A Real, Buddy-Bur

Dear everyone.

This essay was originally written for the well known BENCH magazine many years ago! I decided to “Reinvent the wheel” by modernizing the many uses of a bud bur!

After 3-4 weeks of writing & taking 26 photographs, I’ve finally just finished this essay. I attempted to cover all aspects of the many uses of a bud bur! I think I can rest for a day or two, as now I must start another interesting essay named 'Star-Setting". Most of the photographs are already sitting in my archives, but rest assured I’ll find some other series of photo’s needing to be used.

If there are any errors or omissions, please let me know asap. I have that opportunity in correcting or rewriting any section of any of my essays. ** If you wish to print and share essays with anyone, please do so! Above all, this information is for free!**


A Real Buddy for you, it’s called a Bud bur!

(In this ‘How-to’ text, I’ve decided to forgo using the 14 year archived “BENCH” magazine essay. I’m going to rewrite it without any advertisements, as this will be with more updated photos, at some date in the next month or so!

As there are many aspects of Bud Bur Cleaning, Carving to Creating Beads, I’m trying to demonstrate examples of each phase of setting Princess & Baguette stones.
As a Diamond Setter, I deal greatly with details in these essays! This is my prefered way of explaining different methods in using setting tools.

There is no other singular bur that can do so many things and with so much relative ease! I will attempt to show just how important these burs really are.

IMG_6039

One of the most interesting burs you can have on your bench, is a Bud bur. Why so? Because it’s one of the most diverse mini-tools at our disposal.

Whatever size you choose, these are your ‘workhorses’ at your bench. Since I wrote this essay in the “Bench” magazine, circa 2004 A.D. I have developed many newer uses for these delightful & very useful little burs!

Buddy%20Bur%232

Buddy%20Bur%231
Magazine diagrams are good, but photographs from the setters bench, are much nicer!"

"If this isn’t a ‘true friend’ at your bench, then what else is?”

One of the most interesting burs you can have on your bench, is a Bud bur. Why so? This is because this is one of the most diverse ‘mini-tools’, at our disposal.

BTW, some of these photographs were duplicated in a few setting topics, why is this? Two photographs can answer many questions!

I use these burs on a continual basis: for opening holes, recutting Azure patterns, cutting ‘Bearing-Seats’ and acting as a ‘mini-file’ and of course, using this bur to prepare a seat for stone setting!

As you can see they come in so many different setting uses; from a little #006 to a humongous #050, (or as it’s commonly known as a bur of 5.00mm in diameter). If you are looking for a #005 aka .005mm’s, they don’t make burs this small anymore, pity!

big%20bud%20bur

I will be showing just how a basic bud bur #006 & #007 can easily cut the opening of the “gallery” of a Baguette setting.

In this essay I will not give lessons on “How to Set a Baguette”, or a “4-Claw setting”. But I’ll use this essay to show how these burs can help you in variety of stone settings. This bur, all by itself, greatly assists the setter in the initial rough-cutting for the “Bright-Cutting” processes in preparing for the “Fish-Tail” intricate carving & designing!

Let us suppose that your High Speed Steel bur doesn’t allow for a thick girdle. I would use this bur to carve a seat into the wider 4-claw head, what are you going to do?

IMG_6117

HSS%20reshaping

*My ‘professional suggestion’ is: To put your Bud-Shaped bur against the wide girdle (as shown). Then you can make a new and thicker ‘Bearing-Cut’ to now allow for this very wide stone!!

When you are planning to make a series of finely cut, Pave’ setting. This one single bur can act as a ‘mini-file’ and it can be used as it’s separating the beads. No need for a file, separating disk, or use any other bur, as these could & might very well ruin your delicate setting!

bud-carving

When you are needing to set Princess-cut shaped stones & you can’t use your ‘High Speed Steel’ undercutting bur, now what can you do? You have little or no other option, than to use your ‘Bud Bur’ to cut the ‘horizontal’ Princess-cut “Girdle” bearings.

bearing%20cuts

Underneath ‘literally’ every setting hole, you can use your small bud-bur to create or repair an Azure pattern to open up the hole. Thus making it GREAT LOOKING and of course… Looking so very Professional!which you all are !..:>)

Azure%20cleaning%20corners

Can you create a “4-Claw, Prong Pattern” made from a semi-round wedding band? It’s really just so easy, when you are wanting to create & carve a series of beads just from a flat plate.

bead%20plate%20%232

Here is another solution, your bud bur will do all of the mini-carvings into the metal to create these ‘pseudo-claw’ setting. (Only your bud bur can do this).

split%20claws

I just noticed that on these Cubic Zirconia stones (CZ) is a name of its manufacturer…The name appears as “Swarovski Zirconia”. Interesting location for a name…:>)

Up-Close%20Swarovski

Have you ever tried to cut a “FishTail” pattern? I try to avoid using other kinds of carving & cutting burs, but they all had some serious issues ‘screaming at me’. I used a “Bud-Bur” to initiate all kinds of rough-cutting, prior to any Triangular-filing to separate the setting sections. All of these steps in Fish-Tail setting, will be fully explained in another essay.

gravers%20%26%20more%20037

2-line%20engraving

best%20fish%20tail

fully%20set

When you get your silver or gold castings back from your gold-caster, you might find some “Square” looking holes that need to be reshaped ,are you going to use a Triangular file? My answer is a definite…NO!

filing%203-square

I’d use either a #006, or even a #007 bud bur and then you can explore & observe which of these size of burs that can be best for you in the future!

