Lumpy bezels

Jewelry Discussion
41 
putting WAY to much time and labor into making and setting

Huh??? I don’t understand how that jives with, “After all this is
jewelry not erector sets!”

Take a look at Helen’s more recent setting jobs. They look pretty
crisp and clean. Not bad at all for mere months of practice. The
tellltale sign is the inside of the bezel, nice bright smooth
reflections from the metal edges. Not jagged outlines with burs of
metal sticking out over the crowns. The same cannot be said for all
examples of jewelers’ work we see. Helen isn’t conquering bezel
making by buying bezels, she’s becoming the bezel.

This thing about soldering a set stone…while yes, it can be
done(within strict parameters), it doesn’t follow that it should be
done. Its ok in the odd situation where you have little or no choice
but I don’t believe its good manufacturing practice, nor do I believe
its advisable to promote to newbie jewelers. You know, its a shortcut
here, a shortcut there, shortcut-shortcut-shortcut and what do you
end up with? An abortion.

Let’s see, there are some hundred plus Diamond and ‘some’
corundums will hold up at soldering temp if you’re careful, the rest
generally won’t. Yeah, soldering preset stones makes alot of sense
now that I consider it more.

Not.

If you wanna torch a fiftynine cent CZ be my guest, but are you
really gonna torch a five thousand dollar ruby? Really? With your
boss/customer looking over your shoulder?

42 
I am training myself to be a maker of fine jewellery and will
therefore continue to fabricate my own bezels, shanks, bales, even
earring posts, etc. I'm not earning anything from what I do at the
moment (apart from selling the odd piece to family and friends)
because my focus is on learning

Which is EXACTLY where I am as well, Helen. When I can do all the
fabrication and setting basics very well (or perfectly) in silver,
I’ll move to gold. The lovely things I make in silver can never be
sold for what they cost me to make (in labor), but in gold I’d be in
good shape, even now. My gold work is currently limited to simple
soldering repairs for people, but someday I’ll have the confidence
to go further.

Chris

43

I know how you feel, I’ve only had an evening class or two on how to
make and set bezels. Since then I’ve make and scraped quite a few!
My problem is how to get a constant amount of silver to fold over and
make a straight edge. Thanking of going to get some cheep cabochons
and copper sheet to practice on.

I’m currently working on the Tupperware method of selling! Give away
to family and sell to a few close friends while working to improve
the quality of my work. The aim is to give up the day job whether
I’ll ever get to that stage I don’t know but I enjoy doing something
that’s turns a piece of sheet or wire in to a design my wife will
wear. What are the punches called? I will look in to them if they
can help with getting a constant fold over. My aim is to improve and
with each shot I get closer.

Neil.
UK

44 
Reading Judy Hoch's post about conventional bezels and bezel cups.
I am curious to know just what gauge most use, and why.

I use 0.5mm sheet silver for the majority of my bezel settings. I
started by using 0.3mm sheet but the bezels were too thin in my
opinion. If I bezel set tiny stones such as 2mm, I would use the
0.3mm but it’s 0.5mm for everything else. Even on large cabochons or
faceted stones, 0.5mm still gives a great, chunky look whilst still
being workable. I like the silver to play as much a part as the
stone and so like the chunky look.

Helen
UK
http://www.hillsgems.co.uk
http://helensgems.ganoksin.com/blogs/

45

Hi Helen:

I've pulled the same basic trick on loose (small) tube settings by
chucking them into a #30 handpiece on a flex shaft, Of course, that
also makes it *very* easy to use a setting bur to cut the seat.
Incidentally, when you put the tubing in the chuck of the
flexshaft (which is something I've considered), how and with what
do you hold the setting burr?

I hate to admit it, but I rarely actually do it that way, or at
least by hand. I suspect I’d freehand it with a pinvise for the burr,
and the handpiece held in a handpiece clamp.

