How ro use setting making jig

Hey all,

I just received the setting jig and have know idea as to the use of
the “metal base with 4 sleeves”. Actually it’s the metal sleeves I
can’t seem to figure. Possibly “olds Hiemers” or just dense, but?
Anyone give me a clue?

Otto Frei: Part Number: 153.194
Setting Making Jig With 5 Grooved Heads

Thanks in advance
sliv

Hi Sliv,

I’ve done a demo/review of this very tool. Here’s the address to the
Ganoksin blog. I hope you enjoy it.

http://www.ganoksin.com/gnkurl/15

Let me know what you think.

Good luck,
Larry

I never could get mine to work well, you either wind up with a
teepee arrangement, neither practical nor pretty, or you have to try
to get an underbezel aligned on there somehow. Its in a landfill now.

But as I recall you slip your choice of grooved collets into the
base, add the wires into the grooves and drop the tapered collet on
top of the wires to hold them in the grooves.

If I need to make a basket setting I start with a top rail slightly
smaller than the stone. Add prongs one at a time, using the previous
prong as a visual line up which means the first one has got to be
right. Its much easier to use long, dead straight wire for the prong
attachments, you have more to look at when judging angles. Then add
the bottom. The first few times you try this you’ll have trouble but
after awhile it gets so you can do it without much fuss, 10-15
minutes. When I first was doing this I used an adjustable protractor
that helped but now its just eyeball and freehand, I learned to
compensate for astigmatism. Plus you have complete control of depth,
length, uniformity, etc. And you know, if you’re ‘making’ a setting,
the idea is usually to fit something non-standard so you want control
anyway. The hard way is the easy way.

Many moons ago I was at a GIA workshop where they taught to build a
basket from the bottom up, struggled with that I’ll tellya. I prefer
to work from the top down, since the girdle is the prime element,
start at the beginning.

where they taught to build a basket from the bottom up, struggled
with that I'll tellya. I prefer to work from the top down, since
the girdle is the prime element, start at the beginning. 

Or neither… Larry posted a real interesting blog post today,
too. Seems like a cute gadget, which I’ve seen in books but never
real life.

I make my baskets the easy way - as Neil said, sometimes what seems
hard is actually easy: I make the top underbezel something smaller
than the stone and make the bottom something smaller than that. Then
I solder bits of square or rectangular wire on the bottom of the top
wire, file it flat

and then solder the base to that, being careful to keep them
concentric. A bit of filing and marking, and then the prongs just get
laid in place - bang, bang, bang, bang. No worries about wire length
and the size of the windows is “automatic”. Unconventional, I guess,
but it’s easy…And it works for any shape stone, too.

If I need to make a basket setting I start with a top rail
slightly smaller than the stone. Add prongs one at a time, using
the previous prong as a visual line up which means the first one
has got to be right. Its much easier to use long, dead straight
wire for the prong attachments, you have more to look at when
judging angles. 

Neil, I too find I don’t use that jig much. I make basket settings a
little differently, though. I make both undergallery rings first,
grooved and all. Then the first two prongs are made from a long
straight wire bent into a V with the desired angle. The wire rings
can be balanced into the V and tacked in place (with a laser) or
soldered, as desired. The V makes it easier to make sure the ring is
level and even in the angle. If needed, the lower ring can be done
first, seperate from the upper one, but both are soldered to the v
before the rest of the wire prongs (two more or four more, for four
or six prong settings) are added. The point of the v can be used
when adding the rest of the wires as a reference point to be sure the
rest of them also have the right angle.

If I didn’t have the laser to help with tacking things in place
(useful so you can make adjustments if things aren’t totally level,
etc) before soldering (still neater looking that making the joints
totally with the laser, though sometimes I do that too), then I might
find that jig more useful. But as is, it doesn’t seem to save me much
time nor add to the accuracy I can get. Larry’s idea of modifying and
using the jig to make accuratly laying out and filing the grooves in
the undergallery wires easier, is a good one, though. Have to look
at that one…

Peter Rowe

If I didn't have the laser to help with tacking things in place
(useful so you can make adjustments if things aren't totally
level, etc) before soldering (still neater looking that making the
joints totally with the laser, 

I prefer whenever feasible to laser but I know what you mean. I
generally will use filler wire and then trim back.The use of the
tiniest bud bur or a krause bur (just the point) can help bring back
that crispness to the joins. But sometimes you can still wind up with
a discontuous reflection line on the prong. Easy way to counter that
is after using a polishing brush deep in the corners, go back over at
right angle to the prong length with either a brush or a 4-5 inch
SOFT buffing wheel, gently. This helps you sculpt the round cross
section back and even out the reflection line.

The reason I prefer to laser baskets is firescale, or avoidance of.
Firecoat doesn’t always do a complete job. And sometimes I WANT a
hard, unannealed prong. The fudge factor decreases alot though so it
requires more precise prong placement and symmetry, there’s no ‘mush
that prong inboard a little’

For the benefit of newbies the krause bur trick is done with the bur
at the shallowest angle using the point only, drag it towards (never
away, you have no control on the push) you in what remains of
whatever groove there is, letting the tool slowly deepen and sharpen
the groove. If it slips out don’t have a heart attack, you can
correct with further krausing and polishing.