The Workshop

Yigal Sharabi

<div class="jnlc-container" id="jnlc-container"> <img src="http://static3.shopify.com/s/files/1/0014/5692/files/Workshop.jpg" width="360" height="200" class="floatLeft" /> the workshop The definition of a "workshop" is a place of manual labor where no machinery worked by mechanical power is employed. A "factory" employs the use of powered mechanics. There is no size factor when determining the difference between a workshop and a factory. Thusly, you can have a one man factory if there are powered machines present. The term "manufacturing" is a more modern and accurate description of the modern jewelry construction sites. A jeweler's workshop can be just about any place. There are no strict guidelines to follow when choosing a specific location. Personal preferences and working conditions should be the major deciding factors when choosing a location. A workplace does not necessarily have to be one specific location. In fact, nomadic jewelers in Mongolia carried out this practice during the early parts of the Twentieth Century. They traveled, setting up workshops, using tents and as many hand tools they could carry in a travel bag. Even though they had limited tools and no electricity, these nomadic jewelers still showed tremendous detail and skill in their designs. Many of these works are on display at the National Museum of Copenhagen. The idea of the wandering jeweler is still in practice toady. In major cities around the world, you can find young jewelers on the street corners and market squares making and selling jewelry. On the other hand, there are many stationery jewelry manufacturing sites all around the world. Some have many workers with permanent workbenches and hand tools for each. They also contain sophisticated equipment and large machines that are used among the employees. Similar conditions are found in jewelry making schools. The Work Areas The areas of jewelry manufacturing can be broken down into four basic sections. Of course, there can be more areas than four and many of the procedures performed in one area will overlap with procedures in other parts of the building. The four basic areas of the workplace are fabrication, heating, pickling, and finishing. The fabrication area (featured in the above picture) is where the jewelry construction takes place. The basic necessities in this particular section of the workshop are hand tools, workbench, seat and a bench vise. The workbench itself will be equipped with many different items including a retractable bench pan used to catch filing, a pin holder, mandrel holders, drawers and an arm rest. The approximate height of the workbench is about 35.5 inches. The height of the seat can range between 15 and 20 inches depending on the torso length of the jeweler. The height of the seat should be adjusted to bring the jeweler's eye level above the work piece when it is placed in the pin holder. The seat and the workbench need to be very sturdy. It cannot shake at all while precision work is being performed and needs to be strong enough to have a bench vise fixed onto it. A good solution to this is to mount the bench to the floor. Along with a bench vise, the workbench may also have drawers or racks to hold. These can be used to hold commonly used tools or other small items. A moveable benchwork light is another useful addition that will need to be mounted on or near the workbench. The heating area of the manufacturing site is where the kiln, soldering, annealing and any other processes needing intense heat may take place. Soldering and small amounts of annealing can be performed at the workbench if necessary. If a large amount of annealing is needed, then the process should be done in a separate area from the workbench using an annealing pan. This area should be away from the natural light so that the color of the heated metal can be easily observed. The area should also be relatively draft free to prevent heat loss. The pickling area is where pieces of metal are chemically cleaned to remove oxidization caused from heating. Pickling uses an acid solution mixed with water and alum to effectively remove oxide and flux residue. A quenching tank filled with cold water and soda crystals must also be on hand to rinse away the acid from a piece that has been pickled. Good ventilation is necessary in this area due to the fumes given off by the acid. Again, very small amounts of pickling work can be done at the workbench, but ideally it should be done at an acid table with a hood and an exhaust fan. The table and surrounding areas of the pickling room should be acid proof. The finishing area is the final basic workspace in jewelry manufacturing. When finishing is being done by hand, it is possible to do this right from the workbench. When using a mechanical polishing lathe, a separate area is needed. The lathe should be fixed to a sturdy table where it cannot vibrate. Vibration can cause the motor to burn up more quickly and uneven polishing can also result. The polishing lathe produces airborne dust which should never be inhaled. The lathe also produces dust and fragments that fall into the pan held under the machine. The fragments left in the pan or on used polishing wheels should not be thrown away. They contain precious metals in them. The fragments should be recycled to recover the gold or other precious metal. Other work areas and processes that can be found in the jewelry manufacturing workplace are: Investment mixing, wax injecting, rubber molding, electroplating, enameling and a lapidary. <a href="/pages/manufacturing"><img src='http://static1.shopify.com/s/files/1/0014/5692/files/Back1.png' alt='' /></a> </div>