What I tend to do for tube settings is to hand engrave the seats. I
learned setting in England, so I tend to use scorpers (gravers) for
my seats unless I’m in a hurry or doing multiples. If I’m doing
multiples, it’s worth the time to set up one of the lathes. (I have
a number of them, in a variety of sizes.) (It’s really all about the
toys.) Once the seat’s cut, it’s child’s play to spin the bezel walls
closed. I can cut a seat by hand with a bull stick faster than I can
find the perfect setting burr. (especially if the tube’s held in a
chuck, and I don’t have to mess about with setter’s cement.)

Regards,
Brian.

PS–> One word of advice: if you’re going to try spinning the bezels
closed, use a brass rod in the tailstock to hold the stone in
place until the seat bites. I tried the tip of a live center once,
and ended up with a stone with a very interesting perfectly centered
crater. If doing it with a handpiece, start off slow, and carve a
seat such that the stone wedges in tight before you start spinning.
That’s another reason why I hand-engrave the seats before doing
that: it’s easier to make a very tight seat.

46

Helen,

What do you mean by uneven opposing forces? I have been trying to
use them on my handmade settings, but I am very careful to get as
much precision as possible when making my round (and other shaped)
bezels. I close them, round them up on a round bezel mandrel, make
and solder in the bearer, file and sand the outsides and the top
and bottom edges flat and level so that they are nice and crisp and
then cut the seat with stone setting burrs (then all the finishing
steps of course). So they are nice and round. I've also tried them
on settings I've made from commercially bought tubing into which
I've cut a seat and I've still had no luck unfortunately. I'll keep
trying though. I too have not found the handle to be of any use
whatsoever.

I served an apprenticeship starting in 1970. As you are doing, I
learned to do just about everything by hand. Basically, my
apprenticeship consisted of learning to service all types of jewelry.
This gave me almost every type of experience. When I melted a hole on
a pocket watch, I learned how to fix it to the customer’s
satisfaction. One way or another I learned a lot.

Kudos to you for putting in the work to try all of the methods.
Different situations definitely call for different methods.

I don’t use much commercial tubing. Most of it has been too thin for
my purposes. I have made most of my tubing. Sometimes, when the
situation allows for soldering the settings last, I will draw tubing,
set the stones by turning in the flexible shaft, finish the bezel
walls with some polishing paper and saw them off This allows me to
make the tubing as thick as I deem necessary. For bezels, I will
probably settle for.4 mm -.45mm. I will turn the tubing with an
appropriate sized setting bur, leaving a bezel wall of.3-.35mm. I
have held sharp new burs in my fingers, but any pair of pliers will
suffice to hold the bur. I think that my point here is really that I
have very rarely soldered a bearing inside a bezel. I was taught to
make bezels with separate bearings in high school, but since I
started working in gold, during my apprenticeship, have made almost
all of my bezels from a single piece that I have seated with
appropriate burs. I have not found that the punches enhance the
process of bezel setting in this case.

The method that I had originally attempted to address was about
using commercial bezels such as found at

with the punches. For best results, use die struck bezels. I have
seen some very nasty distortion in cast bezels. In the simplest
terms, the bearing is trimmed down enough to more closely follow the
contour of the stone. No metal needs to be removed from the bezel
itself. The stone drops into the bezels with a clearance of
about.1-.2 mm and less than.5 mm of bezel left above the girdle of
the stone. Sometimes, I will stretch the bezel slightly with a
dapping punch. The smallest possible bezel punch is chosen. The punch
is positioned over the bezel and a single strike is usually enough to
close the bezel. A slightly larger bezel punch may be used to bring
down the bezel if necessary. Assuming that one is working with stones
that can assume soldering heat, the bezels can now be soldered into
position. Little more than a little tripoli and rouge is necessary
finish. I usually skip the tripoli.

If one needs to do the soldering prior to setting, all that is
necessary to insure success is to make sure that the bottom of the
bezel is fully supported before the bezel is struck with the punch.
Any forces that are applied to the top of the bezel are likely to
carry through to the bottom, and this carries the possibility of
distortion of the bezel.

Another tool that I have used is an arbor press rather than a
hammer. A little more control and a better sensation of when the
stone is set.

