When having trouble with the Genie "gouging" your cab on the flex wheels, go to the flat lap and use the hard discs.  they are fitted with diamond impregnated resin pads and will not gouge your material.  That should take care of the problem.

By Anne Bair.  Reprinted with permission from the April 2011 Cobb-L-Stones.

Tool marks on finished wire-wrapped jewelry are not desirable but hard to avoid when you are just learning.  When you first purchase flat-nose and chain-nose pliers, use  needle files or a metal emory board to file the edges of the jaws to remove any metal burs or sharp edges.  If you are still maring the wire, line the nose of your pliers with a thin piece of quilting tape.  With practice you will lighten your grip and eliminate most tool marks. 

By Ruth Rainey.  Reprinted with permission from the April 2011 Cobb-L-Stones Newsletter.

When I first learned faceting, more years ago that I want to remember, I was taught by an old Swedish friend.  He believed in the "School of Hard Knocks" method of teaching.  When I first started faceting, I asked him what I should dop my stone with and he said "Try this one".  I got a couple of facets done and he told me to apply more pressure.  I did.  When I found the stone on the floor, I decided to dop it with a wax similar to black wax.  I have been using black wax ever since.  I have tried others but have had the best success with black wax.

Here is a website that expert faceters know and use.  It explains how to use glues and epoxy and other ways to dop.  Look up dopping at http://www.usfacetersguild.org/index_faqs.shtml.

By Dave Butler.  Reprinted with permission from the March 2011 Cobb-L-Stones Newsletter.

If you are going between the oil saws and the cabbing machines, be sure to wash all the oil off your hands or you will never get a good polish on your stone.  Even a little oil on your hands will gravitate to the wheels.

By Anne Bair.  Reprinted with permission from the March 2011 Cobb-L-Stones Newsletter.

When tumbling jewelry, instead of using the original formula of Dawn in your tumbler, use Tumbler Soap (available from JFF).  Dawn can aid in the break down of the rubber in the tumbler barrel whereas Tumbler Soap won't.

By Ruth Rainey.  Reprinted with permission from the March 2011 Cobb-L-Stones Newsletter.

The term "work hardening" refers to the compression of a metal to make the metal harder.   If you don't have a tumbler to tumble your finished ear wires, use a rubber or rawhide mallet on your bench block to work harden the ear wires.  Rubber hammers harden the wire without flattening it.

By Ruth Rainey.  Reprinted with permission from the February 2011 Cobb-L-Stones Newsletter.