Brigth cut

Hi all Here goes another annoying question for the professional
engravers and stone setters. I know for deduction that brigth cut
with hand engravers when well executed is pretty similar to diamond
cut and is hard to see the difference between one another, Even when
I have a diamond flywheel which I use sometimes with my foredom or
Dremel flexshaft I usualy have found dificult to make controlable
cuts with it. I would like to make those diamond shape cuts that
I’ve seen on pierced personal names but I have not been able to
achieved it with the diamond flywheel or brigth cut with engravers.
Any advice will be appreciated. Marco

Marco, I lived in Hawaii for several years some time ago and, while
there, saw some of the finest hand engraved bright cut ever! There
were, at that time, several jewelers who did it regularly on what is
now called ‘traditional Hawaiian jewelry’, mostly wedding bands, name
rings and bracelets. It was truly stunning. Unfortunately, I have
no names and don’t know where they learned this trade. Perhaps Donna
Shimazu or other HI based Orchidian can help out here?

Cheers, Don at The Charles Belle Studio in SO FL where simple
elegance IS fine jewelry! @coralnut1

 I have a diamond flywheel which I use sometimes with my foredom
or Dremel flexshaft I usualy have found dificult to make
controlable cuts with it. I would like to make those diamond shape
cuts that I've seen on pierced personal names but I have not been
able to achieved it with the diamond flywheel or brigth cut with
engravers. Any advice will be appreciated. Marco

Hi Marco, I had a department under my direction for many years doing
brightcutting ( about 10 people )… each person cut over 1 kilo of
bright cut jewelry per day… when I first took over the department,
they were using Foredom machines… the high speed handpiece which is
35,000 rpm (reputedly)! … We used the Dremel for 1 hour and threw
it in the trash! The foredom high speed handpiece will do the job,but
is heavy and wiggles due to the flex shaft. What worked best was when
I found a 70,000 rpm airpowered handpiece ( better have a good
aircompressor with 10 people doing this) it has almost 1/4 horse
power so there is absolutely no drag and the motor does not slow down
at all when cutting. We found that breakage on the diamond flywheel
was cut by 80% and that the cuts where brighter , more even and far
easier to control. These setups for each person cost me about $800
per person… which most people cannot afford… So I will say that
you will need to find a way to increase your RPM on your foredom…
Perhaps a better and faster motor with more horsepower and adapting
the flexshaft end to fit.

If you cannot do this, then just use the 35,000 rpm foredom
handpiece… then, If you wish to hold many flat pieces at one time
and dimond cut them easier, What we did was make a 4 " round wood
platform mounted in the center on a wood handle, then we would coat
the top of the wood plate with shelac which is commonly used to hold
pieces for diamond setting. We would heat the pieces until they sunk
into the shelac. When the shelac was cold, we would begin diamond
cutting the pieces and we never had problems with pieces flying out
of your hand or cutting up your fingers when the diamond wheel
wrapped around the finger holding the pieces. This was the absolute
safeway !!! Really good method for training. You could use a small
holder for single pieces… easier to control than hand holding when
you use slower motors When we got the 70,000 rpm hand piece, we no
longer did it this way as we could hold the pieces by hand .This is
when we got into BIG volume! Hopefully, this is helpful to some of
you. Best Wishes,

Daniel Grandi Racecar Jewelry Co. Inc. We do casting
finishing and a whole lot more for designers, jewelers and people in
the trade

hello Marco et al! I am now teaching a class of 12 students here in
Toronto, Canada the rudiments of diamond and stone setting. One of
the least known disciplines is bright-cutting with a #2 Onglette
graver, simple? you betcha! This method is cleaner and finer than
using a flat #39 or a #40 flat graver…!!! No more “chatter marks” on
the gold line, just a very smooth continuous cut. I use a polishing
paper that is a #4/0 and also a pencilled rubbing that makes this
particular paper similar to a #6/0 polishing paper. You gotta use
only an Onglette, nothing else!!! I first use a #1 emery, then a #2
to remove all of the marks on the steel graver…then I use a #2/0
followed with a #4/0 polishing. By this time the steel looks like the
Hubble telescope mirror, well almost…:>) With these methods you
can’t make any mistakes. If anyone wishes to visit me while in
Toronto, I am teaching at George Brown College as my class is now a
“required course” and my students must take this to finish their 4
year course in “jewellery arts”. I teach stone setting, baguette
setting, bead, graver shaping, simple claw settings and the basics in
wax setting…“Gerry, the cyber-setter!” www.gemzdiamondsetting.com
Not too mention that I teach jewellers across America my 6 day
“in-depth” training sessions in stone setting. I also write for the
“Bench” trade magazine…gnl!

    Marco, I lived in Hawaii for several years some time ago and,
while there, saw some of the finest hand engraved bright cut ever! 
There were, at that time, several jewelers who did it regularly on
what is now called 'traditional Hawaiian jewelry', mostly wedding
bands, name rings and bracelets.  It was truly stunning. 
Unfortunately, I have no names and don't know where they learned
this trade. Perhaps Donna Shimazu or other HI based Orchidian can
help out here? 

The Hawaiian Heirloom engraving that Don mentions is very popular
here in Hawaii. At one time, it was done by hand and quite
expensive. Today, almost everyone uses Gravermax machines with flat
or square gravers. The quality of engraving as well as the quality
of the designs can vary greatly and the cost of jewelry has dropped
dramatically.The engraving is somewhat similar to Western engraving,
the type done on large cowboy buckles and the like. There is a lot
of scroll/leaf/fern fiddlehead pattern work combined with floral
motifs but generally, wriggle cuts are not used. Often, Old English
lettering is cut in relief with cut away and textured backgrounds.
Also, the lettering can be recessed and filled with black glass
enamel.

If anyone wants a jpeg of this type of jewelry, contact me directly
since attachments are not allowed.

Donna

 I have a diamond flywheel which I use sometimes with my foredom or
Dremel flexshaft I usualy have found dificult to make controlable
cuts with it. I would like to make those diamond shape cuts that
I've seen on pierced personal names but I have not been able to
achieved it with the diamond flywheel or brigth cut with engravers.
Any advice will be appreciated. Marco

Marco, we do a lot of diamond flywheel cutting on production pieces.
We use a stationary motor with the diamond flywheel mounted within a
lighted plexiglass box. The box has openings for the operator’s arms
and a clear plexiglass plate to view through. It collects the gold
chips in addition to protecting the operator’s eyes and face.

Unlike using a flexshaft which vibrates and is brought to the
workpiece, here the operator moves the workpiece to the wheel. The
wheel is running so quickly and vibration-free that it cuts the gold
like butter with no grabbing or pulling. The main thing is that the
operator does have to get a feel for depth and placement of the cuts.

In the seven years I’ve been involved in manufacturing diamond
flywheel cut jewelry, no one has had an accident cutting themselves.
The infrequent problems have been cases of too deep, too shallow, too
spread, too tight, etc. cuts.

HTH,
Donna

Edward Friedman does this type of Hawaiian hand engraved jewelry for
his company, Buehn Co. He is an instructor at Revere Academy in San
Francisco. I took several classes that he taught, including
engraving. It takes practice, of course, but it’s a wonderful craft
to learn and know. The bright cut was the easiest for me to learn and
I use it all the time on bezels. As long as you keep your gravers
sharp and keep your “free” hand out of the way (to avoid the dreaded
graver in the hand), it’s not that hard to do. There are lots of
places that teach classes…I would sure advise a class over trying
to learn on your own.