old rule of thumb.

00:14:47.921 --> 00:14:48.760
You get what you pay for.

00:14:48.780 --> 00:14:49.142
Exactly.

00:14:50.461 --> 00:14:51.702
If it sounds too good to be true,

00:14:51.722 --> 00:14:52.644
then it probably is.

00:14:52.663 --> 00:14:53.683
Probably too good, right?

00:14:53.703 --> 00:14:53.924
Yeah.

00:14:54.504 --> 00:14:54.625
Yeah,

00:14:54.644 --> 00:14:57.147
because it does take years and years

00:14:57.267 --> 00:14:58.687
for people to develop the

00:14:58.707 --> 00:15:01.649
skills and to put together the tools.

00:15:01.929 --> 00:15:02.309
Exactly.

00:15:02.330 --> 00:15:02.549
You know,

00:15:02.970 --> 00:15:04.030
the tools are the other thing

00:15:04.150 --> 00:15:06.352
that people don't take into

00:15:06.393 --> 00:15:07.714
consideration.

00:15:08.053 --> 00:15:08.714
There's been a lot of

00:15:08.754 --> 00:15:11.035
technological advances in jewelry,

00:15:11.076 --> 00:15:12.456
especially in the last 30 years.

00:15:12.476 --> 00:15:12.897
Right, right.

00:15:13.357 --> 00:15:14.705
But when you come down to it,

00:15:14.745 --> 00:15:16.654
like the Lindstrom pliers and cutters,

00:15:16.695 --> 00:15:17.217
for example,

00:15:18.173 --> 00:15:18.913
All they've done is

00:15:18.994 --> 00:15:20.154
fine-tune something that's

00:15:20.215 --> 00:15:23.495
been utilized for thousands of years.

00:15:23.895 --> 00:15:25.336
Exactly.

00:15:25.397 --> 00:15:26.956
They've just made it more

00:15:27.037 --> 00:15:30.398
precise with the best materials possible.

00:15:30.418 --> 00:15:32.318
And better feel, better hand feel,

00:15:32.359 --> 00:15:33.940
better ergonomics for long use.

00:15:34.460 --> 00:15:36.080
And that's a big thing is ergonomics.

00:15:36.279 --> 00:15:37.461
Ergonomics is something that

00:15:37.640 --> 00:15:39.081
really has come to the forefront.

00:15:39.802 --> 00:15:41.621
And that brings me to a question.

00:15:42.163 --> 00:15:44.403
Hydraulics versus hand forming.

00:15:44.844 --> 00:15:45.823
What are the pros and cons?

00:15:47.051 --> 00:15:48.812
So hydraulic forming,

00:15:49.572 --> 00:15:52.053
one of the big pros of

00:15:52.114 --> 00:15:53.215
hydraulic forming is you

00:15:53.235 --> 00:15:54.395
can work with a lot thicker

00:15:54.436 --> 00:15:55.235
material than you can

00:15:56.017 --> 00:15:57.798
typically work with hand forming.

00:15:58.798 --> 00:15:59.479
That being said,

00:15:59.958 --> 00:16:01.179
I've seen some people that

00:16:01.220 --> 00:16:03.902
have been able to form some very,

00:16:03.961 --> 00:16:07.303
very thick material by hand and hammer.

00:16:08.705 --> 00:16:11.567
Another thing that outshines

00:16:11.888 --> 00:16:13.809
hand forming there is you

00:16:13.830 --> 00:16:14.931
can do hydraulic forming

00:16:15.892 --> 00:16:18.815
and say you want to make a

00:16:18.875 --> 00:16:22.678
bracelet out of three gauge material,

00:16:23.059 --> 00:16:24.922
really thick, chunky bracelet,

00:16:25.562 --> 00:16:28.325
and you want to engrave in the flat.

00:16:29.326 --> 00:16:30.166
and then you want to turn it

00:16:30.206 --> 00:16:30.947
into a bracelet,

00:16:32.307 --> 00:16:34.107
you can actually do that.

00:16:34.168 --> 00:16:35.307
You can engrave in the flat,

00:16:35.707 --> 00:16:36.948
and then you can form it

00:16:37.009 --> 00:16:38.149
into a bracelet without

00:16:38.208 --> 00:16:39.409
disturbing that texture,

00:16:39.850 --> 00:16:42.390
without disturbing that

00:16:42.471 --> 00:16:43.671
pattern that you put in or

00:16:43.730 --> 00:16:45.312
that engraving that you put in.

00:16:45.899 --> 00:16:47.158
Whenever you're working with a hammer,

00:16:48.240 --> 00:16:49.500
it's kind of easy to

00:16:49.639 --> 00:16:52.100
actually destroy a texture

00:16:52.201 --> 00:16:54.841
or an engraving that you might work on.

