Gerry, these are some great tips.
But I have a question about one. When you describe using a round bur
cut down to a dome shape to shape a (presumably heavy) bezel for a
cab, what size bur do you use relative to the size of the stone? The
same size? Smaller? How much smaller? Plus, this sounds great, but
if the opening at the top is smaller than the seat (as it will be if
you cut the seat with a domed bur), how do you get the stone in?
Thanks for clarification!
–Noel
Hi Noel, et al;
questions for a Saturday early morning, and no coffee yet?
I would in my humblest opinion suggest to use your pair of pliers
that have a rounder outside edge to them and ream open the top of the
bezel. This will “enlarge” the opening. Do not use a flat jaws…you
will have heavy marks on the outside of the bezel wall. What size of
bur?.. a bur that has an almost same graduated angle as the stone in
question…nothing too small! as for the bottom where the stone
will sit use a #009 or #010 round bur to scallop out any “collections
from casting” on the inner seat.
One of my readers suggested using a brass pusher with an engraved
surface using a cross-cut of lines. Would these lines also be
transferred into the gold?
How about using one of two methods, scoring the surface with a
"rough" textured sanding disk or hitting the tip with a rough cut #0
or a #1 file…flat on? just enough so that the tip wont slide off
when “pushing down, or over”!
My friends I am not here to tell you to do this, I am just giving
you other options!!
Gerry!-