E-Z Mounts

Jewelry Discussion
1

I am overcoming years of fear and prejudice and am going to
start setting faceted stones. Can anyone tell me the pros and
cons of the E-Z Mount settings and if I should use their setting
pliers or another method. It seems to me that the pliers would be
limited in their reach on odd shaped and sized projects. Any help
would be greatly appreciated as I am very ignorant in this area.

Thanx
Loveland

2

I am overcoming years of fear and prejudice and am going to
start setting faceted stones. Can anyone tell me the pros and
cons of the E-Z Mount settings and if I should use their setting
pliers or another method. It seems to me that the pliers would be
limited in their reach on odd shaped and sized projects. Any help
would be greatly appreciated as I am very ignorant in this area.

Thanx
Loveland

3

Loveland, One of the best ways to learn to use the E/z mounts is
to order several of them in silver(cheaper than gold) and try
them. I have used then for a long time and find that they are
easy to use, but will not be the answer to all our mounting
problems. You can use the special pliers, or your chain pliers
to turn the prongs. The seats are so cut that they will normally
bend in the middle of the seat. Thus requiring very little
adjustment to set your stones level. With a little practice you
will obtain good results. Sooner or later you will have to
learn how to cut the bearings for your stones with a burr, as
the easy mounts will not do everything. When you get started
make sure that the girdle on your stone is not sharp. A girdle
that is slightly rounded is perferred and less likely to break.
So, jump in there and try it…You’ll like it. Good luck, Fred

4

loveland

I have used EZ mounts quite a bit in the past year as I try to
learn some jewelry skills. I have used mostly settings from
Tripp’s. For the most part they have worked well.

Pros are:

  1. I find prong notching difficult and requiring tools I don’t
    have. I suppose with enough practice I could do it. The EZ sets
    are notched.

  2. The settings are quick and look at least reasonably
    professional. I think the setting pliers are good but also use
    needle nose for some prongs.

  3. I like to learn one skill at a time so I first set EZ mount
    rings and earrings. When I got good at it I progressed to
    soldering heads on shanks and then setting in EZ mounts.

  4. Cost of EZ mounts in silver is low and affords lots of
    practice.

Cons

  1. EZ mounts require calibrated stones and are sensitive to
    depths of cuttings. The stone must set right for the prongs to
    be notched at the correct depth. To begin, I bought stones from
    Tripp’s along with the settings. Generally, they were a good
    match. Stones bought from other sources were not of a uniform
    depth.

  2. Some cast settings were poorly done with prongs out of place
    or of incorrect size. They make very amaturish looking
    creations.

  3. Many settings are unforgiving of errors in bending prongs.
    Prongs snap easily!

All in all, I think EZ mounts are a good way to begin if your
goal is to realize some success early in the learning cycle.

If you have any questions for a very inexperienced novice, fire
away! I have made every conceivable mistake but fortunately
don’t repeat them very often!

Bob B