Azure%20cleaning%20corners

Another little known feature of this ‘bud’ bur, is that it can help me to create newer Pave’ carving patterns! The bur sizes I used are a #006 or a #007 as these give me ‘much freedom to create new beads’. These are used in creating those little beads that I will eventually ‘push over’ the stone, with a bead-burnisher! (This bead-burnishing process will be also be fully explained in a very detailed essay!)

Bud%20carving%20on%20clasp

(I will use a #006 round bur to follow, once after the Bud Bur has finished the metal bead-carving process.) The round bur is only to be used as an added cutting feature!

I will attempt to show just how important these burs are. There is no other bur that can do so many things and with so much relative ease!!!

My only ‘professional suggestion’ is: To put your Bud-Shaped bur against the wide girdle (as shown). Then you can make a new and thicker ‘Bearing-Cut’ to now allow for this very wide stone! This decision is yours to make & which bur to use!

IMG_6117

When you are planning to make a series of ‘fine-cutting’ Pave’ setting. This one single bur can act as a mini-file to be used as it’s separating the beads. No need for a file, or use any other bur, as these could & might ruin your setting!

Four-Beads

bead%20plate%20%232

( For this picture taking process, I noticed some ‘magnetic wire, steel-shots’ stuck in between the engraved grooves. I refused to remove them, as I didn’t want to destroy this silver-sample just for this essay! But you can see how these beads now look. )

Underneath ‘literally’ every setting hole, you can use your small bud-bur to create an Azure pattern to open up the hole and making it look GREAT LOOKING and of course …Looking so very Professional (which you are!)

Azure%20cleaning%20corners

Can you create 4-claw prong pattern from a wide, semi-round wedding band? It’s really just so easy. When you are wanting to carve a strip of beads from a flat plate. Here is another solution, your bud bur will do all of the mini-carvings into the metal to create pseudo-bead setting a.k.a. Pave’. Only your bud bur can do this!

Have you ever tried to cut a “FishTail” pattern? I try to avoid using a round-bur, as it has some minute and basic carving issues. I used a Bud-bur to initiate the cutting prior to any Triangular-filing to separate the many setting sections.

I will write an essay on the “FishTail” setting techniques in a few weeks , why so? There are so many uses of this now popular Bud Bur.

gravers%20%26%20more%20037

When you get your silver or gold castings back from your gold-caster, you might find “Pavillion” holes that need to be re-shaped & re-cut. Are you going to use a Triangular file? My answer is a definite NO!

There is little opportunity for each “up & down” action of your tapered-shape file.(Cleaning with a file, is almost a time wasting process!) Sometimes the tapered file could get literally stuck inside the square hole. With a Bud Bur this will never, ever occur!

filing%203-square

I’d use either a #006 or even a #007 Bud Bur, then you can learn what these burs can do for you! I continually maintain & restock my inventory with ‘3 packets’ of burs of EACH SIZE! Is this expensive?

It would be very costly, if on a long-weekend your tool supplier is closed…and you are needing that one #006 Bud Bur, NOW!

To save an additional cost, try and be ‘selective’ of the burs you need daily. Or even put aside ‘one full set’…and use them only in an Emergency!

bur%20packs

The list of bud-bur opportunities are seeming to be just endless! I am sure that you, as a bench-jeweller, will discover other many opportunities that I am not at present familiar with!

@gerrylewy18 thank you for all you do to show that sharing is the way to sustain the art. You are the real GEM
Regards RLW

Hi Ron Wade and everyone!!..:>)

It’s a great task that I’m undertaking, why is it? Can you imagine that some days I just sit and write for up to 4-5 hours each day. Deleting some photographs or adding more, editing as many as 20 times during this writing process.

I just don’t do this for myself, but I want as many as possible to read my 55 years of setting experiences. I don’t do this just to get my name on paper or the screen, I’m doing this for literally everyone! One fellow (no name permitted here) he was aghast that I wasn’t charging for my writing labours, or time involved. His loss, not mine!

My Youtube video has reached only 33,500 folks and now my blog has reached only 6,090 readers in only the first 3 months.

Do ‘we’ the editors on blogs, look for brownie-points? Not in the slightest. But knowing that somewhere, someone is finding that their lives are now enriched from my setting information. I had one fellow from Australia send me an email, that he set his first 1.00 carat diamond after reading my setting notes.

BTW, I’m taking Nerve-Blockers & “Medical Marijuana” ( which is now legal in Canada!) 3 times a day just to sit upright and now walk.

So sorry for my long-winded writings…:>) Just learn, read & practice!

Hi Gerry

Your sharing of setting tech has been truly outstanding to this bench jeweler who has been setting almost as long as you. I continue to learn things from you which improves my skills and are passed along.

I am sorry to hear of the meds you need to take and hope that they will bring some relief. I too use CBD topicals and more to help manage things. At 63 I plan to create till i drop.

I wish you well my mentor. You are a very good freind to every jeweler in the world.

Regards
Franz

My wife, Cynthia Thomas (Dach) was a long time jeweler, then sculptor/artist (pastels and mixed media). She passed away about 3 years ago from metastasize cancer, but while fighting it all, we bought a Rife frequency machine that did giver her fantastic pain relief. It also gave me nearly instant pain relief for planters fasciitis pain. Also help an artist friend dealing with sacroiliac pain (no pain for Cynthia in 5 minutes and for our friend in 13 minutes). As pain returned, they got on the unit for a few minutes for total relief again and could do this as many time a day as needed (for Cynthia she used it at most 4 times a day that in about 2 weeks reduced to no need of use as no more pain. A similar situation with our friend and with my planters pain. If anyone would like more information on this, please feel free to contact me off list as this is not involving jewelry making (at least directly). I will be happy to share what I know about this with anyone interested.

John Dach

360.681.4240