Gypsy/Flush Diamond Setting (ver.1.02)

Jewelry Discussion
21

I was taught by the old timers to use bee’s wax but always found that it clogged my burs. and saw blade teeth. I tried oils and cutting fluid but they smelled bad and splattered.
I too am much too cheap to pay the cost of Bur Life so I now use paraffin wax like our grandmothers used to seal jelly. It’s very slick, odorless, and super cheap.
You can buy it at most any grocery store that has canning supplies. A box will last you several lifetimes. I also use it on my saw blades as well as wire and tube drawing.
Have fun and make lots of jewelry.
-Jo Haemer

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Thanks for input on the bur lubricant Jo, Susan and Gerry! Much appreciated! I too find beeswax clogs, wintergreen oil elusive too. I rather like the mineral oil which is also known as liquid paraffin I believe. It sort of flumes all the debris away when the bur is dipped in it. I do use a paraffin tea lite for my saw blades thanks for the confirmation Jo. I’ll give the 3 in 1 a try and see how I like that one Gerry.
Aurora

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thank you for this essay gerry, i have been quite literally looking for exactly this information!! it’s been so tough to find info on flush setting with a hammer, all articles and videos i’ve been able to find are that about burnishing.

i have been reading through the comments and do have a question— you mentioned that if you were “not using a regular hammer, how could you possibly bright cut around the 2.5mm hole”, and i’m curious for you to elaborate on this if possible! i have really struggled with bright cutting and gravers in general, and im wondering if it’s less about the graver itself (though that is also a factor of course) and more about how my metal is hugging the stone. i am flush setting with my hammer hand piece, and am still trying to figure out the best anvil to use (there’s the flat tip, rounded tip, bezel rocker, etc). are you potentially saying that the metal could possibly be pushed TOO tightly onto the stone, making it impossible to bright cut?

ps, i have read in other articles that you use a one sided graver so the stone side doesn’t have a cutting edge, i’d love if you could link me to an essay of yours that shows/describes how best to customize a graver this way (should you have one already written!)

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