Be sure that handmade bezels will not behave the same. There is
usually a seam or two and despite all care, there will be some level
of difference in the thickness of the bezel in three dimensions. Be
sure as well that in my opinion, your bezels are beautiful and as
long as you make them by hand, you should continue to avoid this
shortcut.

bruce

Bruce Holmgrain
JACMBJ

47 
I don't understand how that jives with, "After all this is jewelry
not erector sets!"

I NEVER said that this was the ONLY tool to use for bezels! I just
said that this tool has a specific job and should be used in such a
manner. I also use a Swiss Hammer Hand piece for 3/4 of my bezels.
Common Sense should dictate what can and can’t be done with this
tool!

The erector set comment was referring to being to rough on jewelry. I
doesn’t take much of a "touch " to build an erector set, but jewelry,
on the other hand does. What I am trying to state is that this tool
was designed to do a certain job, and because it is sometimes used in
a manner for which it was not intended does not make it a bad tool.

I’ve always been taught that you use the right tool for the right
job.

My comment about the way she was producing bezels was not profitable
was ment to say that there is always more than one way to skin a cat
and that if you are going to translate this method of making bezels
and using them even in gold jewelry it STILL isn’t going to be
anymore profitable no matter how good you get at making them that
way. If your going to do this as a hobbie that’s one thing but to do
it that way to try to make a living is another. That was my point.

I’ve been in the manufacturing aspect of jewelry for 20 some yrs.
and understand profit and loss and time and motion studies pertaining
to producing jewelry and just happen to notice that this way, however
good it turns out, can’t be the best way to do it, even if you are
training yourself to do it, even for an individual.

Great, you know how to build a bezel from scratch, but how is that
going to make you any $$$ if you are wasting time doing something
that shouldn’t be that time consuming when you could be doing other
projects or move on to other steps in the project to meet a
dead-line? Ok, so you can say that you "hand made " the bezels,
That’s why I started my comments concerned about hurting ego’s!

Here’s a faster way to make your bezels and they will still be “Hand
crafted”. Take a bit heavier gauge ss tubing, cut to length, use a
setting bur, cut the appropriate size seat for whatever stone you’re
setting, either set it first with this tool, (if the stone can take
the heat of assembling after setting),or solder the bezel first,
then use the hammer hand piece or small chisel and hammer and tap the
bezel flat, or use a burnisher., rubber wheel smooth any marks,
polish, and your done.

By the way, this tool is not made for setting a $5,000 ruby. Of
course your not going to set that kind of stone this way. <>.

Do you still set stones the exact same way you were taught the first
time?? I doubt it. You should always be looking for a faster way of
doing this without compromising the quality, once again, common
sense. Why file prongs round and smooth when you can use a cup bur
to finish it in more than half the time,or use a file to remove exist
solder or metal when you can use a heatless mizzy wheel and do it in
half the time. Etc.

Of course I know that there are beginners out there but I believe in
showing different approches and letting the decide what works and
what doesn’t. We are not all robots.

48 
Blaine Lewis has a wonderful video on bezel setting. Perhaps
technically the best presentation I've seen. Blaine has a
technique which I think eliminates lumpy bezels, but I'm not going
to tell what it is.

Why not? I’m sure he has spent a great deal of money getting his
video produced. The production values are the best. He deserves
compensation for his presentation. His videos are for sale at most
jewelry supply places at least in the US.

KPK

49 
I know how you feel, I've only had an evening class or two on how
to make and set bezels. Since then I've make and scraped quite a
few! My problem is how to get a constant amount of silver to fold
over and make a straight edge.

Well, here is the problem. For some reason, which I do not
understand, school after school, book after book, the first thing
they teach are making and setting bezels. Bezels are not easy,
especially if attention is paid to evenness of metal fold and crisp
finish. I can offer the following advice. Before doing anything
else, master the jeweler saw. Practice until you can make an
intricate piecing which is clean and precise. After you can do that,
try to solder a bail to your piercing to make a pendent. Since you
will be working on a pierce where significant investment of time and
labour was made, it will concentrate you mind on doing soldering
well. After that try to incorporate a bezel in your design and solder
the bezel to the pierce after all the preliminary work is complete.
Now you have something to worry about because mistakes on that stage
are not correctable. It should give you sufficient incentive to
really start paying attention to details.

