Hi Folks, Thanks so much to everyone who responded to my
fusing/reticulation question. I now have another. I am doing my first
stonesettings (irregular shaped cabs and faceted) using step bezels
and am running into a few glitches. Here what’s happening.
The first problem/challenge is fitting the bezel to the stone. I
want them to be perfect with no gaps but I am making them so tight
that I am fracturing/breaking stones snapping them in. How tight do
they have to be? I just fractured a little 5mm holly blue agate that
broke my heart in the process. Call me obsessive-compulsive but I
can’t abide the sloppy look when bezels don’t fit right. But I also
can’t continue to break stones. Any advice out there? Maybe I should
just find a good therapist! (LOL)
The second problem I am having is that the inner wall of the step
bezel often tips to the side during soldering so that when the stone
goes in it doesn’t sit level. I make sure the inner walls are fitted
tight so I can’t figure out why they do this. Wondering if I am using
too much heat? Any suggestions here would be appreciated.
Best Regards, Bruce Raper