Is this stuck for good? Bees wax failed. Drill holes failed. Is there any hope for salvaging? Or do I need to start over?
Thank you. Tried to upload photos
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I can’t open your picture. When I have a stuck stone, I glue a nail head to it with superglue and pull it out. After you get it out, carefully heat the nail with a soft flame and the glue lets go dropping the stone from the nail. I do this all the time using inexpensive one part hardware store superglue…Rob
I appreciate the suggestion. Thank you.
My first attempt didn’t work, as the seal f the super glue wasn’t strong enough. (I chose an allen key, since it provides a built in handle). The 2nd attempt took off a chunk of the stone. I won’t be using this on any feldspar type stones again. Had I had to remove the stone by reining bezel, the result may have been the same
Best to you and all
Elizabeth, for the future, I take a half round
needle file, use a mizzy wheel and grind a
curve on the flat side, curve the end to
make a scoop shape, and thin the back
from the tip and make a thin curved shovel
type tip. Polish this, especially the edge.
With this shape you can gently insert it
and wiggle it side to side and as it opens, you
slide it and move around the stone until you
have the entire bezel perpendicular to the
edge of the stone.
I have used this on soft stones and doublet
opals.
Thank you!!!
Elizabeth, next time you might want to position some flat dental floss in the setting under the cabochon, ends dangling out, when you’re trying the stone for fit. Multiple pieces work better than one.
Best,
Lorraine
Thank you, Lorraine.
Thank you. I used only one piece, and it shredded and broke. Next time, I’m adding more, for Sure!
Best,
Elizabeth
Sorry about the stone, sounds like it is really stuck. When I suggested it I assumed that it was stuck without the bezel edge having been rolled. The dental floss technique works well too, but I can never remember to put it in before I put the stone in the the bezel. Good luck…Rob
So it looks like the setting was blind, ie no way to come up to the stone from the underside?.
It would seem logical to make any setting accessable from the back, not just from the original makers convenience but for the lifetime of the piece. who knows what might need to be done in the future ,removing the stone should be included in the design stage.
Seems obvious to me. why dont folk do this?
Parts on other machinery are designed to be changed. This "Sealed for life"spiel, is just a way to say were not going to make it repairable.
Ted.
Hi I make my bezel a little bit bigger than the stone to avoid this no d of
problem. Vince LaRochelle
try warming the setting slowly… if there is epoxy/glue holding it in,
it will soften… if it is the setting, the setting will expand more than
the stone. Not talking about using a torch…because that will damage
the stone, but something that will warm it… hair dryer? hot plate? dop
pot(lapidary wax pot)…
Was the back edge of the cabochon chamfered, so that there were no sharp edges rubbing against the metal?
Best,
Lorraine
Ted, a lot of cabs are not finished on the
back and that would detract, and it is not
machinery and not common to be made
to change parts.
I always form the bezel around the stone making sure it fits properly before soldering it to anything else.You should form it so the stone easily slips in and out of it with little or no friction.
Hope this helps.
Hi Richard,
As mentioned before im not into stones or settings but do approach anything from an engineering view point.
I suppose if you wanted the underside of a cab polished one would ask for it. horses for courses.
And as you will have guessed! im in the old fashioned school where everything was designed to be mended, or dismantled.
Its great that theres room for all points of view and ways of working.
Ted,
If the back is to be open, the method
I know is to make the bezel and then make an
inner bezel and solder it in, or make the bezel
and solder it to a backplate and saw a small
distance in from the inside of the bezel
and remove that piece.
Both require more time and effort, it is done
with pendants more than rings or bracelets,
there are structural issues, and what is
saved by removing metal is lost by using thicker
metal to compensate for support of the
surface area of the backplate.
Some cabs have beautiful pattern and color
on the back that warrants the use of an
open back. Some people pierce designs in the
back.
One issue with the concept of making things
that can be taken apart, when a cab is set
in a bezel, that would involve prying open
the bezel, and that usually causes more damage
to the bezel than any benefit gained.
Riveting could be used, that becomes an
issue of design and esthetics.
There are settings that are made for
back setting, and there are positives
and negatives to that method.
Traditional Navajo silver pieces with turquoise
are usually very heavy substantial pieces,
durable pieces that can be passed down
through generations, no repair or
modifications needed for the life of the piece.
There is also a difference which technique is
used, fabricating or casting.
Some parts are cast and used for fabrication,
they are soldered (brazed) together and it
is not practical to engineer the pieces to be
disassembled.
There are pieces from the old days, these
pieces were fabricated and the last part was
soldered with lead solder to be taken part
to repair.
I hope this give you an insight into the
methods used to create jewelry and the
long history of traditional manufacture and
construction of jewelry.
I would like to hear from jewelry makers
on this forum who do incorporate the ability
for their pieces to be altered.
If the stone will handle 212 degrees F, place it in boiling water. Most epoxies break down at about 165 F. It’s more controllable than a torch and won’t heat anything past the water boiling point.
I never have tried that, but I will. I find the need to add a small handle to a lot of things to sand and polish them and an epoxied nail seems to work. This includes small fairly round silver earrings and pendants in addition to lapidary pieces. Right now I am trying to polish a piece of malachite and I can’t get the nail to stay attached, so I will have to heat up the dop wax.
There are exceptions to that 165 rule, but few. The worst I’ve had went into the furnace at 250. That did it. Most break down at 165.
I would like to hear from jewelry makers
on this forum who do incorporate the ability
for their pieces to be altered.
One piece comes to mind, by former Orchid member Leonid Surpin.
He was commissioned to make a pendant that could be passed down through generations. He used some cold connections (screws) so the pendant could be safely disassembled and repaired by future goldsmiths. You can see the entire process unfold in over 60 youtube videos. Start with the last one so you can follow what you are seeing more easily.
On youtube, search for “pendent Leonid Surpin” to find them. (The misspelling went unnoticed until it was too late to correct.)
Neil A