Leonid Surpin

1 Like
50

Neil,

If you wanna torch a fiftynine cent CZ be my guest, but are you
really gonna torch a five thousand dollar ruby? Really?

I agree completely for any costly gem. Why take the risk? My
original comments about setting the stone, then soldering (back at
the beginning of this thread) was in response to Jeff Simpkins
request on how to make smooth bezels when setting 2-4mm stones
(hence the thread title “Lumpy Bezels.”) For me, this size stone is
usually a diamond, and I still think using purchased tube,
pre-setting it by chucking it up in the flexshaft handpiece, then
soldering it is the fastest, easiest way, with minimal risk. The
pain and suffering involved with forming a nice bezel for a 2mm stone
is a little bit like shooting myself in the foot.

Helen,

Incidentally, when you put the tubing in the chuck of the flexshaft
(which is something I've considered), how and with what do you hold
the setting burr?

My instructor holds the setting bur with his fingers when cutting
the seat. I have grip issues, so I hold it with a small handle that
has adjustable chuck/jaws at the end. With a little lube on the bur,
it’s amazing how easily it cuts. Someone mentioned holding the
handpiece in some sort of fixture, and another suggestion was for
using a lathe with tailstock. I’ve found that the tube/handpiece in
my right hand and bur in my left hand, with my wrists and knuckles
braced on the workbench works fine. The bur centers without a
problem; just keep it straight and watch the depth.

Chris,

Which is EXACTLY where I am as well, Helen. When I can do all the
fabrication and setting basics very well (or perfectly) in silver,
I'll move to gold. The lovely things I make in silver can never be
sold for what they cost me to make (in labor), but in gold I'd be in
good shape, even now. My gold work is currently limited to simple
soldering repairs for people, but someday I'll have the confidence
to go further.

My plans were along the same line as yours until my instructor (yup,
same one) gave me a different perspective. He said to fabricate in
gold if your design requires it (as long as your skills are
reasonably good) and don’t wait until you’re perfect. The idea is to
use the metal that fit your design and your market / customer. It
doesn’t follow that silver = easy and gold = difficult. In fact, many
of the fabrication techniques are easier in gold than silver. And as
far as fear of ruining something that is expensive, just remind
yourself that the gold is reusable, so you haven’t permanently lost
much. I’ve found that I love working with gold (especially
soldering), and it’s really not a huge investment for many of my
designs (I don’t make a lot of big heavy rings). Also, as you
alluded to, the profit margin is a whole lot better with gold :wink:

Regards,
Jamie

51

Hi Helen,

I have been reading some of your Orchid forum items on bezel
setting. I have not read all postings so forgive me if I am repeating
someone else’s advice.

I make my bezels from 0.3mm up to 0.5mm thickness depending on what
metal I am using, I recently had to bezel set a fine15mm. diameter
Mabe pearl in an 18ct gold pendant, but I made the bezel from 22ct
gold, being softer metal it was easier and safer to set. I have made
my own bezel pushing tools, some from rectangular copper 8mm x 5 mm
rod with the heads filed to suit each job and each set in wooden
handles, I also use polished steel and agate burnishers that have a
right angled shaped ends.

For small round stones I use what I call a set of Closures. A
varient of these collet closing tools is available from Cookson,
their tool reference is 999272, this is a boxed set of steel tools
that each fit into a supplied handle, these can be used to close
collets and bezels, the set has 24 tools which are sized to set
stones of diameters of 0.4mm up to 7mm.

When I am setting odd shaped cabochons, I use the hammerhead
attachment on my flexshaft, I have made many shaped punches that
screw into this hammerhead handpiece, then when the stone is set
securely I file or polish around the bezel using Cratex Wheels,
finally I use a bright cutting Scorper (graver) to tidy up the edge
of the bezel if it is uneven.

Best regards
James Miller FIPG

52 
nor do I believe its advisable to promote to newbie jewelers. You
know, its a shortcut here, a shortcut there

Neil’s thoughts are well-advised. Soldering preset diamonds isn’t a
shortcut, and shouldn’t be treated as one. It’s a way of doing
things that can’t be done otherwise - a technique. It’s not, and
shouldn’t be, a way of avoiding real work. And yes, you do need to
know what you’re doing.

