About this bench

The Setting Bench is an independent editorial reference on the hand tools that seat, hold and finish small work. It is written for the person at the bench and for the person who has just bought a first graver or a first bezel roller and wants to know what the shape in their hand is actually for.

What an entry contains

Each entry takes exactly one question about a tool or a gesture. The answer comes first, before any background, so a reader who already knows the trade can stop after the opening paragraphs. What follows is written in sections a reader can jump to: what the tool is made of, how the edge or the face is shaped, what it is asked to do, what it is not asked to do, and how the result is checked.

Where the material comes from

An entry is written from published standards, the instructions that ship with a tool, trade manuals and archive catalogues. Where a source does not settle a question, the entry says so instead of guessing. Sources are named at the foot of the entry.

The number and the date

An entry is numbered inside its work area, so a reference such as EG-002 belongs to the second entry filed under edges and gravers. It is dated with the day it was last checked, not the day it was first written. That date orders the front page, dates the entry in the feed and appears in the sitemap.