00:16:56.062 --> 00:16:59.004
Another thing is back to ergonomics.

00:17:00.844 --> 00:17:02.184
If you're doing a lot of

00:17:02.205 --> 00:17:03.865
production work and you are

00:17:04.025 --> 00:17:06.566
forming 200 bracelets a week or more,

00:17:10.125 --> 00:17:13.167
doing it by hammer and by arm,

00:17:14.269 --> 00:17:15.849
you will wear yourself out

00:17:16.069 --> 00:17:17.510
really quick whenever you

00:17:17.550 --> 00:17:19.132
can get a hydraulic press

00:17:19.372 --> 00:17:22.994
and you can do it in a lot quicker time.

00:17:23.015 --> 00:17:24.836
The piece is virtually

00:17:24.915 --> 00:17:27.438
finished and you don't wear

00:17:27.498 --> 00:17:28.239
out any sockets.

00:17:28.858 --> 00:17:29.960
Hydraulic forming, I think,

00:17:30.119 --> 00:17:32.761
is definitely the best way,

00:17:32.801 --> 00:17:33.982
especially for production.

00:17:36.203 --> 00:17:36.423
Well,

00:17:36.944 --> 00:17:39.807
I can testify to the fact that I need

00:17:39.826 --> 00:17:41.126
two rotator cuffs replaced

00:17:41.167 --> 00:17:43.088
because of decades of hammering.

00:17:43.288 --> 00:17:43.469
Yep.

00:17:43.808 --> 00:17:45.349
But we've got a question

00:17:45.369 --> 00:17:46.550
that came in from Nancy

00:17:47.051 --> 00:17:48.332
Carver on Instagram,

00:17:48.913 --> 00:17:50.114
and she wants to know,

00:17:50.854 --> 00:17:51.795
where do you get the

00:17:51.855 --> 00:17:53.336
clientele for casting?

00:17:57.663 --> 00:17:58.585
You would have to,

00:17:58.846 --> 00:17:59.987
if you're talking about

00:18:00.748 --> 00:18:04.413
wanting to put together a service bureau,

00:18:05.193 --> 00:18:07.056
a casting service for people,

00:18:08.238 --> 00:18:09.720
you would have to, number one,

00:18:10.220 --> 00:18:12.522
make sure that you're good

00:18:12.563 --> 00:18:13.523
at the trade and then

00:18:14.224 --> 00:18:15.266
you're going to have to advertise.

00:18:15.705 --> 00:18:18.548
So, um, I would say start,

00:18:18.768 --> 00:18:21.190
start advertising out on Facebook and, uh,

00:18:21.931 --> 00:18:24.132
Instagram, um, to,

00:18:24.231 --> 00:18:25.512
to pull those people in.

00:18:25.532 --> 00:18:28.015
Uh, you could also,

00:18:28.915 --> 00:18:30.336
maybe you could also go and

00:18:30.436 --> 00:18:33.798
talk to some of your, uh, your jewelry,

00:18:33.959 --> 00:18:34.239
jewelry,

00:18:34.398 --> 00:18:35.880
jeweler friends and see if they

00:18:35.960 --> 00:18:37.340
might want a,

00:18:37.481 --> 00:18:38.982
a service like that to get started.

00:18:39.522 --> 00:18:40.723
So, um,

00:18:41.364 --> 00:18:43.806
It's interesting because I'm

00:18:43.846 --> 00:18:45.387
thinking of one of the

00:18:45.647 --> 00:18:46.828
casters here in town,

00:18:49.050 --> 00:18:50.070
Silver Cloud Casting.

00:18:51.172 --> 00:18:52.633
Charles has been around forever.

00:18:53.134 --> 00:18:55.055
And we refer a lot of people to him.

00:18:55.915 --> 00:18:58.018
He has a very old website.

00:18:58.698 --> 00:19:00.118
He does no advertising.

00:19:01.119 --> 00:19:02.842
And he has more work than...

00:19:03.382 --> 00:19:04.804
than he can do anything with.

00:19:04.844 --> 00:19:05.044
Yeah.

00:19:05.084 --> 00:19:05.243
Right.

00:19:05.584 --> 00:19:06.424
It's all word of mouth.

00:19:06.605 --> 00:19:07.445
It's all word of mouth.

00:19:07.626 --> 00:19:09.228
It's all about quality.

00:19:09.489 --> 00:19:09.648
Yep.

00:19:09.949 --> 00:19:12.172
Because the one thing I know is,

00:19:12.392 --> 00:19:15.836
and I tell my students this at school,

00:19:17.156 --> 00:19:18.218
it's all about craftsmanship.

00:19:18.578 --> 00:19:18.759
Right.