2008-07-17T09:42:35-04:00

the-workshop 351072

2008-07-17T09:42:35-04:00

145692

The Workshop 2008-11-04T12:44:56-05:00 <notextile> <div class="jnlc-container" id="jnlc-container"> <img src="http://static3.shopify.com/s/files/1/0014/5692/files/Workshop.jpg" width="360" height="200" class="floatLeft" /> the workshop The definition of a "workshop" is a place of manual labor where no machinery worked by mechanical power is employed. A "factory" employs the use of powered mechanics. There is no size factor when determining the difference between a workshop and a factory. Thusly, you can have a one man factory if there are powered machines present. The term "manufacturing" is a more modern and accurate description of the modern jewelry construction sites. A jeweler's workshop can be just about any place. There are no strict guidelines to follow when choosing a specific location. Personal preferences and working conditions should be the major deciding factors when choosing a location. A workplace does not necessarily have to be one specific location. In fact, nomadic jewelers in Mongolia carried out this practice during the early parts of the Twentieth Century. They traveled, setting up workshops, using tents and as many hand tools they could carry in a travel bag. Even though they had limited tools and no electricity, these nomadic jewelers still showed tremendous detail and skill in their designs. Many of these works are on display at the National Museum of Copenhagen. The idea of the wandering jeweler is still in practice toady. In major cities around the world, you can find young jewelers on the street corners and market squares making and selling jewelry. On the other hand, there are many stationery jewelry manufacturing sites all around the world. Some have many workers with permanent workbenches and hand tools for each. They also contain sophisticated equipment and large machines that are used among the employees. Similar conditions are found in jewelry making schools. The Work Areas The areas of jewelry manufacturing can be broken down into four basic sections. Of course, there can be more areas than four and many of the procedures performed in one area will overlap with procedures in other parts of the building. The four basic areas of the workplace are fabrication, heating, pickling, and finishing. The fabrication area (featured in the above picture) is where the jewelry construction takes place. The basic necessities in this particular section of the workshop are hand tools, workbench, seat and a bench vise. The workbench itself will be equipped with many different items including a retractable bench pan used to catch filing, a pin holder, mandrel holders, drawers and an arm rest. The approximate height of the workbench is about 35.5 inches. The height of the seat can range between 15 and 20 inches depending on the torso length of the jeweler. The height of the seat should be adjusted to bring the jeweler's eye level above the work piece when it is placed in the pin holder. The seat and the workbench need to be very sturdy. It cannot shake at all while precision work is being performed and needs to be strong enough to have a bench vise fixed onto it. A good solution to this is to mount the bench to the floor. Along with a bench vise, the workbench may also have drawers or racks to hold. These can be used to hold commonly used tools or other small items. A moveable benchwork light is another useful addition that will need to be mounted on or near the workbench. The heating area of the manufacturing site is where the kiln, soldering, annealing and any other processes needing intense heat may take place. Soldering and small amounts of annealing can be performed at the workbench if necessary. If a large amount of annealing is needed, then the process should be done in a separate area from the workbench using an annealing pan. This area should be away from the natural light so that the color of the heated metal can be easily observed. The area should also be relatively draft free to prevent heat loss. The pickling area is where pieces of metal are chemically cleaned to remove oxidization caused from heating. Pickling uses an acid solution mixed with water and alum to effectively remove oxide and flux residue. A quenching tank filled with cold water and soda crystals must also be on hand to rinse away the acid from a piece that has been pickled. Good ventilation is necessary in this area due to the fumes given off by the acid. Again, very small amounts of pickling work can be done at the workbench, but ideally it should be done at an acid table with a hood and an exhaust fan. The table and surrounding areas of the pickling room should be acid proof. The finishing area is the final basic workspace in jewelry manufacturing. When finishing is being done by hand, it is possible to do this right from the workbench. When using a mechanical polishing lathe, a separate area is needed. The lathe should be fixed to a sturdy table where it cannot vibrate. Vibration can cause the motor to burn up more quickly and uneven polishing can also result. The polishing lathe produces airborne dust which should never be inhaled. The lathe also produces dust and fragments that fall into the pan held under the machine. The fragments left in the pan or on used polishing wheels should not be thrown away. They contain precious metals in them. The fragments should be recycled to recover the gold or other precious metal. Other work areas and processes that can be found in the jewelry manufacturing workplace are: Investment mixing, wax injecting, rubber molding, electroplating, enameling and a lapidary. <a href="/pages/manufacturing"><img src='http://static1.shopify.com/s/files/1/0014/5692/files/Back1.png' alt='' /></a> </div> </notextile>