[Jewelry making - Article 00136] - Re: [Orchid] Using bezel blocks

[Neilthejeweler]

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>     I bought a square one a few years ago on impulse, dwelling under
>     the misapprehension that you can start with a washer shape and make
>     a bezel in one of these. The metal tore every time 

    Yeah a square will do that if you just slam away as will a square
    bezel mandrel. Sometimes you hafta coerce the metal but most times 
you
    persuade it. Never mind the tool the principle holds. One way is to
    make your washer, dap it on a round bezel block first and then use
    the square. In this way you put much less cutting force(think four
    sided chisel here) when you're squaring it out. 

    But while we're on about washers...yes this will make it seam free
    but what if you're doing something in platinum, the waste is
    prohibitive. You CAN use flatwire and deal with a seam. Gentle
    persuasion. Its only rarely that I have seam trouble with this. The
    problem mostly crops up when you're making something rather tall, ex.
    8mm, the metal is under a lot of stress to fold that far from flat.
    In this case what works for me is to make a fan shape from sheet
    stock first, solder the flanks then dap into form. Look at what a
    bezel punch is doing to your washer. Basically you're driving the
    tool thru the inside hole, stretching til the walls start conforming
    to the tapered hole. All that force is on the corners. Its good to
    position the seam along a flat of the punch. 

    Oddly what I use the block for most on a day to day basis, is when
    I'm driving a mandrel thru a bezel to stretch it, using one of those
    anvils with numerous sized holes in it, and I just need a convenient
    hole to accept the point of the mandrel. $65 to do that, go figure!
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