I’m right now playing with all the stones you have thrown at me.
One of them I have cut into pieces with the intention of creating
some double cabochons for use as solitaire earrings.
Could someone suggest the type of bezel I should use for holding a
double cab so both sides of the stone can show? I’d want to use the
bezel as like the rim of a wheel, but no spokes.
I know that this is a rather ambitious project for a beginner like
me, but to paraphrase JFK, I try to do hard things not because they
are easy, but because they are hard.
Could someone suggest the type of bezel I should use for holding a
double cab so both sides of the stone can show? I'd want to use the
bezel as like the rim of a wheel, but no spokes.
It’s not a difficult as you might think. First you must prepare the
edge of the cabs to have a small “peak”. Many cabs have a flat edge
which can be shaped into a peaked edge without harming the rest of
the stone. In a text message it’s hard to show you but imagine
viewing your cab on edge your edges might resemble this… but not so
severe. perhaps your double cab is like a pair of clamshells and
already has a peaked edge. Fashion a bezel in the usual manner making
it wide enough to cover the edge peaks. Arrange the ends to meet
where you want to place the bail and then burnish the bezel to the
stone about 1/4 inch on either side of the ends (but not the rest of
the bezel). now solder the burnished ends together along with your
bail. You want to do it this way because you would be able to burnish
the bezel in that area once your bail is soldered to it; so you just
burnish this small area first. Once soldered together, you can slip
the cab into the pre-burnished section and burnish the rest of the
bezel down taking care to keep the stone centered as you go.
I agree with Lorraine. In the past I have used coin cinches and
modified them for free form cabs. Just gently heat one end of the
cinch (either the screw end of the bolt end) form and cut the cinch
to shape and solder the piece back on. Works great on pear shapes
etc!
You can also grind a shallow furrow around the edge of the lentil
with a diamond wheel on the Dremel or flexshaft and set the stone
with a piece of round wire in the furrow, twisting it at the top
into a nice bail. Cheers from Don in SOFL.
And to make a non-standard cinch bezel - you need to cut a grove
around the circumference of the stone. Michael Boyd uses that
technique for pendant stones. One of his pieces was on the cover of
Lapidary Journal fairly recently with just that exact technique.
You can also grind a shallow furrow around the edge of the lentil
with a diamond wheel on the Dremel or flexshaft and set the stone
with a piece of round wire in the furrow, twisting it at the top
into a nice bail.
I love the way that method looks. Haven’t tried it yet, though.
I have had success with soldering wire inside a regular flat bezel on
one eedge, then run the stone through it and burnish the bezel down
on the other side.
