Beading tools and dot punches lose their form and become dull as you use
them. You can recondition a tool at least ten or twelve times, or you may
need a
special size, or perfect polish for a particular job.
They can be reconditioned fairly easily. The best tool that I have found
to
do this is the Bergeon 40 hole "beading block" available from
metalsmithing
suppliers and jewelry tool suppliers. Made in Switzerland, it has four
rows of
ten beads, set down into cone shaped depressions in a steel block, about
1" x 2
1/4". Each row is identical, in case you should damage one of them.
First ANNEAL the tip of your damaged tool, whether it is a "dot"
background
punch or a jewelers beading tool. I usually run the tip of the tool and
part of
the shank across a bar of Ivory soap beforehand to keep the firescale
down.
The tool will darken as it air cools.
Chuck it up in a #30 flexshaft handpiece and true up the cutting edges of
the
cup against a sharpening stone while spinning the tool. Do this slowly and
carefully - check to see how much you've taken off every few seconds. You
may
have to take a bit off the shank side wall angle, as well as the actual
lip of
the tool.
Remove the tool from your handpiece. Place the tool into the right sized
depression in your beading block and strike it gently with a brass or
copper
hammer. Check the result for depth and center. Repeat as necessary until
you get
the "cup" depression to look as much like the original tool as possible.
You may
need to chuck it up and spin it against the stone to get a bit of bevel on
the outside edge. Reheat the tip to red and harden, using water or oil to
quench, depending on the type of steel the tool is made of. If you aren't
sure,
experiment with the water first. The tools are not expensive, so if you
wind up
ruining a couple 'till you get it right… Oh well…
When the tool is hardened, wrap a bit of 400 wet or dry sandpaper around
the
bottom third and clean off the firescale - again by chucking it in the
handpiece and rotating it slowly until you achieve a bright finish. Take
it out of the handpiece. Now you'll be able to see the color change as you
reheat it very
gently with a bushy flame. Do this from about the middle of the shank,
watching the colors creep toward the tip.
Quench immediately when the tip reaches light straw, and finish by
polishing
the cup - putting it back into the handpiece, spinning and pressing it
into a
bit of diamond paste on a piece of hardwood.
As I said earlier the tools are not real expensive, but you will find that
they are very hard to come by in the wee hours of the morning, when that
customer is gonna be at the door as soon as you open for business….
(Copyright - Brian P. Marshall -2003)
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