Hi there, I am wondering if someone can help me with the proper placement of wax balls to mimic bead setting done directly in metal. I have yet to practice with gravers and I’m working on a piece that will have a tiny emerald set in the corner of a signet ring. I could outsource actual bead setting, but if it’s possible, I would love to add little balls of wax directly to the area around the stone which I could set myself after casting. Would I place the ball of wax directly on the edge of the hole I’ve made for the stone? I’m worried if it overlaps the hole I won’t be able to get the stone in or if it’s too far from the edge it won’t be able to be pushed over enough. This feels like a really dumb question, but I only just started learning prongs in general and am still struggling! I’ve really only had experience with bezels and flush setting. Thank you!
I can’t answer your questions. I don’t do that kind of work. But I will tell you not to be afraid of asking questions. Asking about things you have never done before are not dumb questions. It’s a friendly group. Someone will have the answer.
This is a hard question to answer just with written words, but it’s basically an engineering problem, that you the setter have to outwit.
With most forms of setting, the stone is held in place on the bottom, top, and the sides. In most cases, the prongs, bezel or tab are pulled back so you can get the stone into the setting, then the prongs, bezel or tabs are pushed over to entrap the stone. If you’re going to do what you’re suggesting there needs to be enough room to get the stone into the setting, before the ball or whatever is pushed over the stone to hold the stone in place.
There’s zillions of potential books out there, but a good one for out of the box stonesetting is: Creative Stonesetting by John Cogswell
I see you’re in NYC. There’s lots of places to study jewelry making in NYC. 92nd St Y is one them. They have many classes. www.92ny.org
It seems to me that you’re in a stage where you’re on the verge of a big leap and hands on mentorship could be really helpful in getting you there faster.
Hope that helps a little bit! You’re doing great!! Keep it up.
A local caster who does wax and casting for our local trade often makes small beads in waxes, by adding tiny wax balls with her wax pen.
I have used the same technique to add small beads to a pattern when carving a wax.
When I set her work for her other customers, I usually need to do a bit of clean up work on the setting, but then setting stones with a beading tool, either by hand, or in my own GraverMax, is simple.
The results are not quite as clean and crisp as graver set beading work, but our jeweler, customers are satisfied, and i need charge less for my setting work.
Thank you Jeff! I am currently taking a class but it’s quite… “loose” is the only way I could describe it and while I’m really enjoying going in person, I too feel I could use some more intensive mentorship. I will certainly check out that book and appreciate the thoughtful response!
This exactly what I’m hoping to do! I’ve only been able to find videos of people making beads in wax when they’re casting the stones in place, so I was worried that since I’ll be setting after, the beads might not be close enough? Or too close to get the stone in?! Would you say the bead should be right on the edge of the pre-drilled hole? And if it is, it will be close enough to push over?
When I carve a wax like this, I put the wax bead just over the edge. You want a little bit of the bead to be over the hole with most of it on the outside. You want to be able to cut away some of the bead to get a good fit, while still having enough to push over and make a good sized prong (bead).
I got curious to see if anyone else had ever asked this question before. Looks like there’s a lengthy previous thread. I didn’t read it all, but maybe there’s some helpful info in it for you.