[Jewelry making - Article 00047] - Re: [Orchid] Question on trimming down 4mm cabs

[Peter W . Rowe]

========[ Invite a Friend - http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm  ]========


>       If anyone has any recommendations for making this easier, I'd
>     appreciate it. 

    Elizabeth, try this.  Get some relatively large carpentry nails. 
    Common nails, not brads. The ones with wider flat heads.  Get nails
    with heads slightly smaller than your cab size.  Use a sanding disk
    on your flex shaft, or a sanding stick., or just a file, to flatten
    the top of the nail if it's not already flat (some have a seam or
    ridge along the top.)  Stick your cab flat side up into a bit of
    wax, put a SMALL drop of super glue on the nail head, and stick it to
    the back of the cab. If the nail head is flat, and the cab level, the
    nail will easily just balance there while the glue sets.  Once the
    glue is hard, you've now got a nicely dopped cab.  spinning the nail
    shank in your fingers against whatever abrasive you use will be easy
    to do, making it simple to get the thing round.  Check the size with
    calipers, not your bezel, since the nail is in the way of the bezel,
    of course.  Most cabs can be lightly trimmed just with a moores
    disk, using adalox (aluminum oxide abrasive on stiff paper) disks. 
    Or you can use little diamond wheels, especially if you get then with
    a fine grit.  Use them with a bit of water to keep things cool.  If
    your cab doesn't like heat and you want to use sanding disks, use wet
    or dry disks, but i don't much like them as much (at least, the
    moores versions), as they're thin and floppy.  But you can use them
    wet, and it WILL work.  once your stone is the right size, hold the
    point end of the nail in a pliers or something, hit the shank of the
    nail with a small hot torch flame, far enough back from the head of
    the nail so the stone is nowhere near the flame.  The nail will
    quickly heat up enough to cause the glue to fail, releasing your
    stone before it gets more than a very warm to the touch.  If your
    stone cannot take even this heat, then just soak in acetone for a
    while. You can also do the same thing with lapidary dop wax,  but
    it's messier and melts at a lower temp, so any warming of that small
    stone will cause it to shift on the nail head.    Or you can use fast
    set epoxy.  It too, will release when you heat the nail, at a
    somewhat lower temp, sometimes.    And I've also used double sided
    tape, which then just lets you peel the stone off.  It has to be a
    good tape, though, like carpet tape, with a good adhesive.  You have
    to work a little more gingerly with small stones, as they can shift a
    little more easily on the tape, if the stone warms up.  but for what
    your'e doing, it should be fine. 

Hope that helps.
Peter Rowe

____________________________________________________________________
T h e   O r c h i d   L i s t
Open Electronic Forum for Jewelry Manufacturing Methods and Procedures
____________________________________________________________________
Orchid FAQ:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/faq.htm
Orchid Archives:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/archive
Orchid Galleries:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/gallery.htm
Invite a Friend:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm
____________________________________________________________________
Tips From The Jeweler's Bench - Article Archive
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/tip_sear.htm
The Jeweler's Selected Bibliography List
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/jewelry-books
Buy Orchid Jewelry:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/shop
____________________________________________________________________
-Unsubscribe:
-Email: orchid-request AT ganoksin.com Body=unsubscribe subject=blank
____________________________________________________________________