2012 February | The Studio - Jewelry Blog by Rio Grande

Swanstrom Tools at Rio In Motion: A Spontaneous, Scrap-Busting Project with Tim Sheriff

Feb 6, 2012

Posted by Spencer Baum

Those of you who were at Rio In Motion last month had the chance to see Tim Sheriff from Swanstrom Tools demonstrating the full line of Swanstrom pliers and cutters, including the Swantrom Spiral Forming Plier.

Tim Sheriff demo’ing the Spiral Forming Plier at Rio In Motion.

A spiral from the Spiral Forming Plier.

Fear not if you missed Rio In Motion. While he was here, Tim made a video for us about this plier and many others. The videos will be live on riogrande.com later this month.

After a full day of demos, Tim’s bench turned into an interesting little graveyard of copper spirals (and other shapes).

With our showroom teeming with jewelers and tools, it was inevitable that the scraps from Tim’s demonstrations wouldn’t remain scraps for long. When the demo room got quiet, Tim got to tinkering. His adventures started at the Bonny Doon bench, where he and Sessin Durgham started cutting out copper discs using the Bonny Doon Hydraulic Press and the Swanstrom Large Disc Cutters

Sessin Durgham at the Bonny Doon bench at Rio In Motion, holding a 1-3/4” copper disc he cut out with the large disc cutters.

Walking a few steps to the other side of the showroom, Tim presented his spiral and his copper disc to Rio’s Sales Associate Mary Beth Ramos, who was demonstrating the soldering equipment.

Mary Beth, sweat soldering the spiral to the disc with a Smith SilverSmith Torch.

Hmmmm? What could we do with this?

How about put it in the new Swanstrom Heart-Shaped Disc Cutter?

And cut it out in the Bonny Doon!

Interesting results. Shown above, a wide copper spiral on a silver heart, and a copper on copper heart.

Back to Tim’s bench, where he used the Durston Dapping Set to give some shape to the hearts.

And then to the flex shaft bench on the other side of the showroom, where Ronnie Mares from Rio Tech Support polished the heart using a Foredom SR and 3M Radial Bristle Discs.

Voila! Fun, finished components built from scraps in the demo room at Rio In Motion! Are you using your scraps in creative and resourceful ways? Use the comments to tell us about (and show us) your best scrap-saving creations!

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Why You Should Choose Argentium®: An Interview with Cynthia Eid

Feb 2, 2012

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Posted by Andy Sherwin

The unique properties of Argentium® silver distinguish it from traditional sterling silver, but despite all the advantages that it offers, many jewelers are hesitant to give it a try. In today’s post, Cynthia Eid –an Argentium® silver master, shares encouragement, tips, and examples of what’s possible with this innovative alloy.

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Blogs We Love: Becca Williams and Her Swanstrom Disc Cutters

Feb 1, 2012

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Posted by Spencer Baum

Today’s “Blogs We Love” installment features the blog of Becca Williams and two of her favorite work companions: Albie (her Swanstrom Disc Cutter), and Winnie (her Heart Cutter). Read on and be charmed!

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