have never tube set any stones and would like to try. Someone
mentioned that Rio Grande sells a punch set that you can use to
turn over the edge of the bezel.
The punches (often called bezel closers) you mention do work,
and can give you a very nicely round and uniform outer profile to
a tube type bezel. Used right, the results will almost look
“lathe turned”. But they have limitations. You can’t
effectively use them to set really heavy weight stiff metal
Bezels. White golds, for example, especially larger sizes, will
pretty much just laugh at those punches (which have a cone shaped
depression on the end)
Some folks who’ve decided these don’t work are using them wrong.
They are NOT used by just pushing straight down on the tube with
that closing punch. Doing that is attempting to get all the
metal to close in simultaneously, which would likely take more
force than you can generate by hand, at least with most metals.
Nor are they used with only a rotational movement, like a burr
(or even chucked into a flex shaft… This movement can burnish
a finished bezel a bit brighter, but it isn’t effective at
actually moving much metal)
To use these, the punch is pressed down onto the bezel (choose a
punch size only a little larger than the bezel top) and tipped
over from about 5 to 15 degrees to the side, and at that angle
(vary the angle as you work), is rocked around the end of the
bezel, moving the handle of the punch in a circle. What this
does is that although the whole punch is covering the bezel at
once, only a small portion of the punch surface, which will be
closest to horizontal, will be pressing the bezel in
substantially at any one time. As you rock the handle in that
circle, you’re working around and around the bezel, gradually
closing it in. The other (more vertical) portions of the punch
depression burnish the outside of the bezel at the same time,
generating a slight curve to the outer pressed in portion of the
bezel.
It should be mentioned that this is NOT a hammer driven tool, at
least not by design. You can use a hammer in some instances to
try and help, but you risk chipping the tool. They’re not
engineered for that degree of force. And, these punches are also
not very effective for people without at least fairly strong
hands. For most bezels, you do need to be pressing down fairly
hard with your hand to generate sufficient force to move the
metal anywhere in a reasonable amount of time. With larger or
thicker bezels, or those in harder metals, it’s probably easier
to use a hammer handpiece. but if the bezel is of a
weight/hardness where you can resonably burnish it in or push it
in with bezel rollers, then these punches can usually do the job
a little faster, and most importantly, with a more uniform and
round result. It’s also important to prepare the bezel well.
Be sure the stone is correctly and snugly seated. These punches
are not as good at bringing in a loosly cut oversize seat, and
you’ll end up going back to a hammer handpiece or other tool if
you need to move a whole lot of metal. Also, they aren’t as
effective if your wall thickness isn’t uniform, maybe due to a
poorly cut seat or chattering bur. And you’ll make your life
easier if you make sure that the height of the metal above the
girdle, which will be what’s closed in to set the bezel, is no
higher than it needs to be, so you don’t have to move more metal
than needed.
Note also, that these closing punches don’t finish the inside
edge of the bezel, which you’ll usually still want to trim with a
graver and/or burnish down tight to the stone.
Hope this helps
Peter Rowe