So … this might be a stupid question, but here goes. I’ve never set an oval faceted stone in a bezel setting. Done plenty of round stones (tube setting). I have been looking at Rio and Otto Frei videos … great, only they stop after making the bezel. Here is the part I don’t get … there is no bearing and its a thick piece of metal. I can’t wrap my mind around setting the stone … without a bearing. You can’t possibly just stick the stone in and hammer down the bezel … or can you?? Its going to be too thick … and wiggle. I got the blocks, but do I even need a block?? OK, got this oval, tapered bezel out of the block … now what do I do with it to thin it out and cut a bearing … do I need the bearing? Hope this makes sense.
You must cut a seat for the stone. This is usually done with gravers but it is possible to cut it with a bur if you have really good control of the handpiece.
Thank you Elliot! I ain’t so good with gravers Figures were fantastic. I guess I’m just have to try it and see where it goes … and mess it up a few times I love Ganoskin. I love how Ganoskin is so tolerent of newbie questions … really. I understand the necessity of the commercial thing. I miss the old ganoksin sometimes … bad. I’m just amazed that you hard core folks are still here … helping everyone. I know you all are still looking at it … and if I post a technical question … you are going to absolutely understand what I asked … and provide guidance. I help where I can … its still a community. And I am just amazed when someone responds to an inexperienced person who just paid for this mess … and are so kind and helpful. I don’t think they understand … that this is were the big kids lurk Love you all.
you can get your self a bezel block like the one i am using to make this bezel for a saphire and make them exatly to leave a fine border like one milimiter on top around the stone and you will hammered down with a hammer handpiece conecte to your foredom motor . thats one way to do it for me but tgere are other ways
There are hundreds if not thousands of little tips.
One suggestion is to take a small set of dividers, and mark a line inside the bezel, where you wish your stone’s girdle to sit.
You will now have a target for a bur, as you begin to cut a seat. Adjustments can be made as needed.
As one instructor told a fellow I was helping learn, cut a little, look a lot. Go slow. Keep checking your fit.
Your bezel should not bind or “pinch” your stone when you fit it in, but you do not want to remove any more metal inside the bezel than it requires to fit in, level, not wobbly, and smoothly.
And, I think it was Neil that suggested making a second bezel and dropping into the first like you do tube settings. Got me thinking and I think you could just fabricate an oval out of wire and solder in into the bezel and cut a seat on that. If you use round wire, most of the angle on the seat would already be there.
no problem i dont have a lot of experience with jewelry like some of this guys here but if i can help with something i am willing to do it i am new on making jewelry fabrication also have made a lot of mistakes in the past some of then costly mistakes but thats how you learn if dont work , melt it down and do it again .
If the stone is flat on the back, you can buy step bezel wire from most metal suppliers or just make your own by soldering a separate bearing inside the bezel. If it has a pavillion, you will need to cut a bearing that will allow the stone to sit inside the bezel securely without single point contact on the stone…Rob
Great illustrations Elliot! So many of us are such visual learners.
I would also add that when setting an oval one should always start out moving the metal over the tightest parts of the curve on the ends and bring the metal down slowly and evenly all over the mounting. I’ve seen so many folks start out on the long sides, bring the metal all the way down on the stone as they go and end up with an unsightly pucker on the ends.It often takes me several passes to bring it down, but in the end there is no need for filing, or using a rubber wheel to smooth anything out. I take great pride that I almost always can go straight to polish after giving the inner edge a little bright cut with a polished graver.
When you move away from the standard type of cutting for stones ( ie. round diamond cut) into your different types of cutting; oval, pear, emerald etc., it presents challenges because, rarely are the girdles and pavilions uniform. This is particularly true of colored gemstones. Cutting the seat for the girdle with graver works but takes time and accurately matching to the stone and bezel to each other, is pretty hard in my experience.
Cutting the seat with a bur in my opinion is a better option, but if you use a heart shape or a setting bur, there is a risk of pinching the stone, when you go to tighten the metal around the stone, because of the angled nature of the bur cut.
“As one instructor told a fellow I was helping learn, cut a little, look a lot. Go slow. Keep checking your fit. Your bezel should not bind or “pinch” your stone when you fit it in, but you do not want to remove any more metal inside the bezel than it requires to fit in, level, not wobbly, and smoothly.” Ringdoctor
I ended up settling on using the common ball burrs, for much of the setting I did, both bezels and prongs. With the transition between the girdle thickness and the pavilion angle being cut by the ball bur, there is less of a chance of pinching the stone.
Soldering a tube inside a tube, or soldering a wire to the inside works, but adds weight. The edge of the tube or wire will generally need to be softened to take into account the pavilion, and the ball burr works great for this also.
Figures were fantastic. I guess I’m just have to try it and see where it goes … and mess it up a few times 
