I use sawdust, not so much to raise the stone (when you cut your own
you can make 'em as high as you want) but because a SMALL amount both
cushions the stone and eliminates the hollow sound which a large
bezel setting can make when it is tapped on.
Lee
Noel,
I learned to use sawdust to back cabs over thirty years ago and have
been doing it where appropriate ever since. As for swelling and
rotting, as far as I can tell it doesn’t do either. I have repaired
old Indian made pieces which, when I remove the stone, have a solidly
compacted bed of sawdust which shows no sign of rot. I have a silver
and turquoise ring which I made for myself at least twenty years ago
and which I wear almost all the time and it is still fine. Someone
also mentioned on this thread that the reason for the sawdust
backing is to make the stone look bigger. I suppose it does do that,
although the real reason is to cushion the stone. Before the advent
of Devcon and other such materials which are used nowadays to back
turquoise, the Indians used to use pieces of phonograph records glued
to the stone, but they still also used sawdust.
Jerry in Kodiak
I can only speak for myself and those that I know of personally,but
I have never found a loose stone backed by saw dust. I have repaired
American Indian jewelery that was made back in the 30’s and the
stones were in place solidly.Water will not get in if the bezel is
made properly and the cab is seated properly.If the cab is backed by
something such as Devcon,there is no need for saw dust because there
isn’t a need for a cushion in my view.I use it when the turquoise is
not backed;however, I don’t really use saw dust, I use commercially
made ground up corn cob.For Jerry in Kodiak, Jerry we still do use
old 78rpm phonograph records for backing,when finished out,you can’t
tell the difference in it and Devcon, and for me it’s easier to work
with than Devcon, but I’m old.
Best wishes,
John Barton
I haven’t used sawdust, cds, record, or plastic lids. And I can’t
think of a stone I needed to have a cushion under it.(I’d like to
hear more about why people do this.)
But I do get stones with uneven bottoms that I want evened out. I
usually wrap the stone/cab with a thin piece of blue masking tape
around it’s edge. Then I fill the low spots on the bottom (or
sometimes the whole bottom) with 2-part epoxy and let it set up.
Once it is set up I grind it level with my all-you-need flat lap.
When I want a stone higher in a bezel, I make a step bezel.
hth
Carla
I think that a really thin bezel that has air behind it instead of
stone, could easily dent.
M’lou Brubaker
Minnesota, USA
I don’t know if this was mentioned or not, but if the bottom of the
cab is uneven, you could use jet set to help support it.
Phil