I could not find a tutorial online or in the archives. I am splitting
double half round wire for a cuff with a stone set in the “gap” at
the split.
Measured and sawed the opening. Now I assume it is anneal and pry the
center apart, file and clean up rough edges. Is there another way
(better way) to do this?
You are on the right track. The only other way I know is to solder
two pieces of single half round together starting at the ends leaving
the gap.
This is a lot easier with round wire than half round. Once the cuff
base is soldered together, or the gap cut and finished, partially
form your cuff shape where it meets the bezel before you solder in
the bezel. This way the continuous shape of the cuff is maintained.
This will take some fitting and possibly some temporary support, but
it is better than doing the whole thing flat and then forming the
cuff. Make sure to polish your bezel too before you solder it in
place. This is a time to learn about Prips if you haven’t already.
Once the partially formed base and bezel are soldered together and
you have done your stamping, you can set the stone. I have a wooden
jig that I use to set the entire bracelet into heated thermoplastic
putty. Once cooled, it secures the bracelet and lets me move it
around to evenly roll the bezel edge around the stone using a bezel
roller, hammer, flexible shaft hammer or whatever tool works for you.
Remove the bracelet and now set stone from the plastic, finish and
you are good to go. Good luck. Rob
Bonnie, IMHO you are doing properly what needs to be done. Sawing
double half round is simply tedious.
All the best,
Judy Bjorkman
Carefully solder two pieces of half round together leaving the gap however big it needs to be when separated to accommodate the bezel. You can make the gap wider by pushing a tapered ring mandrel thru it. It will deform the bracelet base a bit, but just tap it out on your anvil. Leave the gap just tight enough to hold the bezel. If it is too tight, it might deform your bezel just about the time you think that you are done soldering. I do the first part of this discussion all the time, but I try to avoid the second part. You can also use a separating disc to cut the gap in the double half round. Good luck…Rob