00:19:18.939 --> 00:19:19.459
The, the,

00:19:20.339 --> 00:19:21.842
So design sells,

00:19:22.301 --> 00:19:23.803
but craftsmanship is what

00:19:23.883 --> 00:19:25.104
gets you repeat customers.

00:19:25.324 --> 00:19:26.404
Absolutely.

00:19:26.645 --> 00:19:27.727
When you make anything,

00:19:27.767 --> 00:19:28.807
it doesn't matter what you do.

00:19:28.826 --> 00:19:29.907
It has to have a high level

00:19:29.948 --> 00:19:30.709
of craftsmanship.

00:19:31.509 --> 00:19:33.590
And if you do that and you

00:19:33.611 --> 00:19:34.592
do it at a fair price,

00:19:35.153 --> 00:19:36.012
then people are going to

00:19:36.053 --> 00:19:37.375
talk about it and you're

00:19:37.394 --> 00:19:38.134
going to get the work.

00:19:38.474 --> 00:19:38.955
Absolutely.

00:19:39.135 --> 00:19:41.298
But in this day and age, Nancy,

00:19:41.317 --> 00:19:42.219
you're going to have to go

00:19:42.298 --> 00:19:43.078
on social media.

00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:45.821
You got to put out there

00:19:45.862 --> 00:19:46.501
what you're doing.

00:19:46.521 --> 00:19:46.882
You got to

00:19:47.583 --> 00:19:48.903
Toot your own horn, if you will.

00:19:48.962 --> 00:19:49.423
I would agree.

00:19:49.663 --> 00:19:50.463
And show the world.

00:19:50.963 --> 00:19:52.444
Okay, I've got some more questions here.

00:19:52.484 --> 00:19:57.226
I've got on YouTube from John Roms.

00:19:58.145 --> 00:19:58.666
They say,

00:19:58.787 --> 00:20:01.247
I find that 95% of people can't

00:20:01.346 --> 00:20:03.428
help with how I want to

00:20:03.488 --> 00:20:04.607
produce my designs.

00:20:05.209 --> 00:20:06.348
Also, out of interest,

00:20:06.469 --> 00:20:07.868
what makes a jeweler's desk

00:20:08.009 --> 00:20:09.309
so dang expensive?

00:20:12.711 --> 00:20:14.270
The first part is a statement, really.

00:20:14.692 --> 00:20:15.531
Right, right.

00:20:17.866 --> 00:20:18.868
Yeah, the second part,

00:20:19.009 --> 00:20:20.833
as far as jeweler's benches,

00:20:22.557 --> 00:20:24.059
essentially a jeweler's

00:20:24.119 --> 00:20:25.722
bench is not necessarily a

00:20:27.646 --> 00:20:28.970
mass-produced item.

00:20:29.954 --> 00:20:32.257
Um, it's not like, uh, you know,

00:20:32.277 --> 00:20:34.179
a couch that is made for

00:20:34.219 --> 00:20:35.019
the general public.

00:20:35.059 --> 00:20:37.021
It is a more of a specific

00:20:37.682 --> 00:20:39.263
type of a piece of furniture.

00:20:39.743 --> 00:20:42.707
So that's always going to have a, a higher,

00:20:43.347 --> 00:20:46.790
um, a higher price than, than say,

00:20:46.810 --> 00:20:47.412
you know,

00:20:47.471 --> 00:20:48.833
something that you can find it

00:20:49.574 --> 00:20:51.134
at one of your, your, uh,

00:20:51.796 --> 00:20:53.257
a table that you can find it, uh,

00:20:53.336 --> 00:20:54.198
at a furniture store.

00:20:54.818 --> 00:20:54.979
So.

00:20:55.307 --> 00:20:55.567
Well,

00:20:55.987 --> 00:20:57.406
and the other thing is there's

00:20:57.507 --> 00:20:59.067
minimal requirements as far

00:20:59.127 --> 00:21:00.208
as the materials used.

00:21:00.627 --> 00:21:01.627
You have to use quality

00:21:01.647 --> 00:21:02.587
materials in a bench

00:21:03.107 --> 00:21:04.588
because it's going to be hammered on.

00:21:04.648 --> 00:21:06.628
It needs to be heavy.

00:21:07.249 --> 00:21:08.709
Right.

00:21:08.729 --> 00:21:09.549
You can't have something

00:21:09.609 --> 00:21:10.190
light that's going to

00:21:10.250 --> 00:21:11.490
vibrate or move around or

00:21:11.529 --> 00:21:12.269
anything like that.

00:21:12.970 --> 00:21:16.151
And sadly,

00:21:16.550 --> 00:21:17.830
it's hard to find good materials

00:21:17.871 --> 00:21:18.290
these days.

