The type of nails that I used were the cut concrete nails. When I was doing a lot of bronze casting it was not uncommon to get bubbles caught in the many crevices in the surface of the finished casting. What I would do was grind an angle on the point of the nail and sharpen it on the Arkansas stone and then use it to cut/knock then off and ...

That's one of the problems I have found with the craft wire, it is somewhat hardened after being wound on the smaller spools. It doesn't appear to affect the smaller gauges as much as the larger gauges of wire. Then add the stress added by manipulating the wire and all to quickly you have over work wire that is really stiff. That person ...

WOW! That must be some expensive Arkansas stone! Are you talking about a bubble that formed in a grove on the wax as it was being invested? If so, yes you can sometimes just knock them off with a small chisel that you can buy at Ace or True Temper Hardware or a nail, small screwdriver, punch, but you cannot refine the groove with one of ...

Two hours there and two hours back, that's a long commute for a class. I'm have a hard time even thinking about a 45 min. commute one way during rush hour and the trip home after dark. I don't handle headlight glare too well anymore. That would take real commitment, but I guess if you live in California you are used to driving far for ...

I've made some projects with it in the past and didn't have that problem with it unless I had to go back and rework it. That is not a good idea. It's a once through deal and won't take a lot of rework. I don't know what it is plated with but it does stay shiny for a long time and has worn well for me. Like most copper wire ...

Welcome to AJ C.A.T.B.! Sounds cold there. It's kind of cool here today, only 75F for a high and 45F for the low. That feels cool to me and I had to put on a long sleeved shirt this morning. Shivering puts a crimp in jewelry making.

I'm an old tree hugger from before it was popular but it seems more like an advertisement than an offer to help us in pursuit of making better jewelry or solving a problem, so I put this in the SPAM column.

.....and this is good for me how? I'm a stone broke maker of jewelry, not a buyer of it! Too many rocks and not enough silver and certainly no gold.

I agree, I have some that were ancient before I got them and after 30 more years of use are still good to go. I'm not a hard core user like mtlctr but they do get a workout none the less. There are some very good videos on YouTube on the how to's of use, also there is this http://www.ganoksin.com/benchtube/  which is dedicated to ...

Are you near Santa Barbra City College? If so they also have a very good jewelry studio and he teaches there along with Brian Meek.