Hi, I’m trying pave setting by watching the video and reading the book
of bead setting with pave applications written by Robert Wooding.
I’m trying pave setting and found that it requires strong power. And
I’m not a native English speaker, I couldn’t grasp the nuance of the
method of twisting round graver for digging adequate metal just before
raising the beads. I chipped the tip of the graver sometimes. Does
anyone kindly explain more precisely how to twist the round graver?
Can I twist the round graver from left to right, up to down etc.? Can
I twist it around the axis with the vertex of the tip?
And I have one more question. The gravers for pave setting are quite
different from Japanese own gravers and they are not sold in Japan as
far as I know.
In Japan, there’re different types of Japanese gravers. Japanese
gravers for jewelry are used by striking with small hummers, and the
shock shifts or throws out the stone which is already precisely set.
I remember that there was some articles that the Gravermax works very
well for stone setting. Does the Gravermax work well for pave setting
of small stone without shifting it?
hello Takashi, when i learned pave in school, it wasn’t so much a
twisting motion as a gentle, firm, subtle, wiggle. if you’re breaking
graver tips, you might be using too much downward force on the graver.
mrs. raus, my teacher, told us always to use 51 or 52 gravers, these
can be bought from rio grande, my set came from swest. mrs. raus
always told us we were supposed to “raise the bead, not push it
forward.” when she demonstrated for us, her wrist was locked and her
hand moved in a gentle rocking motion raising the bead gently over the
stone girdle. the beading tool is what pushes the bead down firmly
onto the stone.
i can’t answer your question regarding the gravermax. it seems to me
personally that would be a good way to mess things up fast.
Mr. Tomoeda, During the tucson Show this year, I purchased a video on
setting stones by Blaine Lewis. He also teaches you how to create
your own gravers and includes some with the video package. I believe
the name of his web site is New Approach.
There are several people on this site that have taken classes at his
New Approach School and speak very strongly of a new comfort in
setting stones. I believe the value will add to what you have from
Robert Woodings video.
continuing of beading/paveing how deep should the diamond
be? the stone should never be any lower than the table meeting the
surface of the gold. “the table to surface” is the depth to which a
’healthy’ bead can be made. the whole idea is to form a nice bead not
a large mountain of gold to cover the stone! if you are paveing, do not
let the viewer see any flat metal in between the beads, that is a
no-no! all flat metal should be with beads. use a loupe and check all
the spaces out! bead here, oh theres a another
space…bead…gotcha…another space again…bead! get my drift?..gerry, the cyber-setter!
I am now just using an age old method of raising beads, its using a
narrow #1 or maybe #2 onglette BUT with the very pointy end rounded
off with #2 emery paper. This will prevent in 99.9 % of the time of
preventing the ends to breaking off. I do use a strange way of raising
beads, and that is rocking the wrist side-ways and also in a forward
action, you should get the metal up and over the stone. Under close
scrutiny please use a loupe, and see if the ‘bead’ is actually over
the stone, not against it! now use a bead burnisher to push down
the bead over the stone. how do you know where to start the bead
itself??? imagine a square frame around the round diamond! just at
the very “corner” is where you MUST start the bead process, not any
further away or you will be pushing for years to get that darn bead up
to the stone. now where do you “stop” when the metal is actually over
the diamond, so you won’t see the “round shape” of stone anymore. BE
CAREFUL not to keep pushing or you’ll break off the bead and all is
lost! now use a loupe again to see really how the bead looks and check
if its really doing its work. have I made this example interesting? no
applause please! just a few thank you’s will suffice…:>) gerry, the
cyber-setter! keep practicing, I’ve been doing it for only 42
years and its really fun, now!
howdee,eh! if there “technicians” who need some detailed explanations
on diamond setting a.k.a. beadwork and/or bright cutting, pave, please
do not hestitate,eh? I can help you all. I might just bore you all to
tears with the details, but I’ll try and make it light as possible. As
I am a Canadian! I use Canadian spelling, and use the word “eh” all
the time! So if you need my descriptive services, just give a loud
call to “gerry, the cyber-setter,eh!”…:>)
** Hanuman’s Resopnse **
Great to have you on the list, looking forward to read your input
hanuman