Probably my favorite set out of all the Nechamkin Chasing and Repousse Tools Is the Small Pattern Chasing Tool Set.https://nechamkin.com/chasing-tools/small-pattern-chasing-tool-set/ It is a grouping of 10 tiny face tools great for fitting into the little corners and valleys of your chasing patterns. They neatly work together as a team and were made to augment the core set. The question I am asked the  most is; ” I chase jewelry and very small work, what sets set should I buy” .  while I would definitely say you should have a core set of average sized tools, the small pattern chasing tool set is a great addition and you will definitely need smaller tools. These guys are what you need to get your tiny little details onto your tiny little pieces. OH and BIG PLUS; they are made 100% in the USA, mostly by Women toolmakers. Maybe I’ll feature them in my next blog! 

complete 25 piece core set

https://nechamkin.com/chasing-tools/25-piece-chasing-tool-set/

This set is sold all together as shown (25 pieces with the container) or you can purchase a 9 piece set now and 16 later. https://nechamkin.com/chasing-tools/starter-chasing-tool-set-16-piece/

Nechamkin Pistol Grip Chasing Hammer is now Back in Stock. To purchase, go to https://nechamkin.com/chasing-hammer/

This Chasing hammer is finally ready and back in stock. I patterned it after the German style pistol grip hammers my instructor at RIT used. He patterned his after the ones his instructors used, etc.  We now have capacity to make more than we used to be able to make, BUT due to the labor intensive nature of shaping them they are still made in limited quantities.  You’ll be happy you grabbed one. https://nechamkin.com/chasing-hammer/

I am really excited that our Nechamkin Pistol Grip chasing hammer will be in stock in days .After a long period of re-engineering the manufacturing process We worked with a partner manufacturer with Otto Frei.  I will be loading it on the website this week. For fun, See the below images. The Nechamkin Hammer is next to a chasing hammer you might find in a jewelry supply catalog or craft store. As soon as they are on the website and ready to ship, I will  send out an e-blast announcement. If you’d like to get that announcement, add your name to the mailing list on  https://nechamkin.com/

Nechamkin Pistol Grip is always wedged with wood. Like materials move together. A screw is just the craziest “wedge” I have seen yet.

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Chasing and Repousse tools, although very low tech, require basic parameters to perform well. Tons of people ask me what tools they need, which shapes and sizes etc. To me it is important FIRST, to know the basics of what makes a good chasing tool.

  A Length of 4″or so is good for most hands. The shanks should be squared (at least somewhat) so you know which way your chasing tool is facing in your fingers. Completely round stock sort of rolls around in your fingers and I prefer them mainly for round nosed tools like beading tools.

 The corners of the shank should be soft and comfortable to hold. They should not be sharp, bent or deformed in any way.  There should be some length to the taper to the tool face for good line of sight. The faces should be satin smooth or polished shiny. Nothing should be left sharp.

The striking end should be left annealed and the working face hardened and tempered to about an inch back. The old machinists’ handbooks teach that the hammer for the punch is to be hardened to prevent a hollow from developing in the face. Hard steel on hard steel is risky. Slight mushrooming on the striking end of a punch can easily be dressed with a file when needed.

Punches suffer concussive blows with cracking force. For this reason they are traditionally made from solid rolled steel, cut to length and ground or forged into shape. Rolled steel has a long strong crystal structure that resists cracking when correctly heat treated.

That said,  I have come across lots of tools missing all or several of these basics. But now  you have a guide to help you decide for yourself.

All Nechamkin Chasing Tools are made using these parameters. I personally oversee the quality. Every tool has my family name on it.https://nechamkin.com/chasing-tools/

CHASING & REPOUSSE TOOLS

Nechamkin Chasing Tools is happy to announce a new partnership with Jewlry Tool Distributor PMC Jewelry Tool Supply. PMC is a family owned jewelry tool supply company in NY State. They are now carrying Nechamkin Chasing Tools. They are one stop shopping for video classes, tools, supplies, resources and of course, Nechamkin Chasing Tools.

https://pmcsupplies.com/catalogsearch/result?cat=0&q=nechamkin

I have repaired, designed and made a lot of interesting silver pieces over my career as a Silversmith-Chaser. I teach chasing (now via video), manage a shop and a 10,000 SF industrial property. I am a manufacturer of tools, a single mother (now home schooler), a daughter, a girlfriend, a landlord, a book keeper and apparently a blogger. I work fairly hard for a modest living and don’t sit around much.

