Where to buy your silversmithing tools????? This is a good question, I have found that you can get silversmithing tools at reasonable prices from a couple of websites that are not jeweller suppliers . The only thing is that you do need to pay attention to the description of the tools you are buying and check out if there is any difference between the jeweller suppliers same product.
For example, I saw a set of files with handles on a website for a very cheap price. The picture of these files did give me the impression that they were the size I required. So I went ahead and purchased them. When I received them they were very small and courser than I wanted. A look back at the description again on the website and I realised that I had read the measurements wrong. Dah!!!
Another purchase that didn’t go well was a pair of third hands connected to a soldering block. It seemed such a good buy as the one on the jewellers suppliers website was three times the price. When it was delivered I discovered that it was very flimsy. It had rubber feet that had been glued on the bottom and when I opened the package some of them had broken off. I sent the product back to the company and they just glued the feet back on and sent it back. Again I open the package and not only the feet were off but the metal plate that the third hands were connected to was bent on 2 corners. That was the last straw, I rang the company and asked for my money back and sent it back. It was very disappointing not only to find the product was not what I expected but even the way the company handled the whole situation.
When doing my silversmithing course we were told that the most common files you use are a flat and half round large fine file. Purchasing the flat fine file was no problem, I bought mine from the hardware. Getting a half round fine file was harder but I did end up purchasing one on a jewellers suppliers website. It was a lot more expensive but worth it.
Now I am doing my silversmithing at home it has made me realise the need for certain things. Hand polishing the jewellery is a very time-consuming process. Using my Dremel tool would be a much quicker method so I decided to find out what I needed. Good old YouTube, I watched a video called Polishing with power tools – Beaducation.com. This was very helpful and once I knew what I needed I made a list and ordered the polishing bits.
The most important thing I think you need to know in purchasing your tools is to really know what you need and be sure what you are purchasing is what you are looking for.