I have an Amber Cab ring to repair for a friend. The repair is
easy–add a larger bezel. The cab is rather large and it was
glued in to a tiny bezel so I added some fancy gallery bezel–
but she also wants me to curve the underside (flat bottom) of the
cab to fit her finger. She just loves this thing and got it in
Lithuania where she comes from–I’d really hate to mess it up. Is
there an easy way to do this? I have no experience altering any
stones but I know this is a resin and it’s soft (right?)
Honestly, I don’t think it’s necessary but the customer is always
right–aren’t they?
Kathie you wern’t quite clear as to the present structure of the
ring. I assume it is a bezel set on a flat sheet soldered to a
shank. if so you can add a bezel shape piece of 20/22 guage to
the bottom (after removing the shank) file it curved to fit the
finger and add a curved plate to cover the hole. resolder the
shank to the sides of the piece and set the stone in the fancy
bezel on top. or you could start the piece from the beginning
and make a design to fit you customers design. Hope this makes
sense and helps! Easier to change the mount than the stone.
…but she also wants me to curve the underside (flat bottom) of the
cab to fit her finger…
A while back there was a thread about reshaping a broken piece
of amber. I couldn’t believe it could be as easy as it was
described, so I tried to reshape a broken amber cab I had. It
came out better than it was originally. It’s now in a $175
gold/amber/melee pendant.
Basically, you use the same technique as you do for shaping
metal, i.e. file, sandpaper, buff. The only word of caution is
to use a hit-and-run approach to buffing. You don’t want to let
the stone heat up at all. Toothpaste on your fingers also works
well for a final polish (another Orchid tip). Honest, this
works!
but she also wants me to curve the underside (flat bottom) of
the cab to fit her finger
You can carve amber with files or sandpaper (use Wetordry) and
then buff to a polish. It IS soft, so go slow. depending on the
size of the stone you can wrap some wetordry on a dowl to Form
the curbe. Start with 100 grit and work your way to 600. Then
polish with a felt buff. Should work, but you may have to
re-work the ring or at least re-size it.
I don't think it's necessary but the customer is always
right--aren't they? ;-)
ROTFL.
Sticks and Stones may break my bones but, Whips and chains excite
me
she also wants me to curve the underside (flat bottom) of the
cab to fit her finger.
Kathie,
Would she accept it if you just curve the bezel? The cab would
rest on top of the curve of the finger as it does now, but the
bottom of the bezel would conform to the curve of the ring (I’m
not sure if I am explaining myself right, so see pathetic picture
below). It would be a shame to cut into the stone.
- -
/___________
l ____ l < bottom of cab
l - - l <bottom of bezel
/ - -
/ - -
l -_ - l
\ - _- /
\ - ____ - /
- ______ -
Kathie you wern't quite clear as to the present structure
of the ring.
Ooopps! sorry =-)
I assume it is a bezel set on a flat sheet soldered to a shank.
I guess it’s called a step bezel–there’s an opening and the
Amber cab (approx 18 x 13) sits directly on your finger. It
dosen’t seem uncomfortable to me but it’s large on my finger so
it’s hard to say–maybe it would feel better to her.
if so you can add a bezel shape piece of 20/22 guage to the
bottom (after removing the shank) file it curved to fit the
finger and add a curved plate to cover the hole. resolder the
shank to the sides of the piece and set the stone in the fancy
bezel on top. or you could start the piece from the beginning
and make a design to fit you customers design.
I drew up a few new designs but she liked the idea of using the
same ring. I think it’s the sentamental value =-)
Would she accept it if you just curve the bezel? The cab would
rest on top of the curve of the finger as it does now, but the
bottom of the bezel would conform to the curve of the ring.
That would prevent cutting into the stone, but wouldn’t it also
change the appearance of the ring, by making the stone sit up
higher? I agree that this is preferable to gouging out the back
of the cab, but make sure the customer knows ahead of time that
the ring will look a little bit different.
I have a question on amber for you guys (and a suggestion).
I picked up some 100+ year old, loose, HUGE 30-80mm milky amber
beads for a song and set about playing with them. They had aged to a
nice orange on the outside. One had been broken and glued back
together, I split it and discovered they were the smoothest of cream
inside. This gave me an idea. I whipped out my carving tools and in
a few hours I had a lovely cameo with an orange to yellow carving on
a back of purest cream (Don’t you just love the smell of amber?).
Anyway, I have just started playing with amber (I started carving
with wax and moved on to opal & other stone, only did one amber
sculpture before this). Any suggestions on how to put a really top
polish on these guys? The cameo already has a new home (just from
the way it looked rough) and I want to make sure it is sent out in
the best possible condition. I have had other nibbles for others as
well so I am quite excited about the possibilities here.
