[Jewelry making - Article 00108] - Re: [Orchid] Using bezel blocks

[Bruce Holmgrain]

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    Someone asked me for a live demo. I don't think that that is going
    to happen. 

    Some time ago, I learned that buying heads and sticking them
    together made for some really repulsive pieces of jewelry. Mind you,
    I have made some pretty nasty pieces, but I try to get better all of
    the time. 

    When I make a head with a square bezel block, I start by dapping out
    a hemisphere. No solder joints to shear, just a solid rolled and
    dapped piece of metal. I then use a 2lb sledge or a two ton press
    with a sledge to punch that hemisphere into a square hole in the
    block. when I can get it no further into the hole, I take it to the
    next size down. A flange will develop at the lip of my forming
    pyramid. I just use some snips to trim that off and continue to the
    next hole and the next until I am at the size that I need. I will
    probably have annealed the pyramid a couple of times by this point.
    Now I will use the punch on to to crispen the corners and thin out
    the metal some. This shape can be used as a solid bezel. It can also
    be used as a bearing and undercarriage for a basket setting. It just
    needs a slot cut into each side to provide an airline. With the
    corners flattened with a file, tapered wire prong can be sodered on
    and we have a basket head. 

    Perfect symmetry and a minimum of solder. An additional plus is the
    quality of the metal. Very easy to make a rectangular shaped head by
    cutting down the pyramid before shaping. 

    Trying to carve these by hand in wax is not a quick job. Trying to
    solder the parts all together even by using several grades of solder
    can be a nightmare. I don't investment solder on my bench. 

    A bezel die and punch costs about $65 to a hundred bucks. I have two
    squares (different tapers), a round and an oval. Hardly a thousand
    or two.
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