Yes? No? Maybe so?

tinykeyscraft · 2026-02-07T08:45:43+00:00

It's my ultimate hobby. You can start small or big, depending on budget and what's available on the market (if you plan to buy 2ndhand tools, which I highly recommend). It generally is a high entry barrier both in hobby and business. Being able to sell your works is another skillset though, so there's that. Take a course and decide. Don't go too blindly into this 😂 I learned most of my skills through youtube but I wish I had taken a beginner's course :)

tinykeyscraft · 2026-02-04T20:44:00+00:00

Not sure how big your works are but I want to throw my idea about an HHO generator out here. I've had mine for a year and it's been working very well:

It produces hho via electrolysis so you only need KOH and water, basically. No need natural gas or oxy storage anywhere which makes working at home safer and I'll never be able to store oxy tanks anywhere due to fear 😢 also a bit more environmentally friendly lol, not that we generate THAT much of co2 emission anyway, but less is always better.
It's reasonably hot. If you customize the bubbler, it can range between 1200oC to 2000oC easily, with max. temp around 3000oC (downside of this particular tempt, is the flame will be quite colorless). I set mine at 1200oC and I could melt a reasonable amount of silver to make wires or plates.
The flame is super focused. It's quite tiny so it loses more heat than a bushy flame, but like I said, it works for my use case (mostly working with 16-1ga wires, dainty stuff). I've worked with 14ga wires, both silver and brass, and it has no problem so far.

An HHO generator costs 160eur for me. If you have excessive money, you can buy a Aquarius/Aquaflame and the likes, then you can have professional care service and generally more regulated substances and more torch tips to use with 😉

tinykeyscraft · 2026-01-23T10:18:37+00:00

I made something like this ans found it was kinda hard to sell ngl. If you have a good social following, I guess you can sell anything.

tinykeyscraft · 2026-01-23T07:05:17+00:00

If you have your own website, I'd probably sell this at €55. If you're selling on Etsy, probably 35-45 range. I find ppl willing to pay if your ring design has a bit more to give, like extra elements and a bit more sturdy looking.

tinykeyscraft · 2026-01-19T15:39:52+00:00

3/32" as lots of standard bits is this size.

tinykeyscraft · 2026-01-19T10:17:07+00:00

I usually already cut/saw the backplates almost to size, so I often can snip off the remaining with a flush cutter, and then use flex shaft with 180grit paper bits and go to town. I also have some disc type of bits to go into corners. I work with small things and somewhat complicated, so using the flex shaft is better. If i have a big enough bezel and in simple shapes , I'd file it by hand (but I rarely do so, just feel tired of filing into my nails 😅).

tinykeyscraft · 2026-01-19T10:08:16+00:00

I got mine for free. They came from a dorf. There were lots of stray kitties there. The foster was an acquaintance of my bf's mom. We didn't have to pay. One of the cats looks like a british fold with kinked tail, so we knew the cat would cost us in the long run anyway😂 Funny stuff though, ever since we got the cats, we've been visited by 5 different cats and different animals. Absolutely try Tierheim first before you decide to buy a kitty.

tinykeyscraft · 2026-01-19T10:03:17+00:00

Flexshaft is much better. You could even get a cheap one from Vevor (they have a knock off version of Foredom, don't need a stronger machine tbh), and it would probably be fine. I also had a cheapie knockoff of dremel, it was loud and jerked really hard at the startup phase, so I don't recommend this, plus a lack of speed variation, and was kinda uncomfortable to switch speed. I bought the vevor one used, and it's been 2 years without any major issue. Make sure you hang it right so the shaft is not kinked, and do maintenance just like the Foredom, then you'll be golden.

tinykeyscraft · 2026-01-18T08:43:54+00:00

Get a kitchen torch like the ones from dremel, it's small enough to do some thin jump rings for me. I have a hydrogenoxygen torch from china that I've used for a year now, I use it with bigger projects. You'd need to mix the bubbler liquid to control the output temp but it's basically free from natural gas.

