[Jewelry making - Article 00564] - Re: [Orchid] Soldering preset diamond in platnium bezel

[Neilthejeweler]

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

    Platinum solder is too hot for a diamond. It will likely frost,
    requiring you to demount the stone and have it repolished. Your best
    bet is to use 20K white welding solder. Rhodium if the seam shows.
    Other white gold solders will work but the 20 is whiter and
    stronger. 

    Because this old miner is mounted I assume it's breakout from a used
    piece, you must get it scrupulously clean first or wind up with a
    black/brown diamond. Hot lye followed by ultrasonic and/or steam. You
    want to reach the girdle which is covered by the bezel. And just for
    added safety firecoat the diamond, which hopefully gets any residue
    the cleaning missed. I like handi-flux but probably others would work
    as well. The idea here is the flux melts and 'captures' the dirt,
    keeping it away from the surface of the stone. This only works with
    diamonds. While you can (usually) heat corundum any flux present will
    etch the surface.
____________________________________________________________________
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
____________________________________________________________________