When the dental floss slips out from under the cab I am seating and
the stone is stuck before soldering the piece, I find that red sticky
wax, softened between the fingers, placed firmly on the cab will
usually unseat it.
Pat Lafaye
Safety Harbor, Florida
Todd, I have never used microwave dish plastic under stones, but am
puzzled as to why you think people would be bothered by this
practice.
I usually make a ring of silver wireâpreferably squareâof a gauge
that will give me the correct height, and use it to elevate stones.
But I am curious as to why you think sawdust would be more
acceptablethan the piece of plastic that another orchidian
recommended, and why its use would need to be disclosed. Wouldnât
you also need to disclose the useof sawdust or salvia??? Just
curiousâŚ
Alma
I hope you are disclosing the use of microwave dish plastic in your
work. I know a lot of people would be bothered with this practice of
they knew. Your Sterling idea was better, but you could have used
coiled wire instead of sheet. Heck even the traditional use of
sawdust seems better to me. Cardstock even. I use dried Sage (salvia
officinalis) as it has a tradition of being a spiritual cleanser and
theoretically would be metaphysically neutral.
Another excellent backing for stones is the plastic from gift cards
or credit cards. If you have vegan clients, this wonât offend, and if
you get a lot of gift cards as presents, you can recycle them after
theyâve been used! You can even ask your local bookstore or other
fave place if they can keep the discarded ones for you.
Jennie
For your bench polisher: First, cut off a finger from a rubber glove
and pull it onto the tapered spindle. This will protect anything that
you are polishing if you accidentlly touch it to the spindle. Next,
take the polishing buff and enlarge the hole so that you can thread
it onto the spindle much further than normal. Put it onto the rubber
glove covered spindle. Finally, there is now room remaining on the
same spindle for a inside ring buff. This allows a spindle to do
double duty with two different buffs.
Jamie
Not exactly tricks, but tips. Mostly picked up form others over the
years, and adapted to my own tastes:
Heat and bend the end of a broken bur 90*. Round and pollish the
end, then reharden the very end only. Makes great rotary burnisher
for removing pits, old engraving, etc. Different size stock and
different shaped ends are possible.
Those âpopsâ that Stuller sends with orders are good for making
surface of pave work sticky, to lay out stones. and the sticks
themselves can be cut into sections and sharpened to make very
useful pollishing points. They shape and hold compound well.
A tall clear drink glass makes a good âscopeâ to find small objects
in the bottom of the sonic cleaner quickly, without draining the
tank.
The upside down, concave ends of soda cans, cut off short with a cut
off disc make inexpensive and very stable stone or small parts
trays. Sand the cut off edges to prevent cuts, as these can be quite
sharp. These can also be filled with a substance such as beeâs wax
for laying out small stones for pave work.
Have really enjoyed this thread, as Iâve been finding many new useful
tips here!!! And being reminded of a few Iâd forgotten about. Thanks
all, and keep it going, Jim
Your Sterling idea was better, but you could have used coiled wire instead of sheet. Heck even the traditional use of sawdust seems better to me.
Better how? Sawdust (or herbs) will swell, mold, rot, mildew and
deteriorate. Black (or other) plastic will stay unchanged forever. I
do the plastic routine myself (in fact, I may be the source of the
tip), and I like to use a piece of shiny silver mylar from a candy
or chips wrapper behind a stone if ultimate tarnishing of the silver
would be detrimental to the appearance.
I have no problem disclosing this, and have never had anyone look
askance at it (though it doesnât come up often in my work). I think
everyone shares my preference that the piece look the same in 20
years as it does when bought, if possible.
For raising stones, I do prefer a coil of wire. But for a reliable
black or shiny back, plastic is much preferable, IMO, to polished or
blackened silver.
Noel
I hope you are disclosing the use of microwave dish plastic in your work. I know a lot of people would be bothered with this practice of they knew....... Heck even the traditional use of sawdust seems better to me. Cardstock even.