00:21:18.570 --> 00:21:18.911
Absolutely.

00:21:18.931 --> 00:21:19.851
So that becomes one of the

00:21:19.911 --> 00:21:23.392
big cost issues in benches.

00:21:23.942 --> 00:21:25.903
And at one time there were

00:21:26.544 --> 00:21:28.404
some builders of benches

00:21:30.224 --> 00:21:31.726
that produced incredible,

00:21:32.086 --> 00:21:33.006
incredible benches,

00:21:33.125 --> 00:21:34.987
but sadly they're no longer with us.

00:21:35.307 --> 00:21:35.467
Right.

00:21:36.008 --> 00:21:38.307
Well, it's custom furniture making.

00:21:38.387 --> 00:21:38.808
Exactly.

00:21:38.848 --> 00:21:39.729
So it's sort of like the

00:21:39.769 --> 00:21:40.949
jewelry industry in itself.

00:21:42.170 --> 00:21:42.910
I don't want to call it a

00:21:42.950 --> 00:21:43.931
dying art because there's

00:21:43.971 --> 00:21:44.990
definitely a lot of great

00:21:45.010 --> 00:21:46.510
people out there that are doing it.

00:21:46.751 --> 00:21:46.872
Yep.

00:21:48.051 --> 00:21:49.313
It's one of those things

00:21:49.353 --> 00:21:51.213
where it's a supply and demand issue.

00:21:51.555 --> 00:21:51.954
Exactly.

00:21:52.095 --> 00:21:53.895
Because my first bench I built myself.

00:21:54.517 --> 00:21:55.698
I built it from a discarded

00:21:55.778 --> 00:21:58.579
potter's wheel bench at UNM.

00:21:58.839 --> 00:22:00.020
And I still use it.

00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:01.781
After 30 years, it's still in service.

00:22:02.502 --> 00:22:05.325
So typically a bench is a one-time buy.

00:22:05.404 --> 00:22:07.125
So you may spend a lot of money up front,

00:22:07.747 --> 00:22:09.587
but it's... It'll last you a lifetime.

00:22:09.607 --> 00:22:10.808
Buy you something that's going to last.

00:22:11.469 --> 00:22:12.931
And then to address the

00:22:12.971 --> 00:22:13.971
other part of his question,

00:22:14.010 --> 00:22:17.193
as far as how...

00:22:20.140 --> 00:22:21.300
getting help with how to

00:22:21.361 --> 00:22:22.500
produce his designs,

00:22:22.901 --> 00:22:23.922
my recommendation would be

00:22:23.961 --> 00:22:25.981
to call into Rio Grande and

00:22:26.041 --> 00:22:27.063
talk to somebody in our

00:22:27.103 --> 00:22:28.262
customization department

00:22:28.702 --> 00:22:30.223
because that's what they do.

00:22:30.243 --> 00:22:31.844
They help people figure out

00:22:32.344 --> 00:22:33.585
how to get their designs

00:22:33.884 --> 00:22:34.984
turned into jewelry.

00:22:35.464 --> 00:22:36.826
And they'll help you work

00:22:36.865 --> 00:22:40.787
through what can work, what can't work,

00:22:41.207 --> 00:22:42.166
tweaks and changes.

00:22:42.626 --> 00:22:43.688
We've got people in our

00:22:43.728 --> 00:22:44.748
customization department

00:22:44.768 --> 00:22:45.667
that have decades and

00:22:45.708 --> 00:22:46.828
decades of experience.

00:22:46.848 --> 00:22:46.929
Yep.

00:22:47.709 --> 00:22:49.490
And they'll definitely be

00:22:49.529 --> 00:22:51.769
able to help you with all

00:22:51.789 --> 00:22:52.569
of those questions.

00:22:53.010 --> 00:22:54.911
I've got, well,

00:22:54.931 --> 00:22:57.872
that's more of a statement from L10.

00:22:58.412 --> 00:23:01.472
Yay, I love the host with the most, Shane.

00:23:02.012 --> 00:23:03.153
I gained so much knowledge

00:23:03.173 --> 00:23:03.993
from his videos.

00:23:04.213 --> 00:23:05.314
Well, thank you very much.

00:23:05.374 --> 00:23:06.193
I appreciate that.

00:23:06.213 --> 00:23:06.575
Agreed.

00:23:06.855 --> 00:23:08.474
And I wouldn't be able to do

00:23:08.535 --> 00:23:10.556
it without everybody else on my team.

00:23:10.915 --> 00:23:12.375
The tech team, we've got eight of us here.

00:23:12.796 --> 00:23:14.257
We're here to answer your questions.

00:23:15.196 --> 00:23:17.439
only during the daytime, not at night.