53 
I don't understand how that jives with, "After all this is jewelry
not erector sets!"

Yes, I was wondering the same thing. Somewhat of a contradiction
methinks!

Take a look at Helen's more recent setting jobs. They look pretty
crisp and clean. Not bad at all for mere months of practice.

Thank you Neil - your support is much appreciated.

You know, its a shortcut here, a shortcut there,
shortcut-shortcut-shortcut and what do you end up with? An
abortion.

I think shortcuts are okay once you’ve learned to do it the “hard”
way - ya gotta earn ya stripes.

Helen
UK
http://www.hillsgems.co.uk
http://helensgems.ganoksin.com/blogs/

54

Hi Terrie,

It is all in choices, and you clearly have made yours.

Indeed you’re right and I’ve tried to say the same thing many times.
We all have a different take on this industry and want to produce
different jewellery and I have made my choices and won’t compromise
them.

Fine anything takes time and dedication. I believe you make both
happen.

Thanks for those kind words.

I love patterning my bezels as well, and was overjoyed to have
access to a patterned side roller from Kenneth Singh, for the
rolling mill at school.

That sounds like fun and patterning silver is something I too want
to have a go at. I have a couple of patterned rollers for my mill
(although they’re not very interesting patterns!) but it’s such a
fiddle to change out the rollers that I’ve not yet done that. I may
have a go using lace and other fabrics with texture though.

Even for those who order bezel, it is wise to know how to roll your
own, just in case of an immediate must have. Simple as lighting a
torch, melting the metal into an ingot, rolling the ingot, and it
is in your hand, not in the mail.

I love my rolling mill and regularly make my own sheet by melting
solderless scrap and making a large “button” which I then hammer and
roll out to sheet with regular annealing. I use it for both bezels
and backing plates - it’s somehow very satisfying.

I’ll carry on learning how to make things rather than buying them as
that is far more valuable an education than just buying the bits and
soldering them together. But like you say, horses for courses.

Helen
UK

55

Wow!

First,

The key is setting the stone first BEFORE you solder it in place.
That is only good for stones that can take the heat. Try that with
opal and see what happens.

Second

Please don't take this the wrong way, but it sure sounds like you
are putting WAY to much time and labor into making and setting your
own bezels, especially when they are only silver.

Non calibrated stones REQUIRE handmade bezels! Craftsmanship and
integrity is not about the metal one uses. Silver is a respectable
metal to produce art in. Some of us don’t just make product, we make
lively things. I could just cut calibrated stones and buy settings
and stock settings from Rio, but that’s not me. Why make jewelry at
all if it’s someone else’s work. Using ready-made castings created by
someone else is just assembly anyway. Might as well be a bench
jeweler for someone else.

BTW, I work in silver and I set custom cut gems in copper. Copper is
way below silver on the value scale. I do it profitably. I cut ALL of
my own stones. “Time”, what the heck is “Time”?

TL Goodwin
Lapidary/Metalsmith
The Pacifik Image

http://thepacifikimagestore.com

56

Hi Neil,

My problem is how to get a constant amount of silver to fold over
and make a straight edge.

From the beginning (approx 18 months ago), I have cut my bezels from
sterling silver sheet. I use aviation snips which I’ve filed to
remove the serrations. I figured that if I measured accurately and
cut as accurately as possible, I would achieve nice straight bezels -
BUT with human error at play, there is often a discrepancy from one
end to another. No matter. I solder them closed after I know they are
a very good fit for the stone, and then go to work with two grades of
sandpaper on the tops and bottoms of the setting, in a figure of
eight motion (with the sandpaper on a hard, flat surface and moving
the piece over the sandpaper). This flattens them up nicely and gives
a lovely crisp, straight edge. I then make the bearer for the stone
(faceted stone) from sheet sterling also, a few millimeters shorter
in length and approximately 1mm shorter in height. I don’t solder it
closed but keep trimming until it fits inside the bezel really
snugly. I use the stone as a guide, placing it upside down on the
bench and test fit the bezel and bearer onto the back of the stone. I
gently push down on the bezel so that the stone pushes the bearer to
the right level within the bezel. I remove the stone and then solder
the bearer into the bezel from behind. Using this method, there has
always been an even amount of metal protruding above the bearer - at
least as accurately as eyeballing it is concerned.

