Play with reflectors (white boards & mirrors). It takes more time than using multiple lights but is very inexpensive. I admit it can be frustrating to rig reflectors without proper stands (which cost almost as much as extra lights).
For your second pic, on a blank surface, try a plexiglass diffuser (white plastic) and add light from underneath to banish shadows (unless you wanted to ground the image -- even then I'd want to float the subjects higher using hidden wire).
For extreme contrast subjects like these (shiny reflections and black grips) take two or more digital photos with different exposures from a sturdy tripod so they align perfectly. In a digital image program (e.g. Photoshop) combine them to tame the range, say the metals from the pics you showed and the grips from a +0.3 or +0.5 EV photo. You can also get extreme depth of field this way (combine different focus points) but the digital work is much trickier.
On the digicam itself, find the sweet spot for lens aperture versus resolution (probably f5 to f8) and use that for best sharpness.