00:23:17.598 --> 00:23:19.539
However, some of you have my number,

00:23:20.060 --> 00:23:21.501
which brings me to this next question,

00:23:21.582 --> 00:23:23.683
which came in via text.

00:23:24.284 --> 00:23:26.705
So for those of you who have access,

00:23:27.205 --> 00:23:28.146
but we'll go with it.

00:23:28.567 --> 00:23:29.728
They're looking at buying a

00:23:29.807 --> 00:23:30.689
guillotine shear.

00:23:31.490 --> 00:23:32.069
And they want a

00:23:32.150 --> 00:23:33.912
recommendation on what

00:23:34.071 --> 00:23:35.653
guillotine shear you think

00:23:36.292 --> 00:23:37.673
is the best buy for the

00:23:37.733 --> 00:23:38.914
money here at Rio Grande.

00:23:39.816 --> 00:23:41.336
The Durston heavy duty

00:23:41.376 --> 00:23:43.679
guillotine shear is the one

00:23:43.699 --> 00:23:44.579
that I would recommend.

00:23:45.285 --> 00:23:46.866
Is that the 30 millimeter?

00:23:47.847 --> 00:23:52.692
That is the not the 30 millimeter.

00:23:52.712 --> 00:23:54.474
That's like it's 12 inches.

00:23:56.003 --> 00:23:57.325
that's the large one that's

00:23:57.384 --> 00:23:58.707
the really heavy one and

00:23:58.727 --> 00:23:59.807
the reason I say that is

00:23:59.867 --> 00:24:01.450
because that one you can

00:24:01.529 --> 00:24:03.270
actually cut up to 10 gauge

00:24:03.332 --> 00:24:07.536
material and so um some of

00:24:07.556 --> 00:24:08.916
the other ones are limited

00:24:09.238 --> 00:24:12.300
to you know maybe 18 maybe

00:24:12.300 --> 00:24:15.663
16 um but uh and also

00:24:15.683 --> 00:24:18.227
you're limited to the size so if you're

00:24:18.767 --> 00:24:20.048
If you wanted to do cuff bracelet,

00:24:20.208 --> 00:24:25.391
or if you wanted to do bangle bracelets,

00:24:25.931 --> 00:24:26.372
you're going to need

00:24:26.412 --> 00:24:27.112
something that's going to

00:24:27.152 --> 00:24:28.633
be able to cut a longer

00:24:28.772 --> 00:24:31.494
strip than a lot of those will cut.

00:24:32.615 --> 00:24:33.596
They want to know if the

00:24:33.656 --> 00:24:35.498
heavy-duty precision 7-inch

00:24:35.557 --> 00:24:36.439
guillotine shear,

00:24:36.939 --> 00:24:38.420
what your opinion is of it.

00:24:38.740 --> 00:24:39.780
That's the same one that we

00:24:39.820 --> 00:24:40.301
have in the lab.

00:24:40.321 --> 00:24:41.001
Yep, that's a good shear.

00:24:41.021 --> 00:24:41.803
That's the one they're looking at.

00:24:41.883 --> 00:24:43.104
That's an absolutely good shear.

00:24:43.124 --> 00:24:44.305
I think you can cut up to

00:24:44.325 --> 00:24:46.365
16-gauge of material with that,

00:24:46.625 --> 00:24:48.207
so anything above that if

00:24:48.247 --> 00:24:49.347
you're wanting to work with thicker.

00:24:50.808 --> 00:24:53.050
And that will cut a blank

00:24:53.211 --> 00:24:54.711
for a cuff bracelet.

00:24:55.853 --> 00:24:57.053
So, yeah, absolutely,

00:24:57.093 --> 00:24:59.134
that is an excellent shear.

00:24:59.534 --> 00:25:00.934
That's the one we have in our lab.

00:25:00.974 --> 00:25:01.255
Correct.

00:25:01.414 --> 00:25:04.017
And it was here before I got here,

00:25:04.057 --> 00:25:05.396
so it's been here almost seven years.

00:25:05.537 --> 00:25:07.097
It's been used and abused, too.

00:25:07.357 --> 00:25:08.699
And it's still going strong.

00:25:08.739 --> 00:25:10.200
We haven't even had it resharpened.

00:25:10.579 --> 00:25:10.740
No.

00:25:10.940 --> 00:25:12.020
And I know that we have

00:25:12.240 --> 00:25:13.761
definitely abused it.

00:25:13.981 --> 00:25:14.182
Yes.

00:25:14.422 --> 00:25:18.325
So... We're not going to say how, though.

00:25:18.525 --> 00:25:20.125
That one definitely is recommended.

00:25:20.145 --> 00:25:20.546
Yeah.

