Fine silver bezel

I have decided to start using thicker bezels, after reading a lot of
comments here. So I went to my catalogs, and Rio doesn’t carry fine
silver strip any thicker than 28g, and Hoover & Strong doesn’t seem
to carry it at all! I know I could cut my own, but I try to avoid
using up my time on anything done better by a machine. So where can
I buy thicker fine silver bezel strip?

Thanks!
Noel

Hi Noel,

My Hoover & Strong catalogue is a little out of date but they have
Bezel strip from 2mm to 6mm widths in 24 gauge.

It says sterling silver, but I have ordered fine silver bezel from
them. It might be a custom order, which will cost a little more.

Nanz Aalund
Associate Editor / Art Jewelry magazine
21027 Crossroads Circle / Waukesha WI 53187-1612
262.796.8776 ext.228

Noel,

Try Metalliferous (www.metalliferous.com). I’ve gotten some nice
thick bezel (24g and 22g) from them in fine silver in the past and
assume they still carry it.

Have fun!
Karen Goeller

Noel,

Now I don’t want to appear to be bragging, but I’ll bet you I can
melt and pour an ingot of fine silver, square it up to the right size
on a combo. rolling mill, do all the required annealing of such a
soft metal, and roll out the bezel to any width and thickness I want
in 15 minutes, tops. Straight as an arrow, bezel for days.

Before you go to the book shelf to find the catalog that has the
right size bezel you need, check your watch. Check it again after
you’ve found what you need, and have called the order department and
finished placing the order. I’ll bet you it’s taken at least 15
minutes to accomplish that. Then you wait for it to be sent to you.
Sure, I’ve had a lot of experience rolling out stock on a rolling
mill, but it is definitely NOT rocket science. Rolling out fine
silver is almost like rolling out pasta, it is so soft, and you won’t
even have to pickle it after annealing, because it doesn’t oxidize.

So I don’t buy the argument that rolling out your own bezel is “too
difficult and time consuming”. Learn to do it yourself, and you
won’t go back to that thin bezel stock, I’ll bet you!

Hey, is there anyone out there who can produce bezel faster? What’s
your best time? Let’s have a contest online! Who’s got the fastest
mill in town??

Jay Whaley

Roll out fine silver wire. It will gain width to a degree (as well
as length), and the strip will have slightly softened edges.

Note that the annealing temp of 999sil is 350C (660F). It doesn’t
change colour. Very low compared to 925sil.

Brian

B r i a n A d a m
e y e g l a s s e s j e w e l l e r y
Auckland NEW ZEALAND
www.adam.co.nz

Indian Jewelers Supply carries a 22 gauge fine silver bezel wire
that I LOVE. I buy it by the roll because I use so much of it. It only
comes in one height–I think it is 1/4 inch.

Jan

Thunderbirdsupply.com has 26 gauge in the catalog

Teri

square it up to the right size on a combo. rolling mill, do all the
required annealing of such a soft metal, and roll out the bezel to
any width and thickness I want in 15 minutes, tops. Straight as an
arrow, bezel for days. 

OK, Jay, how do you get the “straight as an arrow” part? I also like
the square edges of the bezel strip I purchase and haven’t a clue
how I’d get that on my mill. The main rollers are flat and there’s a
small side roller for 1/2 round.

Pam Chott
www.songofthephoenix.com

Noel,

Jay Whaley is my instructor, believe him, I see it done daily and do
it myself. I do not make bezel in 15 minutes, but for sure within a
class.

I personally feel far more accomplished since taking Jay’s class,
and no longer buy reticulation silver. I alloy it and love it.

There are several happy bezel rollers in Jay’s class.

Terrie

Now I don't want to appear to be bragging, but I'll bet you I
can... 

OK, Jay, how about putting your know-how where your mouth is! Come
to Chicago and teach me (and my students?) how to do that little
trick with fine silver and a mill! I like doing for myself, but I
don’t like re-inventing the wheel.

Noel

So I don't buy the argument that rolling out your own bezel is
"too difficult and time consuming". Learn to do it yourself, and
you won't go back to that thin bezel stock, I'll bet you! 

chuckles well while the actual rolling isn’t difficult folding the
fabric of space to set up a mill in my cramped studio I find to be a
bit of a pig. It’s a game of give and take… when I make more money
I can afford to save more money.

