One of the most available items in office supplies stores. What are
they good for? Well, one thing is that they will protect the
thumb-pad so you won’t get cuts from the graver you could be using.
Imagine receiving multiple cuts and then using the polishing
machine. Think of the residue that is now being built INTO YOUR
finger?
What kind of guard and what size? A proper useful thumb-guard must
have ventilation, or your thumb will soften and not give you proper
setting co-ordination. Do not buy a guard that is too tight, it will
restrict blood flow and compress the sides of your thumb Half Round
setting bur, you cannot find these in any tool supply house, trust
me! I always buy a round bur with larger sizes primarily for this
one purpose, bezel setting! My objective is to have the inner walls
of the frame in a semi-concave configuration. Why? The Cabochon
stone is concave, right? So why not have the wall with the same
indentation, less hammering to give to the delicate stone. The
resulting design is shown here for easy explanation. ===O, to a
finished tool shape of === (. Now how do you achieve this design?
Pick up your. E.g. #40 round bur, place it in a hand held "pin-vise"
for safety. Do not to get your fingers into the bench-grinding
wheel. Slowly, and with plenty of water at the ready slowly rotate
the tip of the bur and start grinding off the top of the bur. Keep
rotating the bur and keep it wet with litters of water. You should
only grind off to a mid-point, or at the widest diameter of the
round bur. Do not over heat, if you do, discard it. It won’t fulfill
its main objective, which is to cut and to remain sharp. The whole
principle of this new tool is to prepare a seat for the edge for the
Cabochon stone. To transfer its curved surface to the bezel frame,
hence the very large round bur. I have over 12 different sizes to select at
a moments notice.