Why should sawdust or cardstock be any better than plastic?
Jerry in Kodiak
I hope you are disclosing the use of microwave dish plastic in your work. I know a lot of people would be bothered with this practice of they knew. Your Sterling idea was better, but you could have used coiled wire instead of sheet. Heck even the traditional use of sawdust seems better to me. Cardstock even. I use dried Sage (salvia officinalis) as it has a tradition of being a spiritual cleanser and theoretically would be metaphysically neutral.
I think a very thin slice of coprolite is as good as sage for a
spiritual cleanser and is metaphysically neutral. Wouldnât the use of
microwave dish plastic be considered recycling?
Richard Hart
I think a very thin slice of coprolite is as good as sage for a spiritual cleanser and is metaphysically neutral.
In case anyone has forgotten, coprolite is fossiled manure. Youâre
onery Richard!
Ever have the gear of the chuck of a cable driven hand piece cause a
friction burn you hand when using it? Wrap some plastic sheet around
the hand piece and hold it with a rubber band. You can slide the
plastic down to allow the chuck key to work then slide it forward to
cover the hand piece gear.
Wrap a long piece of plastic sheet part way around the hand piece
and hold it in place with a rubber band. The sheet should be open on
the bottom side so that the burr can be placed on the work. Slide the
sheet forward so that it is between the burr and your face, this way
slivers of the metal that are removed will hit the plastic and fall
down instead of all over place.
For those of you who do not have a collection tray on your work
bench use a cookie tin under you work to collect metal when grinding
projects.
Place a large burr with a flat head in a hand piece and clamp it
into a foredom drill press. You can mill carving wax to the desired
thickness.
There are times when one needs a sharp edge on an abrasive wheel.
Shape rubber abrasive wheels on a tool similar to Rioâs diamond
coated wheel shaping block.
When you are working many rings and/or pendants store them in ice
cube trays while working on them.
Use Altoid boxes for storing all sorts of items. Use a labeler to
label the contents.
I will post pictures of the above on my blog.
Lee Epperson
http://leessilver-lee.blogspot.com
Heck even the traditional use of sawdust seems better to me. Cardstock even. I use dried Sage (salvia"
I wouldnât use these things, organic materials deteriorate and/or
compress and will cause the stone to loosen, also those materials
absorb and trap moisture behind the stone, yuk! Traditional is not
always best. Most important, if a stone is heatable, you donât want
to have anything burnable behind it- that would include the plastic-
so that the mounting can be repaired or sized without creating a real
mess. I think that the plastic would be fine with stones that nobody
would ever heat like turquoise. Under soft stones people like to use
something cushiony. One finds all kinds of things behind stones,
people use whatever they have and donât consider or care about the
consequences (they were probably never repair jewelers)
Celeste
Better how? Sawdust (or herbs) will swell, mold, rot, mildew and
deteriorate. Maybe, but I have not found it to be the case with
turquoiseand silver pieces I have repaired, nor with a turquoise
andsilver ring I made over twenty years ago using sawdust underthe
stone and which I wear regularly.
Jerry in Kodiak
Sand the teeth off the front end of a small inverted cone burr and then use dulled fine sandpaper to make it semi shiny. Leaving the teeth on the sides and forward edge. Use this (in the flexshaft) to tuck and finish the inside edges of bezels.
I must be missing the picture here. Sounds like if you leave teeth
on the front end, and if you leave them on the sides they will cut
the bezel.
Jerry in Kodiak
I like to use a piece of shiny silver mylar from a candy or chips wrapper behind a stone if ultimate tarnishing of the silver would be detrimental to the appearance.
I do some contract work and they have me use aluminum foil behind
faceted stones in the non-open backed tube settings they use. It
brightens things a lot, and actually seems to hold up fine. I havenât
seen it after thirty years, but so far so good. 
Jennie
Jerry,
I must be missing the picture here. Sounds like if you leave teeth on the front end, and if you leave them on the sides they will cut the bezel.