The ever amused,
Norah Kerr
www.besmithian.com

Pam,

It’s no secret how to get a perfectly straight, smooth-edged bezel
strip out of your rolling mill. It just takes practice, and knowing
how to do it. You’ll need to take your “too large” ingot you have
poured and use the grooved part of your mill to make a perfectly
squared ingot, slightly narrower than you want the width of the
finished bezel to end up. The bezel will “grow” slightly wider as you
roll it out, but mostly it will get really long.

The secret to getting it perfectly straight? Never work in the
center of the flat rollers. That is the “wild frontier”, in rolling
mill country, and plan on crooked stock if you work the middle of the
mill. Instead, use the edge of the flat roller as a visual guide to
steer the bezel stock straight through the mill. Hold the stock with
two fingers of one hand, braced against the nearest grooves, while
you roll with the other hand. Keep the stock sliding through your
fingers as you roll, maintaining a consistant millimeter or two
distance from the edge. If you can keep that same distance from the
edge of the mill while you roll the stock through the mill, that
bezel will come out perfectly straight. Oh, and just tighten the mill
a small bit each time you roll, and that will keep the stock from
wanting to go sideways, trying to escape the extreme pressure. Don’t
forget to anneal regularly, during the process!

I’m negotiating with a rolling mill manufacturer now to do an
instructional DVD for them. I feel a well done DVD will help
metalsmiths learn to make their own stock consistantly and
efficiently with the rolling mill.

Happy rolling.
Jay Whaley UCSD Craft Center, and the WeddingRingWorkshop

OK, Jay, how do you get the "straight as an arrow" part? I also
like the square edges of the bezel strip I purchase and haven't a
clue how I'd get that on my mill. 

I’ll second that. I love my mill and I too could roll out a piece of
wire in less than 15 minutes … and then I’d spend several times
that (at least!) trying to get decent straight and parallel edges on
it. The devil is in the details, at least in my shop.

Cheers,
Trevor F.
in The City of Light
Visit TouchMetal.com at http://www.touchmetal.com

well while the actual rolling isn't difficult folding the fabric of
space to set up a mill in my cramped studio I find to be a bit of a
pig. It's a game of give and take.... when I make more money I can
afford to save more money. 

You might want to look into the Tardis that Dr. Who uses. :smiley:

Daniel

Hi all,

It's no secret how to get a perfectly straight, smooth-edged bezel
strip out of your rolling mill. It just takes practice, and knowing
how to do it. 

I’m probably coming in from the wrong side, but all I do is to take
the annealed bezel strip and clamp one end in the vice and give the
other end a solid tug with the drawing pliers.

Finished and dead straight. I another life we used to take 10 metres
of 6mm aluminium or 4mmm steel wire and clamp one end in the vice and
the other in a strong hand held drill. Trigger the drill machine and
in no time the wire is twisted straight.

Hans Meevis
http://www.meevis.com

Thanks to a good friend, I finally got a new PePe rolling mill at a
great price. Which is one I can afford. So I am going to take my old
inexpensive India rolling mill, send the flat rollers to my Dad, who
has a lathe and does machine work, and see if he can cut one of the
rollers so it will roll a couple different sizes of bezels, and with
different edges on them, And angle and a straight edge. If it works,
great! if it doesnt, it will become a boat anchor unless I come up
with a great idea for it. Maybe I can weld it on top a vertical
mounted crankshaft and all it modern art? :stuck_out_tongue:

how do you get the "straight as an arrow" part? I also
like the square edges of the bezel strip I purchase and haven't a
clue how I'd get that on my mill.
I'll second that. I love my mill and I too could roll out a piece
of wire in less than 15 minutes... and then I'd spend several times
that (at least!) trying to get decent straight _and_ parallel edges
on it. The devil is in the details, at least in my shop. 

My mill also gives me some wavy or wobbled (or whatever you call it.)
bezel strips, but I simply anneal them and strech them in the draw
bench, and voila, nice straigt bezel material.

As for the square edges, I don’t care much. After I have soldered
the bezel together I have to file the edges anyhow, the lower one
before I solder it to the piece, and I am in a habit of making my
bezels a little larger than necessary, so when solderet in place they
get a afew strokes with the file.

Just my two cents.

Niels Lovschal
Contemporary and Viking Age Jewellery
Classes in Jewellery Techniques
Bornholm, Denmark

Jay,

Please tell your chosen rolling mill manufacturer that you’ve got an
anxious bank of mill owners waiting for this product. If you decide
to go it alone, put me on your waiting list!

Jaye