[Jewelry making - Article 00079] - Re: [Orchid] Soldering with turq stones??

[Bill Gallagher]

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    My experience is that you do need to remove the stones before
    soldering. Often the stones will have a backing of some kind, which
    may be flammable, plus, the odds are that sawdust is underneath the
    stones.  To remove the stone, use an exacto blade to GENTLY pry the
    bezel away from the stone until the stone can be removed.  Be
    especially careful around the bezel seam. This is a difficult
    operation to do without damaging a stone as soft as turquoise,
    especially if the stones are expertly set.  If it's a production-type
    piece, the bezels may have small gaps to make it easier to insert the
    blade.  Usually, the top edge of the bezel will get a bit chewed up
    from all the prying.  If so, maybe you can sand the top edge of the
    bezel lower and then lower the stone by eliminating the sawdust,
    and/or sanding the bottom of the stone.  Either way, you've got a
    true pain there with that job (at least an hour's work)  which no one
    will want to pay for. 

Bill

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