Picture the face of the bur flat against a sanding disk. Thats what
you are removing. Rotate the bur just slightly to make a âvery
slightlyâ domed face. Do not over rotate and sand the teeth from the
forward edge of the side, this will leave flash on the bottom edge
of the bezel touching the stone which you will have to remove with
an exacto or graver.
Yes, you are cutting the bezel. Trimming any ripples or burs or (the
appearance of) unevenness on the underside edge. Once the bezel has
been folded over the stone and you decide it covers more of the stone
than you wanted, it trims it back, evenly, and leaves a smooth shiny
edge. If your bezel edge is already nearly perfect, it will just
âfinishâ the edge if you use a light touch or a dulled bur.
J. Rose
I just thought of another truck I use, at times. I use a small bit
of aluminum foil wadded up to create a seat for pearls I set in
bezels. I crunch it really tight and it adjusts to the shape really
well and I have no rocking and trouble setting the pearl. I primarily
use the smooth potato shaped types for this and pearls with perhaps
only one really smooth side.
Re: Alum use with stonesâŚ
Iâve only used this method on straight silver. I canât imagine what
would happen with stones - except that youâd probably not want to
put a stone in there with any iron content to it. Good luck!
Gianna
Hello Noel Yovovich,
The best old panty hose for the list of uses I gave, are support
hose - very stretchy. Hate to admit it, but us old fogies are good
sources. Although I donât often wear skirts anymore, I do wear the
support hose under slacks when I know Iâll be on my feet all day.
Theyâre also an extra layer for warmth in the winter. Just ask your
old fogie friends. 
Iâm sure theyâll give you more than you can
use!
That brings up the uses for old pantyhose:
These are great. Now I just have to find someone who wears pantyhose!
Judy M. Willingham, R.S.
As for tricks of the tradeâŚfor years I collected the tops of the
big 5 gallon water bottles and I use them for alllll sorts of
sorting. Among a myriad other places I have them on a little lazy
susan next to my torch; they hold jump rings and all kinds of other
things that I use when soldering. Plus they stack pretty
nicelyâŚnice kinda crookedness.
AlsoâŚon my regular old pen pin, (towards the left cuz Iâm a
lefty) I cut a vee into it, so when Iâm sawing a ring shank, I can
slide it right up the vee and it rests nicely. At the point of the
vee I saw a straight cut up the pin, thus making a guide for the saw
blade to cut the ring shank. I also put a random saw cut up the pin
to act as a guide when sawing tubing or wire or whatever.
AlthoâŚfor those jobs I am much more likely to grab that same
diamond disc I mentioned earlier and cut the piece. Itâs expensive,
but to me, indispensible. Just keep it lubed.
Now this is really giving something away but thatâs ok by me cuz
Iâve gotten oodles out of this blog and I thank alllllll of you!
Unfortunately, most of you probably wonât need/use it but it may
give someone inspiration. For years one of my mainstays has been
mounting treasure coins. Most of the work I do is right on the coin,
it takes the heat and I can just almost melt gold wire to fit and
mold itâs self around and on top of the coin, making cast looking
mounts without casting. I love the look and always wanted to do it
on stones. So, get a 2 part mold material (Rio sells it) mix it up
and press your stone into it. After it hardens, pop out the stone(or
whatever you use) use plaster of paris to fill the impression and
use that as your stone and then mount from the back.
I sâpose now I have to give yaâll a link to my website, which Iâve
been embarrassed to do so far, so you can look, if you are
interested, at my coin mounts to see just wth Iâm talking about! The
website is under construction so be kind.
LainieâŚwho spent the day cleaning her shop and will
probably never find anything again.
When sizing a ring, after it is cut and made to the right size, put
it into a stainless steel hose clamp, tighten the clamp to where the
joints meet, solder.
Much faster then trying to but it together with pliers.
Lloyd.