Thermoplastic melts while working- Jett better?

Jewelry Discussion
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I’ve been working on a big batch of stud earrings that are just bezel cups with a post soldered on. The issue I’m having is that when I have the earring in a wad of thermoplastic and run a silicone wheel around the edge of the bezel, the thermoplastic softens from the heat and I’ve inadvertently broken a couple of posts off because I didn’t realize how much the head was bending back and forth on the post as I push the bezel in.

Does this happen with Jett Sett and/or Basic compounds too when you generate a little heat on the piece? If it’s better than the cheaper “friendly plastic” I’m currently using its worth the investment, but if it’s just going to do the same thing I doubt it’d be worth it right now.

I’m not sure what else to do, short of putting my work holder in the freezer to re-harden it. I could, but tbh the time/interruption does not appeal to me. These are 6mm bezels at maximum and holding them in my poor arthritic fingers to set isn’t a sustainable option either.

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I understand your frustration… maybe remove from the thermoplastic after the actual setting and use some other kind of vice for the remaining work?
Just a thought

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I only use the thermo plastic to hold my settings while doing the actual setting work.
Polishing steps generate quite a bit of heat, so I remove the settings from the plastic before starting these steps.

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Hold them in a pin vise. A few pin vises with different size collets should be in every jeweler’s kit.

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Or an assortment of pin vises in a range of sizes that can hold anything from earring posts to hollow tubing. This way i do not need to change the collets out.

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I use GRS Thetmo-Loc sticks. Part # 103.667 at Otto Frei, but they are currently out of it. You can probably get it from GRS and others. I use it to set heavy bezels by embedding the piece in the plastic while soft and then hold it in the jaws of my gravers ball or a small machinists vise. Pound, grind, sand, polish and it seems to stay put. You do need to embed the piece and I am not sure how a small stud earring might work. Ringdoctor suggested a pin vice. You will find other reasons to have one and they are fairly inexpensive. Good luck…Rob

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Sorry, Thermo-Loc not Thetmo-Loc. It appears that these are hard to find in many places…Rob

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If you can find this some other place than Amazon, it works

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Try using diamond setters cement. That’s what I prefer.