Well, I have been reading all of the responses to the question
of the bezel on the bracelet problem… I think, having done more
of this kind of work that I could even begin to explain, that
this is not a problem at all… And that the answer is much easier
than going thru all of these steps… Here is my two cents… The
curve of a bangle bracelet is not so severe that you necessarily
need to curve the bottom of a bezel to fit smaller stones… And
in my opinion it is far more advantageous in saving time and
money to simply purchase a premade bezel and if needed cut it to
adapt to the size of your stone if the stone is oddly sized.
Premade bezels are very cheap and much stronger… Anyway, so
smaller bezels need no filing… Now if the stone is going to
span a decent area of the bangle than yes I would simply take an
inside ring grinder (usually a medium grit sand paper rolled on a
flex shaft mandrel) and contour the bottom making sure not to
take away more than needed… Now in both cases if proper torch
heat and solder are used when soldering the bezels to the
bracelet, there will be no excess solder, no pitting and no need
to rubber wheel anything away except for the usual clean up of
the bezel after setting the stone… The most important thing I
tell anybody when I show them how to do anything like this is
HEAT CONTROL when using the torch… Too much heat and you will
get pit holes from the solder, too little heat and the solder
might not flow properly… When using the proper heat you are
sweating the bezel to the bracelet and when done properly you
will get a crisp clean flow of solder ALL the way around the
bezel… Oh and ALWAYS polish any soldering work BEFORE you set
any stones… Your work will be much cleaner in the end… Things
like this are much, much easier than one might think… and that
was more like four cents… I hope it didn’t bore anyone…
Marc Williams
MarcCo. Jewelry Mfg.MarcCo.
Jewelry Mfg. (under contsruction)