The Ganoksin Project S i n c e 1 9 9 6 Jewelry Manufacturing Methods and Techniques
------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ganoksin is run by a group of people who believe in and love what they're doing. If you enjoy our efforts, then please feel free to show your support! Put an Orchid On Your Bench.... Purchase the official Orchid Pin
------------------------------------------------------------------------- In This Edition:
- Thomas Mann - The Business of Reinvention 2. The Work of Mark Rooker 3. Cold forging of karat gold findings 4. Brepohl on White Metals and Alloys 5. A Little Help from My Orchid (CAD/CAM) Friends 6. Plier Tool 7. Home made Soldering Station Venting System 8. Cacholong - A little known opal gets a new taste of the limelight 9. Lets Talk Gemstones - Peridot
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First Annual New England Orchid Celebration.
When: Saturday, June 26th Where: Metalwerx, 50 Guinan St., Waltham, MA Tel: 781 891 3855
The First Annual New England Orchid celebration is coming up fast! If you haven't already registered for the June 26 event, please do so as soon as possible to help us plan for the event. You can register online at:
The Full Day Event with Continental Breakfast, Lunch, BBQ and the Demos is $50 per person. BBQ only is $35 per person. Demos only is $25 per person.
The schedule for the full-day event is as follows:
9 am - Continental Breakfast 10 am - Demo - Orchid Wax Carving with Sumner Silverman 11 am - Demo - Hot Forge Twisting with Munya Upin 12 pm - Demo - Flex Shaft Goodies with Rich Bohr, 3M Company 1 pm - Lunch 2 pm - Demo - Casting Techniques with Dan Grandi, Racecar Jewelry 3 pm - Demo - Crocheting in Gold with Michael David Sturlin 4 pm - Demo - Hammer-setter Stone Setting Techniques with Joel Schwab 5 pm - Cocktails 6 pm - BBQ - Jake and Earls 8-10 pm - Hang out in the Metalwerx Bamboo Garden and talk Join us today at:-------------------------------------------------------------------------
We are pleased to announce the newest Ganoksin feature -
The Jeweler's Selected Bibliography pages.
Based on member recommendations, we have compiled an extensive bibliography of books covering a broad range of gem and jewelry topics.
Now you will have the opportunity to browse our list of Orchid recommended titles, make your selections, and have your order transferred seamlessly from Ganoksin to Amazon.com.
Instead of exhaustive searches through Amazon's vast offerings, recommended titles have now been compiled into one place, including a substantive index for easy navigation. An added feature displays relevant articles from the libraries of Ganoksin which are shown with your book selections.
To learn more Please visit
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In This Edition of Tips From The Jeweler's Bench
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- Thomas Mann - The Business of Reinvention
Not so many years ago Thomas Mann figured that 2002 would be his year to retire. But the projected date has come and gone, and Mann is busier than ever with reinvention instead of retirement. The publication in 2001 of the monograph Thomas Mann: Metal Artist may have summarized his career as a jeweler, but it didn't bring down the curtain his performance. If anything, he's busily proving F. Scott Fitzgerald's assertion that American lives lack second acts.....
Complete Story:
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- The Work of Mark Rooker
Missiles chase one another around Mark Rooker's Circular Reasoning. Beneath the smoke plumes, lustrous silver water ripples on the bracelet's surface and separates two island nations, each with a but and a nearby hatch that opens to launch another exchange of missiles. Rooker describes Circular Reasoning as 'a diagram' of political madness. Tiny ladders lead us through the cross section, extending from the huts, down through the bracelet, to the system of loaded missile silos visible on the bracelet's interior.....
Complete Story:
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- Cold forging of karat gold findings
Cold forging in the karat gold jewelry industry has sometimes been referred to as stamping, coining and die striking. This process has been used throughout history in the making of coins and medals as well as jewelry. Cold forging basics will always be the same as they were during antiquity; however, the fine points are constantly being refined. The process is simply described as forming a finding by using extreme force to drive raw material into a shaped cavity in a steel block. While it may sound simple, there are many subtle conditions that will effect the outcome....
Complete Story:
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- Brepohl on White Metals and Alloys
In practice an experienced eye will usually be able to determine by color and luster whether a piece is made of silver, a base white metal such as nickel silver, or a precious white alloy such as white gold or platinum. If this can be determined by eye, it's usual to proceed directly to the qualita tive test....
Complete Story:
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- A Little Help from My Orchid (CAD/CAM) Friends
Carpal tunnel syndrome nearly ended Jesse Kaufman's career as a bench jeweler and goldsmith. But CAD/CAM technology, [Orchid] a supportive online jewelry community, and a strong commitment of time and money gave Kaufman the tools he needed to return to work as an artisan.....
Complete Story:
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- Plier Tool
This is a great modification of pliers to give you a tool that mimics the shape of your thumb and forefinger meeting, but can get into places where your fingers are too large to go....
Complete Story:
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- Home made Soldering Station Venting System
A selection of illustration showing an efficient home-made soldering venting system....
Complete Story:
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- Cacholong - A little known opal gets a new taste of the limelight
Even in the wide and varied world of gemstones, cacholong is pretty obscure. The stone has certainly generated its share of confusion. Also known as kascholong, the stone is actually a variety of opal, but this hasn't stopped it from being listed as an agate on more than one occasion. It has also been described as either chalcedony or hydrophane opal. The fact that it is sometimes known as "mother of pearl opal" only adds to the complexity....
Complete Story:
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- Lets Talk Gemstones - Peridot
Peridot, often called olivine and chrysolite, is a gem variety occurring in the solid solution series between fosterite (Mg2SiO4) and fayalite (Fe2SiO4). The members of this most common solid solution series of the olivine group are the primary crystallization products of silica-poor but magnesium and iron-rich magmas. Olivine frequently coexists with plagioclase and pyroxenes in igneous rocks. Magnetite, corundum, chromite and serpentine are its associates in crystalline dolomitic limestone formations. It readily alters to serpentine minerals, such as antigorite, and to talc, limonite and h ematite.....
Complete Story:
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Shop the most unique collection of designer Orchid Jewelry available online!
Each delicate orchid, fabricated in wax and cast in sterling silver, by top designers in their field, are available on the Orchid Shopping site.
This growing collection is reproduced in stunning detail from historical texts and by careful examination of each individual flower in its natural form. Each orchid is painstakingly carved in wax with some taking over 100 hours of work. These orchids are like no other on the market and are highly sought by orchid lovers everywhere.
These skilled jewelers, goldsmiths and metal artists have donated significant portions of their profits to maintain The Ganoksin Project. By offering their elegant creations to the public, they are helping to offset the enormous server and maintenance costs by providing access to Ganoksin and Orchid for those who need it most.
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Join the most popular online community for jewelers, The Orchid forums at
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We are here to build a strong pool of information for the benefit of Web's jewelers and craftsmen - and those interested in jewelry and gemstones.
Enjoy Hanuman