I used to file a bevel on the bearer before shaping it and soldering
it into the bezel - so that it fit the girdle of the stone. I now
don’t bother doing that, but instead cut the seat after soldering it
in, using precision stone setting burrs. This now gives me a much
neater seat that fits the stone better. The stones now tend to “snap”
into place and sit nice and still while I’m setting them, which has
made my life much easier - I guess it’s all in the preparation.
Settings for round stones are obviously much easier to cut a neat
seat for but the other shapes are slightly more tricky. For shapes
with corners, you have to use a tiny burr in the corners and larger
ones to do the sides but it’s still doable. When cutting the seat,
regularly check the stone for fit. If the stone is something like a
square or rectangle, put a mark on one side of the stone and the
setting so you know which way the stone fits - they rarely fit as
well both ways round! Once the stone fits snugly into the setting,
check how much metal there is to turn over onto the stone, and how
regular it is. With good preparation, it should be nice and even all
the way around.

If not, you can improve it by carefully cutting more away with the
setting burrs until it fits perfectly, with even metal all the way
around.

For setting, I set the piece in a thermo-plastic called Thermo-loc
(although there are others on the market). This keeps things nice
and still for setting. When rock solid, I place the stone in the
setting and close the bezel a little at a time using a flat-faced
bezel pusher and chasing hammer (with GENTLE persuasion) - using the
12, 6, 3, 9 method. Keep going round until the whole bezel is folded
onto the stone. I then use the same tools in a sideways motion so as
to burnish the metal and smooth out any tool marks. Use a jeweller’s
loupe to see if the bezel is completely turned over and make amends
if it’s not. I then use a fine rubber/pumice wheel to remove any
stubborn tool marks and then polish. I also run a fine burnisher (a
kind gift from a fellow Orchid member!) around the inside edge of
the bezel as the last step to give a lovely shine.

How are you currently making your bezels? What gauge of metal are
you using and are you using faceted or cabochon stones? My above
method is what I use for faceted stones. For cabochons, which are
often opaque, I make a backplate for the stone to sit on, soldering
the bezel onto it. I use the sandpaper and figure of eight method to
level and sand the top edge, making it really neat before setting
the stone - and then if you’re really careful when setting, it will
still be nice and neat afterwards. If the cabochon is transparent, I
make an open-backed setting with a bearer, similar to that for a
faceted stone but I leave the top edge of the bearer flat rather than
cutting a seat, so that it fits the cabochon’s flat back.

I have found that the less I mess with the sheet metal, whilst
constructing the bezel, the neater the outcome. Concentrate on
making a bezel with lovely straight, vertical sides, sand the top
and bottom edges flat and level and take care not to marr it in any
way, so as to retain that crispness. Cut the seat for the stone as
neatly as you can, taking care not to damage the inside, top edge of
the setting that you’ve sanded and filed and with practice, you’ll
end up with really neat bezels, with an even amount of metal to turn
over onto the stone. Incidentally, if I do ever put a small dinge in
the metal accidentally, I go back to the figure of eight and
sandpaper method to remove it and restore that lovely crisp top and
if necessary adjust the seat with the burrs again. As long as any
dinges and adjustments are small, there should be no discernible
difference in bezel height from what it was before.

What are the punches called? I will look in to them if they can
help with getting a constant fold over.

They won’t help with getting a constant fold over. Only thorough
preparation will ensure that unfortunately. I have found them to be
less than useless, as have some others, whilst other people really
like them. I bought mine from Cousins:

http://www.cousinsuk.com/catalog/6/1110/1674.aspx

It’s the second one down, product code B19165 and costs UKP 27.50
UKP

Cookson’s also sell what appears to be the same set:

http://tinyurl.com/6nqm7j and costs UKP 83.66!!!

Good luck with them if you decide to buy them, but only you can
solve the problems you’re experiencing, not the punches. Where are
you in the UK? I’m in Preston.

