[Jewelry making - Article 00085] - Re: [Orchid] Balling fine silver

[Noel]

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>     I'm using a small butane torch. It works really great to do one end
>     of the fine silver, but once the gemstone is on and it's put
>     through a sterling link bracelet it doesn't ball up on the other
>     end. 

    That's because the heat is being drawn away by all that mass. The
    only way I've found to make this work (with silver) is to do the
    second ball with a tiny, super-hot flame such as you get from a
    Little torch or a Meco Midget, which both use fuel/oxy. You still
    need to protect your stone by wrapping in wet paper, submerging, or
    using a product like Kool Jewel. 

    One other type of approach that has been mentioned on this forum is
    to drill a tiny hole, just big enough for your wire, through mica
    and string that on to protect the stone and metal, or try the same
    with wet cardboard. I haven't tried these. But I suspect that
    without the really hot, small flame, nothing will work. 

Noel
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