00:25:20.945 --> 00:25:25.328
But we're getting closer to our time here,

00:25:25.409 --> 00:25:25.509
so...

00:25:26.925 --> 00:25:27.605
I'm going to ask you a

00:25:27.645 --> 00:25:29.287
question I ask everybody else.

00:25:29.987 --> 00:25:31.067
Well, I've got two questions.

00:25:31.988 --> 00:25:33.248
The first one is going to be,

00:25:34.087 --> 00:25:36.288
what tool on your bench

00:25:36.828 --> 00:25:40.289
would you call your favorite tool?

00:25:43.892 --> 00:25:47.133
A singular tool or a group of tools?

00:25:47.593 --> 00:25:48.772
According to the way it is,

00:25:49.093 --> 00:25:49.933
a singular tool.

00:25:50.233 --> 00:25:50.973
Okay, so...

00:25:58.020 --> 00:25:58.221
man,

00:25:58.260 --> 00:25:59.782
that's like picking your favorite child.

00:26:01.645 --> 00:26:02.967
Which hammer do you love the most?

00:26:02.987 --> 00:26:05.951
That is the thing.

00:26:05.971 --> 00:26:07.413
Phil had a hard time with this too.

00:26:07.613 --> 00:26:07.992
Yeah.

00:26:09.275 --> 00:26:10.737
I would have to pick a hammer.

00:26:11.718 --> 00:26:15.462
And that is because I think that

00:26:17.227 --> 00:26:18.126
I think hammers are

00:26:18.186 --> 00:26:19.048
definitely one of the most

00:26:19.268 --> 00:26:21.929
useful tools in your, at least for me,

00:26:22.009 --> 00:26:23.150
because I do forming.

00:26:24.971 --> 00:26:27.132
So I would have to pick a hammer.

00:26:27.172 --> 00:26:28.192
And I can't pick just one.

00:26:28.853 --> 00:26:29.813
I would have to pick a couple.

00:26:29.853 --> 00:26:30.452
Okay, that's fair.

00:26:30.653 --> 00:26:31.013
That's fair.

00:26:31.874 --> 00:26:33.115
The next question is,

00:26:33.734 --> 00:26:36.155
what tool do you recommend

00:26:36.856 --> 00:26:38.336
that all jewelers must have?

00:26:40.458 --> 00:26:41.479
I'm really interested about

00:26:41.519 --> 00:26:42.338
this one because there

00:26:42.358 --> 00:26:43.339
seems to be a theme here.

00:26:44.833 --> 00:26:46.493
So probably, I would say,

00:26:46.513 --> 00:26:48.455
I would say probably the

00:26:48.596 --> 00:26:50.837
most useful tool that you can buy,

00:26:50.857 --> 00:26:53.559
especially starting out,

00:26:53.720 --> 00:26:55.020
would be a flex shaft.

00:26:56.122 --> 00:26:57.282
And that is because no

00:26:58.363 --> 00:26:59.544
matter what you're doing,

00:27:00.644 --> 00:27:01.786
if you're doing any piercing work,

00:27:01.806 --> 00:27:02.727
you've got to drill holes.

00:27:02.807 --> 00:27:03.907
If you're doing any setting work,

00:27:03.948 --> 00:27:05.008
you've got to use burrs.

00:27:05.128 --> 00:27:08.310
If you're doing polishing, you've got to,

00:27:08.931 --> 00:27:10.712
you know, you have to use some type of,

00:27:11.252 --> 00:27:12.054
well, you don't have to,

00:27:12.074 --> 00:27:13.315
you can do it hand polished, but

00:27:14.796 --> 00:27:17.077
I think that a flex shaft is

00:27:17.137 --> 00:27:19.921
definitely the best,

00:27:19.941 --> 00:27:21.201
one of the first tools that

00:27:21.241 --> 00:27:23.304
you really should invest in first.

00:27:24.545 --> 00:27:26.006
Is there a particular flex shaft?

00:27:26.205 --> 00:27:26.946
Or a micromotor.

00:27:28.909 --> 00:27:32.991
As far as the specific model of flex shaft,

00:27:33.231 --> 00:27:34.894
I would go with the Ford MSR.

00:27:36.823 --> 00:27:39.724
That is essentially the

00:27:39.885 --> 00:27:41.026
universal flex shaft.

00:27:41.086 --> 00:27:41.967
It's going to allow you to

00:27:42.007 --> 00:27:43.087
do all of those things.

00:27:44.709 --> 00:27:46.329
It'll also allow you to run

00:27:48.912 --> 00:27:50.173
your tooling backwards.

00:27:51.794 --> 00:27:53.035
But you have to make sure

00:27:53.055 --> 00:27:54.656
that you're only using a

00:27:55.297 --> 00:27:56.357
chuck style handpiece if

00:27:56.377 --> 00:27:56.999
you're going to do that.

