May 10, 2008
May 08, 2008
Clean Hands
Before setting colored stones wash your hands, and clean off your bench top, bench pin, and lap tray. Metal filings and abrasive particles on your bench and hands can scratch soft stones during setting.
Brad
May 06, 2008
May 03, 2008
Colored Stones
When setting colored stones, use a head or crown that is slightly larger than the head you would set the same size diamond. This larger size is needed to accommodate the larger pavilion on color stones.
Brad
May 01, 2008
Azures - A Jour
After drilling the holes, turn the jewelry over and clean up the back of the plate. If the plate is thin, all you can do is scrape away any burs and polish with a bristle brush. If the plate is thick enough, you need to cut away some of the metal surrounding the holes. These cuts are called azures. Azure is the American English derivative of the French term a jour or adjoure.
The easiest method to cut an azure is to taper the hole using a bud or cone bur. Then polish the taper with a hard felt point in your flex-shaft.
On finer jewelry, you will want to cut a square or triangle shaped azure. The results look like bright cutting on the backside of the jewelry. To begin, cut a tapered hole with a bud bur. Then, using a hart bur held sideways cut your corners in each hole. Next, use a small wheel bur to clean away the metal between the corners. Then use a polished flat graver to clean up and polish your cuts.
Brad
April 29, 2008
April 03, 2008
Watch Out Below!
Before beginning to set any stone, remove all tools from your lap tray. Even a diamond can be chipped it if hits a hard steel tool when dropped.
Brad
April 01, 2008
The Thick and Thin of It
When setting colored stones with an uneven pavilion in clusters or as side stones, set the thicker portion to the outside of the mounting where it will receive more abuse. If the stone is set with the thinner edge to the outside, it maybe chipped while wearing.
Brad
March 29, 2008
Too Thin a Skin
Before bead setting stones, properly
measure the thickness of your metal. At a minimum, the metal should be as thick as the distance between the girdle and the culet.
If the metal is too thin, you will not have enough metal to get a good bead.
If the metal is particularly thin, use a setting bur that is slightly dull. Then, rather than cutting the metal away cleanly, it will push some of the metal down. This metal will bulge down below the plate supporting the stone.
Brad
March 27, 2008
An Angle on Setting
When channel setting, file the tops of the channel wall at a 30-degree angle. Then, hammer the channel wall at this angle and the metal will form down and out over the stones.
Brad
