Hand Tools, Equipment and Workshop Safety
What is examined
This domain checks that you can name the common bench tools, select the right one for a task, maintain it, and work without creating a fire, chemical, electrical or hand-injury risk. Questions often combine tool identification with a safety decision.
Core tools and their limits
- Jeweller's saw frame and blades: blade sizes run from 8/0 (finest) to 6 (coarsest). Fine blades suit thin sheet, tight curves and piercing; coarse blades clear chips faster on thick stock but leave a rougher kerf.
- Files: hand files, needle files and escapement files; cuts from coarse to fine. A file needs a securely fitted handle, and it cuts on the forward stroke. Clean it with a file card, not by striking it against the bench.
- Pliers and cutters: flat, round, half-round, chain-nose, side cutters and snips. Protect polished surfaces with jaw covers or paper.
- Bench equipment: bench pin, clamp, vice, soldering block, third hand, tweezers, flux brush, rolling mill, draw bench, polishing lathe and dust extraction.
- Measuring and marking tools belong in the measuring domain; keep them clean and separated from files and abrasives.
Safety rules
- Eye protection for sawing, filing, drilling, polishing and chemical work. Tie back hair and remove loose sleeves, cords and jewellery near rotating tools.
- Fume extraction for soldering, pickling, plating and investment work; a particulate respirator when mixing investment or sandblasting.
- Acids and pickle: store in labelled, compatible containers below eye level; use plastic or borosilicate utensils; add acid to water, never water to acid; neutralise spills with sodium bicarbonate.
- Electrical: check plugs, leads and PAT labels; keep water away from the polishing lathe and bench sockets; do not use damaged equipment.
- Fire: know the location of the extinguisher and fire blanket; keep flammable liquids away from the torch; never leave a lit torch unattended.
- Ergonomics: set bench height and lighting so the work is visible without hunching; take breaks from repetitive sawing and polishing.
Worked example
You need to pickle a soldered silver chain. Use a labelled pickle pot in a ventilated area, warm dilute sodium bisulphate or an approved pickle, plastic tongs, eye protection and a bench tray. Do not use steel tweezers, because steel contamination can copper-plate the silver. Rinse the chain in clean water, neutralise any spill with sodium bicarbonate, and dispose of used pickle according to local rules. The reasoning is hazard control: heat, acid and metal contamination are all managed before the chain is handled.
Traps
Using a file without a handle; blowing dust away with your mouth; wearing gloves near a polishing spindle; mixing or storing acids incorrectly; assuming 'silver solder' is lead-free or cadmium-free; leaving a hot soldering block unattended; using a cracked or unlabelled chemical bottle.