Tips on square rings settings

Hi all

I am trying to make a mans ring with a square bezel. I have made the
mitered corners. Soldered it to the base plate and then the ring
shank.

Put the stone in and when I go to set it, I have to much bezel wire
and the corner split.

I am using the bezel for rectangular stones in “Jewelry making for
Schools Tradesmen Craftsmen” by Murray Bovin.

Should I use a different setting?
Thanks for your help and all the help I have had it the past.

Lory

Hi, Lori,

Put the stone in and when I go to set it, I have to much bezel
wire and the corner split.

If your bezel split when you tried to close it, it may be that the
bezel is higher than needed. If it is only just as high as it needs
to be to hold the stone in, you shouldn’t have to push it very far
before it contacts the stone.

Second, try pushing on the corners first. It is difficult to push
the corners down to the stone, but it is much harder to do it after
the sides are down… If you close the corners first, then move on to
work on the sides, you should get a neater look.

If they still come apart, there is probably a problem with the
construction of the bezel in the first place. It sounds as though
you are constructing the bezel from four pieces with seams at the
corners. If this is the case, those corners are going to be very
stiff. You might make your bezel out of one piece, with the seam in
the center of a side. If you are using thick material, you will need
to cut/score along the bend line halfway through or more with a
separating disc or one corner of a square file to get a neat, sharp
bend.

If none of this sounds right, you may need to give us more
about what you’re doing (I don’t have the book you
mentioned).

Noel

Noel

Thank you

The bezel wire is 28 gauge.

I made 2 L shape corners with a mitered corner that I filed and
solder and then soldered to gather.

I may have left the bezel to high I will try that. I have done a lot
of round and oval ring’s with the solder on the side but all the
books I have say to do mitered corners for the square. If that is not
necessary it would be a lot easier than the mitered corners and a
lot faster.

Thanks Lory

Hi, Lori,

The bezel wire is 28 gauge. 

With such thin bezel wire, there is no need to do anything special
to the corners. Just bend the bezel strip into sharp corners with
the help of a pair of pliers and solder in the middle of one side.
Press the corners in first, then the sides.

If there is more than a tiny amount of clearance between the top of
your bezel and your stone, either (remove the stone and) sand down
the bezel, or insert something, such as a fitted ring (square, in
this case) of wire to raise the stone slightly.

Hope this helps!

Noel

Lory,

Don’t forget that it is fairly common when setting heavy square
bezels or soldered corners to use a 6/0 blade and saw down slightly
at a 45 degree angle on the corners. Then lightly open the cut with a
tri-file so when they are bezeled to the stone, they meet at a
perfect 45 deg angle. You can also lightly burnish this meeting to
hide it.

Cheers from Don at The Charles Belle Studio in SOFL where simple
elegance IS fine jewelry! dcdiets@comcast.net

If your bezel split when you tried to close it, it may be that the
bezel is higher than needed. If it is only just as high as it
needs to be to hold the stone in, you shouldn't have to push it
very far before it contacts the stone. 

Also I’d suggest using fine silver, 0.5mm possibly, for the bezel
material.

Brian
B r i a n A d a m
e y e g l a s s e s j e w e l l e r y
Auckland NEW ZEALAND
www.adam.co.nz