[Jewelry making - Article 00401] - Re: [Orchid] New to bezel setting

[Connie Langan]

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Marcimarie,

    First I will describe the problems you are having as I see it, then
    some solutions. 

    First: As someone who is fairly new at soldering, I think I
    recognize the main problem you are experiencing. That is,
    insufficient heat. The items you are using to hold down the bezel
    against the sheet are large heat sinks. They need to be at least as
    hot as the metal itself to not pull heat away from your work. 

    Second, filing an item to create an absolutely flat surface is
    frustrating. 

    1. A butane torch does not get as hot as the average jeweler's
    choice of torch, which is gas and oxygen or gas and air, usually
    propane, natural gas or acetylene for the gas. These are much
    hotter, with not only more intensity of heat but also more volume.
    Jewelery makers choose them over butane because they start wanting
    to use hard solder and heat larger pieces, and they need more heat
    to do so. 

    Without getting a new torch you can try using thin binding wire to
    press your bezels down, instead of larger items. You just have to
    attach it so it does not bind too near the previous solder joint, so
    it won't get stuck to the piece. You tie it on like a twist tie.
    Actually tying binding wire is an art in itself. I found good
    information in a book called Jewelry Making by Murray Bovin, and
    another one called Form Emphasis for Metalsmiths by Heikki Seppa. 

    For a simple bezel you would just bind it like a ribbon around a
    wrapped present, its lines dividing the work into 4. Then twist-tie
    the ends away from the piece - not on the bottom, but somewhere in
    the air between the bezel and back sheet. 

    It also helps to make a little kink in the wire "in the air" on each
    side, so it will stretch, while still pressing down. The expansion
    and contraction of the piece and the wire makes it possible that the
    wire might contract and dig into your piece if you don't. I wish I
    could draw you a picture here but think of a wire with a kink or a
    fold in it instead of being a straight line. 

    Binding wire will absorb much less heat than a big old pair of
    tweezers. 

    I have gotten instructions on this forum to "raise a stitch" to keep
    bezels in place but that is more for lateral stabilization, not
    vertical. 

    2. Instead of filing the bottom of your bezel flat, glue or stick
    with 2-sided tape some sandpaper (the wet/ dry kind) onto a flat
    piece of acrylic (like fake windowpane) sand-side up of course, and
    rub the bezel on that, in little circles. It will flatten your bezel
    bottom exactly, unlike a file and the human hand which is impossible
    to control against creating facets. 

    I hope this helps you! 

Connie L.
www.papayani.com
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