00:27:59.000 --> 00:27:59.721
And there are some

00:28:00.141 --> 00:28:01.843
advantages to running some

00:28:01.883 --> 00:28:03.784
tooling backwards that the

00:28:03.943 --> 00:28:08.008
SR can certainly do for you.

00:28:08.317 --> 00:28:09.178
So I've got a related

00:28:09.238 --> 00:28:11.161
question via YouTube from

00:28:11.320 --> 00:28:12.942
Vestacha International.

00:28:13.542 --> 00:28:14.545
And they want to know,

00:28:15.105 --> 00:28:17.627
can the Fordham SR motor do engraving?

00:28:18.128 --> 00:28:19.309
And is there a fitting you

00:28:19.349 --> 00:28:21.512
can attach to be able to engrave with it?

00:28:25.002 --> 00:28:25.683
I know there is.

00:28:26.124 --> 00:28:28.346
There's the aftermarket made

00:28:28.385 --> 00:28:30.608
by a non-Fordham company,

00:28:30.669 --> 00:28:31.569
and we don't sell it.

00:28:31.849 --> 00:28:32.671
Right, exactly.

00:28:32.770 --> 00:28:34.613
And it fits onto a hammer handpiece.

00:28:35.032 --> 00:28:35.614
Right.

00:28:36.114 --> 00:28:37.395
And so, yeah,

00:28:37.415 --> 00:28:38.557
there is something out there

00:28:39.297 --> 00:28:39.897
that you can use.

00:28:40.077 --> 00:28:40.178
The...

00:28:43.450 --> 00:28:45.632
The trouble with something

00:28:45.652 --> 00:28:48.394
like that is the precision

00:28:48.414 --> 00:28:50.896
that you can get within your engraving.

00:28:52.519 --> 00:28:53.599
It can certainly be done,

00:28:53.619 --> 00:28:56.362
and I've seen people use it

00:28:56.501 --> 00:28:57.363
in great ways.

00:28:58.044 --> 00:28:59.484
But if you're really wanting

00:28:59.565 --> 00:29:00.965
to get into engraving,

00:29:01.686 --> 00:29:02.946
I would recommend going with

00:29:02.967 --> 00:29:04.248
some form of a pneumatic

00:29:04.288 --> 00:29:05.028
engraving system.

00:29:05.428 --> 00:29:05.748
Lindsay.

00:29:05.867 --> 00:29:07.048
The Lindsay, exactly.

00:29:07.228 --> 00:29:09.808
The Lindsay is the one that I would point,

00:29:11.048 --> 00:29:14.450
especially beginners to, or GRS for sure.

00:29:15.930 --> 00:29:16.950
So we've got another

00:29:17.009 --> 00:29:20.590
question from Coyote on Instagram.

00:29:22.031 --> 00:29:22.971
And they want to know,

00:29:23.291 --> 00:29:24.471
how did you become the

00:29:24.551 --> 00:29:25.932
jeweler you are today?

00:29:26.712 --> 00:29:28.232
And who would you like to thank?

00:29:30.787 --> 00:29:32.588
So I talked about that right

00:29:32.608 --> 00:29:36.992
in the beginning and You

00:29:37.032 --> 00:29:38.993
know throughout throughout

00:29:39.213 --> 00:29:43.097
all of my essentially the

00:29:43.538 --> 00:29:45.278
the limited amount of

00:29:47.000 --> 00:29:48.162
formal training that I've

00:29:48.201 --> 00:29:50.943
had really ended up being

00:29:51.003 --> 00:29:52.384
only two semesters in

00:29:52.444 --> 00:29:55.208
college and then the rest I I

00:29:56.868 --> 00:29:58.349
didn't necessarily learn on my own,

00:29:58.589 --> 00:29:59.789
but it was other people

00:30:00.250 --> 00:30:01.651
that helped me along the way.

00:30:02.172 --> 00:30:03.872
I don't believe in the,

00:30:03.892 --> 00:30:06.354
I do not believe in the, the, the,

00:30:06.574 --> 00:30:07.594
the thought of being a

00:30:07.693 --> 00:30:08.775
self-taught jeweler.

00:30:09.295 --> 00:30:10.434
I don't think that anybody

00:30:10.496 --> 00:30:11.375
on this planet is a

00:30:11.415 --> 00:30:12.516
self-taught jeweler because

00:30:13.196 --> 00:30:14.998
we always learn from other people.

00:30:15.278 --> 00:30:17.798
We learn from, um, YouTube,

00:30:17.838 --> 00:30:19.099
we learn from each other.

