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Workers should always wear an apron in the shop. This keeps gold from filing, grinding, and polishing operations from accumulating in their clothes and being washed down the drain. Thin leather with a tanned smooth surface is best. Cloth aprons, such as denim, are better than nothing, but they will accumulate precious metal down in the fabric. If cloth aprons are used they should not be washed, but sent to the refiner to be burned and the gold recovered.
Brad
On jewelry repair envelopes , describe a stone by color, size, shape only — never write what you think is the name of the stone on the envelope.
Brad
Small changes in the ergonomics of your work space can save you hundreds of steps each day. Minimize wasted effort by using efficient work triangles between your supplies, the tool being used, and your workbench.
Brad
A shop vacuum cleaner is a necessity. This makes clean up easier, and you will then be more likely to do it more often. This vacuum is for shop use only, and should never be used outside of the shop. Save all bags and send to the refiner with the polishing waste.
Brad
Write estimates on the envelope - ALWAYS! Don’t rely on oral estimates. You want to avoid unprofessional situations when the customer comes in to pick up jewelry and says, “But when I left it, you said it would only cost...”
Brad
Purchase roll cage padding from an auto parts store. It's similar to pipe insulation however, it doesn't compress as easily (pipe insulation is only marginal as a pad and quickly deteriorates). This can be used at several places on your bench to aid your comfort. For example, cover the leading edge of your bench pan, or place on your armrest. It can also be places where your handpiece of your flex-shaft hits when you let go.
Brad
When it comes to recovering precious metal, nothing is worthless. However, when you walk into many repair shops you will find people behaving as if it were. Many people do not realize what a valuable asset their scrap is, and have been pleasantly surprised by the amount of additional revenues received from a refiner when a clean and orderly shop is maintained.
Brad
Clearly, specifically, and completely write the repair instructions in terms the bench jeweler understands. You want to eliminate confusing, incomplete, or inaccurate instructions and with them the chance of unacceptable or unwanted repairs. Don’t write please fix or solder. State exactly what the customer wants repaired.
Brad
Organizing your tools is not just a matter of having a place for everything and everything in its place. It requires putting tools in an order that is meaningful to you, the person who uses them.
Position tools in a manner that requires little, if any, extra movement in order to retrieve them and put them away.
Brad
Place a piece of leather or matte board in the bottom of your lap tray. This will aid you in cleaning the sweeps out of your lap tray. Pick up the leather by the corners and dump the sweeps into the container. This also helps protect stones from the hard metal bottom of the lap tray when accidentally dropped.
Brad
