[Jewelry making - Article 00300] - Re: [Orchid] New to bezel setting

[Helen Hill]

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Hi again Marcie,

    I meant to mention setting the stones. If you've read the posts
    recently you'll have read all about the dangers of setting princess
    cut stones and how vulnerable they are at the corners. I'll tell you
    what I used to do and what result that gives and then I'll tell you
    how that evolved into how I set them now. 

    I use Thermo-loc which is a thermo plastic - soft when hot and hard
    when cold. JettSet is a similar product which works in the same way.
    I push my jewellery into it and set it in my bench vice. Take care
    when setting it in the vice - if it is an open backed setting, the
    thermo-plastic will try to squeeze up into the setting and if you
    don't notice, there's no room for the cullet and pavilion of the
    stone and you have to set it up again - so just push it down with a
    narrow tool while it's still warm if this happens. 

    I don't have enough strength in my wrists/hands to use a bezel
    pusher/ rocker/roller (or whatever they're called) and so I use a
    flat-ended prong pusher (which I've polished to a mirror finish) and
    a hammer. 

    My original method for setting them was to turn in the sides first
    in a sort of 12,6,9,3 pattern and then do the corners in the same
    manner. However, I ended up with a look of having too much metal at
    the corners so now I very carefully start with the corners, just
    turning them over slightly to stop the stone coming out. After I've
    turned the corners down a bit, I move onto the sides. But for each
    side, I work from a corner into the middle of that side, then the
    other corner into the middle. This seems to eliminate that excess
    metal look. I do this for each side in the 12,6,9,3 method. I then
    carefully go round all corners and sides again. 

    After that I sort or burnish the turned over edges, still using the
    polished prong pusher and hammer with a sideways and upwards motion
    to smooth out any tool marks. 

    It works for me (as long as I'm not too heavy handed and don't break
    the corners!). 

Helen
UK
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