It’s the right weight, balance, shape, and size
for me and my favorite everyday metalworking
duties, and it lives in a permanent spot on the
upper east side of my worktop, right next to the
steel block and in front of the fl ex shaft key, so
I can grab it without looking. Mine isn’t pristine
anymore, because a chasing hammer shouldn’t
be — they are meant for striking tool steel. I
have a dozen chasing hammers I use during
“chasing only” sessions, but this hammer is my
reliable, everyday friend.
MORE AT WWW.RIOGRANDE.COMRevere Pliers Set
To me, these are the perfect pliers. Well-made,
box-joined, stripped down and totally function-
al, they give you your four most-used shapes
in a convenient stand-up block. I hate smelly,
squishy, slippery, or twisty plastic grips on my
pliers, and these start out nicely naked. Plus
they’re so sturdy it would take a focused act of
violence to hurt them. The set includes chain,
half round, round, and fl at nose, and since you
need two, I added an extra pair of chain nose
to my collection. These pliers live on the upper
west side of my bench with the other “almost
always need them” tools. I’m not a pliers-fo-
cused maker, but I do reach to this set consis-
tently whenever I need a reliable grip on some-
thing small. You just can’t kill them.
MORE AT WWW.RIOGRANDE.COMCenterpunch and Scribe
This duo is among the most time-tested,
essential, and useful hand tools in the
jeweler’s arsenal. Every time you
draw a layout, create a pattern,
need a straight line, mark aCOOL TOOLS & HIP TIPS
HAVE A TOOL,
MODIFICATION,
OR BENCH TRICK
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? Email us at Helen.
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com, subject line “Cool
Tools.” Please include
your complete contact
information with all
submissions.drilling or burring hole, or you need to indicate
a corner or centerpoint of a shape, you’ll need
one or the other of this pair. Eventually, you will
get to a place in your work where the thickness
of the thinnest Sharpie line seems like a mile
wide, so trust me — that’s precisely the time to
get a scribe and use it. Then, saw right down
that straight and shiny, glowing channel into
precise fabrication Nirvana.
MORE AT WWW.RIOGRANDE.COMGeneral No. 13 Drill Gauge
Sure, it’s a geeky salute to the old-school high
school metal shop class I was prevented from
taking because I was a girl, but this tool is a
riveter’s dream — if you fabricate them from
scratch, that is. I adore rivets and cold
connections, and when I don’t have
a torch (see island, above), the only
way I can join things is cold. This
gauge saves so much time sizing
wire to drill bits, or tubing to drill
bits, or dowel to drilled holes,
or wire to tubing — you know,
all those picky but precise
and time consuming things
any self-respecting riveter
needs to know in the thick
of things. Never again
will you create the
wrong size hole for a
rivet. Never.
MORE AT WWW.
METALLIFERIOUS.COMForedom TX
My buddy the TX and I go way back. I’d like
to think my regular care and maintenance in
the form of his “spa sessions” (clean, change
brushes, lubricate, blow out dust) have kept
our working relationship strong, lovable, and
reliable. In a word, I take care of TX, and he
takes care of me. Truth be told, I also have a
Foredom SR at home (and one at the other16
lapidary journal )( Jewelry artist