Inside The Jepperson Studio

Where We Build Custom Made Western Buckles, Spurs & Bracelets

Garth and Vivian Jepperson, cowboy & cowgirl silversmiths and engravers are the owners of Sanpete Spur and Silver. They work in their studio behind their home. Well equipped with a variety of jeweler's tools and equipment, the studio is also a temporary workspace for visiting crafts people. Lets have a look inside, where we find Garth busy at work at his jeweler's bench.
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The jeweler's bench is a workspace designed to accommodate the tools of the jewelry trade. It is usually a waist high desk (Garth prefers to work on a tall stool). The bench is actually a wooden table. A part of the work area is covered by a fireproof slab where soldering, melting and heating (annealing) is done. An acetylene torch is used to heat silver to form it and to melt solder to join pieces together. Clamp stands hold small pieces while they are being soldered. A variety of chemical solutions are used in the soldering process, and these are kept in non-reactive containers. A small fireproof dish filled with beads of charcoal is sometimes used to hold jewelry pieces during a heating or soldering process.

Every jeweler's bench has a bench pin. Vivian's bench pin is a flat, rectangular wooden piece, usually about 3 x 6 inches and ¼ inch in height. A large v shaped notch is cut into one side of the bench pin, and the pin is clamped to the jeweler's bench. This tool is used to brace the jewelry pieces while they are being worked without heat. Holding firm against the pin, the jeweler will file, bend, drill, saw or otherwise shape the piece of jewelry.

The jeweler's saw is an indispensable tool that takes a lot of practice to master. The c shaped saw looks like a miniature hack saw with a blade so fine that it resembles a piece of string. The jeweler must have steady hand while using the saw, for the fine blades will snap easily if they are not held perpendicular to the metal being cut.

Vivan's engraving bench has a wide variety of engraving tools, a Jeweler's vise which can hold all shapes of metal that can be put on any angle to work on, a light box and pattern making station. She has sharpening wheels for her engraving tools and lots of light with magnification for small delicate work.

A variety of hand tools can be found in use at the bench. These include various sizes and shapes of files, hand and electric drills, mandrills for forming rings or bracelets, burnishing tools for smoothing edges and an infinite selection of pliers to grip, bend, squeeze or pull metal into shape. Tools for stamping metal are commonly found at the bench as well.

The process of cutting, shaping, joining and bending metal to make jewelry requires a great deal of hand work, and in some cases good hand strength. A cowboy silversmith usually has hands that tell a story. Cuts, burns, abrasions and chipped nails are common, and jeweler's polish which is used in the final process of making a piece, leaves the fingers black and shiny. But that's a story for another time.

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