When the new castings come to the bench for cleanup, all work is done with hammers, files, saws and torches.  The sprue, where the piece was attached to the tree, must be filed off.  Any bubbles or other irregularities in the piece must be corrected if possible - if not, the piece is put in a scrap bin to be recast later.  Rings are also sized at this time, as in the photo below.  Rotary tools are used to remove excess metal in the fine details of the piece, such as scrollwork and piercings.  Finally, the piece is sanded with progressively finer grades of sandpaper.   Apart from the design phase, cleaning up the raw castings requires the most technical skill and ingenuity, as it requires as much a machinist as a jeweler.   

 

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