Square Bezels

Jewelry Discussion
#1

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. I made the setting myself,
this is not a prefab bezel.

Thanks
Casey Bowman

#2 
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.

I posted on this awhile back-

#3

Casey -

My most successful square bezel was where I ground down the bezel on
2 sides to just above the height of the stone where it curves in
and burnished them over the stone. The other 2 sides are about a hair
below the top of the stone, and not even burnished over the stone,
but the bezel is so closely fitted that they serve a part in holding
in the stone anyway.

Don’t know if this would work in your situation - mine is on a
pendant, and (knock on wood) has not loosened a bit. This also serves
the purpose of revealing the most possible stone area.

Otherwise, you can cut a V notch in the corners so they do not
overlap when you burnish them down.

Ivy

#4

The secret of setting square bezels is to set the corners FIRST. It
may seem so easy to just push over those side flaps of metal, but if
you do, you’ll never get the corners to go down. Once they get
pinched in, it’s all over. Sometimes if I want it easier, and it’s a
good look, too, I cut off the corners and round over the remaining
flaps, so there are no corners, just four wide parts on the long
edges.

http://www.donivanandmaggiora.com

#5 
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

#6 
...hoping someone out there had some tips on square bezels.

Casey, see if you can find a copy (interlibrary loan?) of
Handcrafting Jewelry, by Wm. E. Garrison and Merle E. Dowd (1972). On
page 38&ff. is on the “soldered-strip technique,” which
includes square bezels. Lots of helpful drawings and photos.

Good luck!
Judy Bjorkman

#7

A big help is to form the bezel tightly in the first place. I use a
separating disk and cut into the corners as I’m forming the bezel.
You don’t cut all the way through, but just enough to get a tight
bend around the corners. This is similar to Charles Lewton-Brain’s
technique for score folding. Works great and saves the hand filing.
When setting the stone itself, Forum members have given you excellent
suggestions–getting the corners down first or making a fishtail
corner.

#8

I seem to have missed the subject of fishtail corners. Could someone
describe this process for me ? I have the need to make several
square/rectangular bezels soon - like next week. :wink:

Brian Corll
Vassar Jewelers

#9 
I seem to have missed the subject of fishtail corners. Could
someone describe this process for me ?

A fishtail corner begins as a straight corner that forms a “V” when
looked at from the top of the setting. It is usually made of heavy
material. They can be more like a prong setting, or they can be a
fabricated setting made with a bezel wire that goes around the
entire diameter of the stone. The process is that you saw into the
bottom of the “V”. The edges of the “V” are smoothed to resemble a
fish tail. Look in the Professional Jewelers Archives
www.professionaljeweler.com/archives/articles) for the date of 03/02
or 06/01. I think this might give you an idea.

#10 
Look in the Professional Jewelers Archives
www.professionaljeweler.com/archives/articles) for the date of
03/02 or 06/01. I think this might give you an idea.

what do I have to do to get permission to access the
professionaljeweler.com?

#11 
what do I have to do to get permission to access the
professionaljeweler.com?

Go to the main page: www.professionaljewelers.com. Go to the tab
marked “Archives”. From that page, scroll to the very bottom where it
says: “Professional Jeweler Magazine Archives”. From there go to
"Article Series

Index" and press “All”. From there, the articles are listed under
subject heading and publication date. No permission is needed, as far
as I know. Lots of more advanced stuff, but lots of bench tricks too.