Guide to really essential silversmithing tools - Part 1: Basic

When I first decided I wanted to start silversmithing after attending - and loving - my first lesson, it was a natural progression to look at what tools I should buy so I could continue doing it as a hobby at home. When I looked into the tools that were available, I was immediately lost in a sea of hundreds of unfamiliar names and types, with very little help to navigate which ones were ‘must-haves’ and which were only ‘nice-to-haves’. At the time I had one book – this one by Jinks McGrath which has EIGHT pages of ‘essential’ tools – and did a bit of browsing forums and blogs, before dipping my toe in that sea.

I made a string of purchases and naturally found that some tools are amazing and are constantly used, and some I found I really didn’t need that much. I had to wait for probably my third order from Cooksons (after about 2 months) before I felt I was really able to complete a piece of simple jewellery. Obviously, it depends what exactly you want to do and make, because each new technique invariably needs a (or several) new tool.

By no means do I have the fullest workbench or the most tools, but I think I’m at a stage where I’m fairly comfortable with the tools I do have… and this has prompted me to write a simple guide to the really, really essential tools for a silversmith.

Basic – what to buy in your very first order:

The following will give you all the tools needed to make simple items to start with, like pendants, charms, etc. Roughly, the below will cost around £160-175, including VAT.

1. Workbench – unfortunately, without this one thing, there’s not a lot you can do at home. I use a £30 pine desk table from Ikea, which lives in my spare room and works great (better pictures in my workbench post here)

2. Bench peg (preferable one with anvil) – your staple surface for cutting metal (not pictured)

For cutting / shaping:

3. Piercing saw - probably your most useful tool, allowing you to cut metal

4. Saw blades 2/0 - good all-round blade, I have had no problems using these for a variety of thicknesses, but the rule is 'at least 3 saw teeth to the thickness of the metal'

5. Nylon (or rawhide) hammer / mallet – for hammering and shaping metal without marking the surface like a metal hammer will.

Read more after the jump...

Building my creative space / workshop

For the last two months I've been gradually buying tools and equipment to do make things outside of courses and classrooms. First thing I would note: silversmithing is not a cheap hobby! There are loads of necessary bits to buy - but as a beginner you can get away with just the main ones: bench peg, piercing saw, some pliers, mallet, files.

This month I got around to buying the main thing holding me back from using the tools I'd bought so far - a workbench! I ended up going to Ikea and buying their cheapest pine table top and trestle legs. I don't have a wood saw at the moment so for now will have to make do until I can get a semi-circle cut - but the table itself works really well as a cheap option.

My 'workshop' is now all set up in the spare room... luckily we don't have guests staying round very often. The beige carpet is a bit annoying, especially when I drop a tiny piece of silver, but I'm hoping when we get around to buying a house that there will be a suitable place for my bench to move to.

I just received soldering equipment in my latest order, so it's meant I've been able to spend my bank holiday making things at home for the first time. In total so far, I've probably spent around £300 on tools, all from Cookson Gold. My wishlist is still growing though - next I've got to decide between a barrelling machine or a pendant motor - I definitely need something to help with polishing.

I love seeing how other people have set up their workshops / workbenches; whether it's inside or outside, all the equipment built up over the years, etc. I'm really happy with mine at the moment - it's just enough to get me started.