I know this has been done countless times, but I’m struggling to figure out how rough crystals are set with a bezel only around the middle. I like to avoid using epoxy, but even with that I don’t know of a way to do it with out it being a complete mess. I’ve only worked with E6000.
Cutting a small groove around the edge of the crystal adjacent to the bezel so that you can roll the edge into the groove should work. How will you connect whatever you want to connect to the bezel prior to securing the bezel on the crystal? A jump ring or bail will have to be soldered on before you secure the bezel. I have made caps for crystals this way and it works for me. Good luck…Rob
I can dig that. How do you go about cutting the notches or grooves into the crystals? Also what gauge did you use for your bezels. I have 28 gauge on hand.
Thanks again,
Matt
I agree with robert on this possible solution
buy a trim saw, or, buy diamond coated disks for the flex shaft. make your cuts under water to avoid burning out the blade
I am a lapidary, and I also make jewelry, so I have several solutions, trim saw being the most likely. If you only have a flex shaft, there are diamond wheels that will do this, just be careful and use water as a coolant. You may not have to cut a continuous groove. That depends on the shape and how you want it to look. The thinner the bezel material the better as it will be easier to roll. Keep in mind that rolling could cause the crystal to chip if you are too aggressive. Following should be a picture of a piece of Tiger Iron that I set this way. My wife wears it a lot and you can see some dents in the thin bezel material. If you look closely, you can see one edge of the groove. My goal in this piece was not to use glue. I have used glue in the past, but it seems like cheating.
Rob, the stone in your photo appears to be wider inside the bezel than outside the bezel.
Would a cut like this need a groove to be cut into the stone in order to stay secure in the bezel?
It wasn’t wide enough to stay by simply rolling in the edge of the bezel over the taper of the stone. I hoped that it would be, but I had to do the groove process described in my previous post to hold the stone securely.
I sometimes drill a hole and pas a Rivet through the stone, and instead of trying to hide it ill use it as and “element of design”
do you use a diamond drill bit to make the hole?
The original post show a crystal. That might be a challenge to drill a hole through. I drill holes in cabbing material using a drill press, diamond drills or core drills, depending on the size of the hole, and a lot of water. Be prepared to use a lot of drill bits as they dull easily even if you keep them cool. Depending on the material and just as with wood, when the drill emerges on the other side, it may cut a very ragged exit hole. If you can see where it will emerge, drill a counter hole from the other direction. You can also use a cone shaped drill bit to clean up the hole edges. Good luck…Rob
There’s a castable photopolymer resin which is widely used by dental technicians for removable partial dentures that we have introduced to bench jewelers for exact this application.
The brand name is NoWax.
Sandor
Sandor, how would you use the NoWax product to set a rough crystal?
