Using Wax from Braces

by Judy Larson

The perfect tools to solve problems can come in unusual forms and from some pretty unusual places.

Instructions

Before soldering bezels in place, I always check to make sure that the number of shims used to raise a stone or coin are just right. Evidently, I miscalculated by one shim for this thin coin.

Instead of 9, I should have only used 8 shims to raise the coin in the bezel. The bezel was tight and the coin would not pop out. I started rummaging through my tiny tool drawer to see if I had anything I could use to remove the coin that would not damage the bezel too much.

Thank heavens I came across this dental wax stick a friend gave me several years back, the kind her son used when he had braces. The strip was sticky enough to pull the coin out of the bezel so one shim could be removed and the coin could be secured in the setting.

Judy Larson's Using Wax from Braces - , Tools For Wire Jewelry, Tools, braces wax

Materials

28 Gauge 3/16" Fine Silver Bezel Wire

H9-28BZL

Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
Purchase Quantity: 1.00 1FT
Price: $12.83
Gold Club Price: $9.62

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Tools

Basic Soldering Kit

G15-4

G15-4
Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
Price: $58.95
Gold Club Price: $44.21

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Category: Tools
Technique(s): Tools

Reviews

Judy Larson

My philosophy has always been "I will never live long enough to learn everything I want to learn, go everywhere I want to go and see everything I want to see!" So, what I make and how I create it is always changing and evolving. I was born shortly after WWII to parents who grew up during the Depression. They always had a "we can do it, we can make it" attitude which rubbed off on my two younger brothers and me. My brothers are amazing and can make and do ANYTHING! When I was a little girl, my mother gave me an old carved cigar box, which I cherish, filled with pop beads, wooden beads and yarn for stringing. That was the beginning of my jewelry making journey.

On a visit to the Grand Canyon when I was a young woman, I was fortunate enough to help a Native American silversmith sand cast my first silver bracelet and bezel set a large turquoise nugget on top. I was in love, hook, line and sinker! While working full time and having a family here in northern Minnesota, my artistic endeavors slowed down but never stopped. I am an artist, scrapbooker, seamstress, woodworker and jewelry artisan. Now that I am retired, I am able to indulge in all my hobbies. However, there just never seems to be enough time in the day to do it all, but I try!

I have been teaching community education beginner and intermediate jewelry making classes since my retirement. Many of my students have been bitten so hard by the jewelry making bug that they say I have turned them into monsters-they just can't get enough. Making jewelry, seeing something take shape from small bits and pieces, is so rewarding that I hope it brings out the "monster" in you, too!

Using Wax from Braces

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