I am trying to set a peice of stained glass in a square silver
bezel setting. I am having trouble with the corners and was hoping
someone out there had some tips on square bezels.
This has been addressed before, so check the archives. Meanwhile,
you will find it a lot easier if you soften the corners of the glass
even slightly (sandpaper or a diamond nail file will work if you
don’t have lapidary equipment or the like). Have the bezel only very
slightly higher than the glass for easiest setting, and fold the
bezel over at the corners first for the smoothest result.
Another solution is to use heavy bezel, such as 22 or even heavier,
and do what Andy Cooperman calls “pickets” instead of folding the
whole bezel down. That is, the heavy bezel sticks up maybe 1 1/2 -
2mm above the glass; cut three or more pairs of parallel lines
straight down, a couple mm apart, leaving a narrow prong that is
closed onto the glass (or stone). This is a good solution for fragile
materials such as glass or opal, especially ones with vertical sides.
The remaining vertical bezel protects the contents from knocks or
abrasion.
Noel