Helen
UK
http://www.hillsgems.co.uk
http://helensgems.ganoksin.com/blogs/

57 
From the beginning (approx 18 months ago), I have cut my bezels
from sterling silver sheet. I use aviation snips which I've filed
to remove the serrations.

Many here could learn much from Helen’s approach to jewelry making.
The general topic has come up before, too - to make or to buy?
Teachers compel students to make things they probably SHOULD buy, but
they get made because it’s good background. And Helen does the same,
because she understands the need to learn it. But as people get older
and wiser at the bench - and also have a business where cash flow is
part of the equation, it’s different. Making a 3mm round bezel out of
sheet metal is really pretty difficult to do well. Tubing makes it
easier, but I see no difference in buying tubing or just buying a
bezel setting. I can buy a pair of diamonds, a pair of bezel
earrings, set the stones with a bezel punch in under a minute, and
have $500 in my pocket - what’s not to like? They are
indistinguishable from handmade and maybe better in most ways. The
artistic and design side of our industry is all well and good, and
where the fun lies, but it’s cashflow that permits you to work and
grow - one piece sold finances two more. Making $100/hr is better
than making $10/hr. Working for pleasure is pleasurable. I have no
argument with some who “must” handmake everything, including the
identical thing they could buy for a dollar - I do think it’s kind of
silly, sometimes. It comes to the same argument against the rolling
mill (which is different) - so, what, you’re gonna grow your own
trees, too?

This is not to advocate anything - there are times when making it is
proper, and there are times when you’re reinventing the wheel at 4x
cost. That’s fine for practice, but after you get done practicing,
it’s time to get to work…

58 
I have held sharp new burs in my fingers, but any pair of pliers
will suffice to hold the bur.

Another tool that works well for holding burrs is a pin vise. The
knurled finish & the longer length of the handle offers better
control.

Dave

59

Hi Helen,

I have cut my bezels fromsterling silver sheet. I use aviation
snips which I've filed to remove the serrations.

If you have a paper cutter (the guillotine type), that can be used
to cut silver sheet in the lighter gauges.

Dave

60 
Well, here is the problem. For some reason, which I do not
understand, school after school, book after book, the first thing
they teach are making and setting bezels. Bezels are not easy,
especially if attention is paid to evenness of metal fold and
crisp finish.

Au contraire Leonid! Bezels ARE easy if one is setting a flat-backed
cabochon where it is a case of soldering a bezel onto a backplate
and then when setting, one is just gently folding the metal inwards
onto the sloping sides of the cabochon - as long as one is using
thick enough metal so that the metal doesn’t warp with the heat,
creating gaps when trying to solder bezel to backplate - been there,
done that, learned that lesson too - and of course doing thorough
preparation: filing, sanding, etc. And it’s that type of setting that
the books teach initially - the easiest type of setting. Yes, some do
still find it difficult and find that they have gaps in their set
bezels because it’s their instinct to make them too tall and then the
metal cannot compress enough, but it’s relatively easy compared to
making bezels for faceted stones - that’s a different ball game
altogether and something that’s taken me eighteen months of
experimenting to get to the point where I am happy with my bezels for
faceted stones. My daughter just brought me a pendant I made her last
year as I wanted to recycle the stones for her. It was embarrassing
to see the poorly- made, foil-like bezels I made for the faceted
stones back then - but even then it was an achievement to make
something that she was very happy to wear. I’m a little scared of all
the other types of settings - bezel settings are my comfort zone -
but I will be putting similar amounts of effort into learning the
others too. But for ease, give me bezel settings to make every time.

You have to remember that many courses and books are aimed at
grabbing the attention of the participant/reader as quickly as
possible and enabling them to make themselves a piece of jewellery in
the first sitting. People like stones in their jewellery and so to be
able to make a ring/pendant, whatever and set it with a cabochon is a
real achievement and something that will likely make the person come
back for more. You’ve grabbed their attention, made them fall in love
with making jewellery and so then you can move onto the more complex
stuff.

Helen
UK
http://www.hillsgems.co.uk
http://helensgems.ganoksin.com/blogs/