00:30:19.119 --> 00:30:21.260
Um, but the,

00:30:21.560 --> 00:30:23.241
the person that got me into

00:30:23.281 --> 00:30:26.042
jewelry and really sparked that, uh, that

00:30:26.856 --> 00:30:28.698
That love for jewelry is a

00:30:30.678 --> 00:30:32.499
lady by the name of Julie German Melka.

00:30:33.098 --> 00:30:36.160
And she is an incredible jewelry artist.

00:30:37.619 --> 00:30:39.141
I believe she's in the Upper

00:30:39.181 --> 00:30:40.520
Peninsula of Michigan now.

00:30:42.240 --> 00:30:43.582
And her...

00:30:45.617 --> 00:30:49.440
website, I believe, is Line Anvil Designs,

00:30:50.760 --> 00:30:51.781
if I can remember it right.

00:30:53.962 --> 00:30:55.163
And she's the one that I

00:30:55.304 --> 00:30:57.845
really will certainly say

00:30:58.185 --> 00:31:01.446
thank you for showing me

00:31:01.507 --> 00:31:03.429
this path and putting me on

00:31:03.608 --> 00:31:04.388
this career path.

00:31:05.049 --> 00:31:05.670
Fantastic.

00:31:06.009 --> 00:31:06.671
So with that,

00:31:06.990 --> 00:31:08.491
I have one last question for you.

00:31:09.071 --> 00:31:10.232
If you could go back to your

00:31:10.252 --> 00:31:11.252
12-year-old self,

00:31:12.513 --> 00:31:14.015
what advice would you give yourself?

00:31:14.559 --> 00:31:16.041
start doing jewelry at 12 years old.

00:31:17.623 --> 00:31:18.084
Absolutely.

00:31:18.443 --> 00:31:21.387
That is, that is something that, you know,

00:31:21.488 --> 00:31:23.549
I don't throughout, throughout,

00:31:23.769 --> 00:31:24.790
I've done a lot of things

00:31:24.830 --> 00:31:25.511
throughout my life.

00:31:25.571 --> 00:31:29.036
I've done, I've had a lot of, um, careers,

00:31:29.236 --> 00:31:30.076
I guess, um,

00:31:30.978 --> 00:31:33.961
everything from being a jet mechanic to,

00:31:33.980 --> 00:31:34.021
um,

00:31:35.041 --> 00:31:37.222
uh, to a locksmith to finally a jeweler.

00:31:37.242 --> 00:31:40.984
Um, and, uh, this is the,

00:31:41.464 --> 00:31:43.066
this is the job that makes,

00:31:44.385 --> 00:31:46.366
that makes my soul sing.

00:31:47.267 --> 00:31:48.807
And if I could have known

00:31:48.867 --> 00:31:50.568
that whenever I was 12

00:31:50.568 --> 00:31:53.269
years old and ran with it at that time,

00:31:53.289 --> 00:31:57.131
the, there would be no limits today.

00:31:57.531 --> 00:31:57.692
Yeah.

00:31:58.352 --> 00:31:59.192
That's fantastic.

00:32:00.252 --> 00:32:00.532
Okay.

00:32:01.752 --> 00:32:02.773
We want to remind you guys.

00:32:04.032 --> 00:32:04.772
After this live,

00:32:04.833 --> 00:32:05.993
you can listen to this

00:32:06.453 --> 00:32:09.115
again on our For the Love

00:32:09.135 --> 00:32:10.276
of Jewelers podcast.

00:32:10.517 --> 00:32:11.936
Anywhere you listen to podcasts.

00:32:12.277 --> 00:32:13.238
We'll have a recording of

00:32:13.278 --> 00:32:14.499
this for you to listen to again.

00:32:14.858 --> 00:32:16.559
It'll also be available on YouTube.

00:32:17.500 --> 00:32:18.520
And don't forget,

00:32:18.540 --> 00:32:20.041
today is the last day to

00:32:20.162 --> 00:32:21.722
use the code LENSTROM1 for

00:32:21.722 --> 00:32:23.723
10% off anything LENSTROM.

00:32:24.304 --> 00:32:26.125
John, thank you.

00:32:26.325 --> 00:32:29.646
You'll never get a better

00:32:30.027 --> 00:32:30.926
set of pliers for sure.

00:32:31.347 --> 00:32:31.748
Fantastic.

00:32:31.768 --> 00:32:32.268
Thank you, Shane.

00:32:32.387 --> 00:32:32.567
Yeah.

00:32:32.929 --> 00:32:33.689
Yep, absolutely.

00:32:34.219 --> 00:32:35.023
Until next Tuesday.

00:32:35.044 --> 00:32:35.425
Yep.

00:32:36.816 --> 00:32:37.096
Take care.

00:32:37.116 --> 00:32:37.398
Have fun.