I have reflected on the state of our country, our world and my place in it. If you are looking at it all and searching for meaning you are in good company. With all of these titles and responsibilities, really what matters to me is finding meaning. What really matters to you? For me it is a good day if I can help out my Mom, cook, spend time with my Son/boyfriend/ family and get to bed on time so I have enough energy to do all the rest, all over again, the next day.

May everyone who happens to read this be healthy and find meaning in it all.

Second Video Chasing Class at NSS

Today I taught the second two hour session of my second video conference chasing class. I am in NJ and the student is in the Boston Ma. area. The fist session went about 3 hours, ( one hour over planned) to get the cameras, on both ends of the call,  just right and figure things out together. We spent time getting to know each other and deciding where she needed to start based on her level of Chasing and Repousse experience..

I had a basic plan and we more or less have had an easy time following it. Although video teaching has its limits with a physical sculptural technique, I am pleasantly surprised at how much we can really accomplish. She is doing great. She has some homework and we meet for the third 2 hour session next Friday.

If you are interested in a on on one video class and want to know more, or schedule sessions, please email me at Silversmith@Nechamkin.com or go to my contact page and message me from there https://nechamkin.com/about-us/contacts-resources/

Over this period of lock down over the country, I have been doing just about everything by myself.I am spending time on the things I like to do the most and connecting with people more these days. I decided to finish a limited run of mini matting tools. I only made 50 of them. I made a video (see below)on the process and loaded it onto youtube as well as Instagram. I have also discovered the usefulness of bulk email. From the social media outlets many of you added yourselves to my mailing list https://nechamkin.com/about-us/contacts-resources/ to be notified when the tools were loaded on the website and ready for sale. I sent out my first Mail Chimp Eblast and within an hour of that, 17 of the 50 were already sold.  If you’d like to grab one of these tools click this link. https://nechamkin.com/chasing-tools/limited-edition-tools/

I found that I am digging for some motivation these days. Normally it is easy to overlook the things we really want to be working on for the pressure of the things we think we should be working on or think we have to be working on. With the slowed pace of things lately I have taken stock of that in my own work with this piece; (shown above). It came in and became a pet project in 2016 and has been repaired painstakingly section by section a little at a time. I’m always so busy and rushing that it has just sat and sat and sat   I decided to get it finished up!

It is easy to lose sight of our passions; those things that get us really fired up. For me, running a shop often eclipses any of the joy I get from silversmithing. With the phones a little quiet and suppliers delayed, I realized I can bring some things I have been itching to get at, onto the workbench.

I have picked at this repair for almost 4 full years now. I let the pressure of everyday business get in the way of the work I really want to be doing. So this week it is out on the bench to at least, make it into the home stretch. It has been completely cut apart, re-shaped and re-constructed. I just managed to get the base put back together.

Time to finish it up.  Some of my people are gardening, some are cooking a lot. What are you re-discovering with the stunted pace of things ? Please sign up for my mailing list if you like and stay tuned for the chalice!

Hi there Chasers. I have an interesting development. With the https://nechamkin.com/  phones being  quiet I am suddenly getting a lot of my work done. It looks like I will be ahead of my work load soon; and I found  a fun opportunity has just presented itself.

A woman (we’ll call her Mary) called me, inquiring about purchasing some chasing and repousse tools. Last week, a chasing and repousse class she was in cancelled midway through and left her and her fellow students in a lurch.  I decided to offer a free (virtual) quarantine chasing and repousse class on zoom for her and 3 other classmates.

During this time it is important for us to stay connected to our work, our families, friends and colleagues. It will  help us all to remain positive and ease our collective anxieties.  I look forward to the little free fun quarantine  virtual chasing and repousse class with Mary and her friends. We’ll see where it goes. Maybe I will make that a regular thing. Remember to support your favorite vendors and artists during this difficult time. https://www.ottofrei.com/,https://www.echristopherandsons.com/ and https://metalsmithsociety.com/ are 3 of my favorites. Thanks for reading and please subscribe to my quarterly mailing list