TRICKS OF THE TRADE

Ever have the gear of the chuck of a cable driven hand piece cause a friction burn you hand when using it? Wrap some plastic sheet around the hand piece and hold it with a rubber band. You can slide the plastic down to allow the chuck key to work then slide it forward to cover the hand piece gear.

Wrap a long piece of plastic sheet part way around the hand piece and hold it in place with a rubber band. The sheet should be open on the bottom side so that the burr can be placed on the work. Slide the sheet forward so that it is between the burr and your face, this way slivers of the metal that are removed will hit the plastic and fall down instead of all over place.

For those of you who do not have a collection tray on your work bench use a cookie tin under you work to collect metal when grinding projects. Place a large burr with a flat head in a hand piece and clamp it into a foredom drill press. You can mill carving wax to the desired thickness.

There are times when one needs a sharp edge on an abrasive wheel. Shape rubber abrasive wheels on a tool similar to Rio’s diamond coated wheel shaping block. When you are working many rings and/or pendants store them in ice cube trays while working on them.

Use Altoid boxes for storing all sorts of items. Use a labeler to label the contents. Lee Epperson