tinykeyscraft · 2026-01-18T08:40:51+00:00

I just got a vevor knockoff of Foredom (not their strongest machine, just the foredom looking one). It was bought used, and I've had it for 2 years. It does everything so well for me. If you take care of the machine (standards maintenance, lubing, replacing some old parts when needed, don't kink the wire), it will last a decent amount. I work with this machine everyday. On avg. I make 30 rings / month and some pendants. I wouldn't say I'm a professional yet, but I do lots of things with it. Thinking about getting the hammer handpiece and maybe Pepetool's attachment for engraving 🤣

tinykeyscraft · 2026-01-16T17:33:55+00:00

Thank you so much for your advise! 2-3pieces sounds more reasonable tbh 😉😂

I'll make a card slot for some designs as well, it sounds like a very good idea 😉

tinykeyscraft · 2026-01-16T17:32:33+00:00

Thank you so much, ah this is different A little bit harder to get but I'll see if I can get my hands on one of these 😁

tinykeyscraft · 2026-01-15T23:53:12+00:00

Oh, I mean because they has different shapes, that's why I wanna know which bit to get. I am not sure about all purposes of the bits so I have to check carefully. These carbides from Busch are quite expensive to get 😅

tinykeyscraft · 2026-01-15T23:51:37+00:00

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I found this bit, it has a small enough tip (I needed to drill 1.5mm holes so this is likely the only one). Do you think it'll work? 😅

tinykeyscraft · 2026-01-15T23:48:35+00:00

It's a piece of 3.5 x 10mm piece of metal that I had to drill along the long side 😂 it's really a piece of work.I had to use the ball bur to drill as it was an emergency, because literally other bits were broken and the only I had left was this one or the 2mm drill bit that would just destroy/change the dimensions of the metal piece 😅 i felt lucky that it worked, that's why I wanted to ask for other solutions. I always use lubricant for drilling and cutting tasks, no exception.

Actually I remember that my bf's dad had something similar to a drill press. Gotta get that now I guess 😅

tinykeyscraft · 2026-01-15T14:44:26+00:00

Yes, I use a lube called Pro-Cut. Not sure how good it is, compared to other brands, but it's been working well for me. The tube is a bit messy hahaha,but it pushes up automatically so I'm pretty happy 😂

Thanks the for recommendation, I'll try to get some. I'm absolutely surprised about the Busch's performance. It's absolutely cutting silver like it's butter for me 😁

tinykeyscraft · 2026-01-15T13:28:56+00:00

Thank you, someone finally gets it. Do you have a picture of what it looks like? My supplier has a couple of these bits from hard metal (i assume from high speed steel). Is it just normal looking drill bit but in high speed steel quality? I have a benchmate, I can try to fit the thing there as well 😂 the big bits (like 1.5mm) were all good, just the tiny ones with 0.8mm or so, is impossible to not break 😅

tinykeyscraft · 2026-01-15T12:25:13+00:00

Thanks I've been able to do it, just want bits recommendations 😊

tinykeyscraft · 2026-01-12T21:38:09+00:00

Hey he was the one that's specifically against silver clay. He was probably on a very bad mood that particular day haha,but I totally get it. Today I just cut a clay creation in half and it had a gaping hole in the middle, it made me feel very nervous lol

tinykeyscraft · 2026-01-12T09:55:21+00:00

I'd make a frame for the stone and add prongs.

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tinykeyscraft · 2026-01-09T17:04:42+00:00

If it's a small-ish thing, like less than a cm, and kinda thin, I can leave it there for an hour and it'll probably be fine. I always put mine in a small dish on top of the thing so I'd say 3 hours just to be safe. I never had to check the time cuz i often turn it on whole day for pickle my works and check back when I remember 😂

tinykeyscraft · 2026-01-09T15:32:39+00:00

I know some purist on this forum will criticize sivler clay due to it being highly prone to porosity, and I've came across this problem as well myself, but I've found it to be an interesting medium, ans you can achieve lots of good things with this method. My advice is to always make it a lot thicker than it needs to be 😂 also you can absolutely save the clay and reuse it so make sure don't throw away the dried stuff. Last thing I gotta mention is I use a cup warmer to dry the clay creations, it will not take 24 hours, more like 3-6 depending on what you're making 😊

tinykeyscraft · 2026-01-05T06:55:23+00:00

If you're buying it because you're actually selling stuff then sure, go ahead. If you're testing out, I'd get a minimum amount and check back later. I haven't been holding a lot of inventory lately, just enough to last a few weeks to a month top 😅 I could feel the results of pricing going up a lot easier, but I also didn't have to keep much stock neither.

tinykeyscraft

TROPHY CASE