hello all,
I’m lookin for a couple of small round fine red rubies ~1.5mm. for
incorporation into a pair of earrings.
essentially, I will be placing the Rubies into a fused teardrop of
Silver.
is it best to drill and glue the stones, or is there a better way
without glue?
what technique to set the stones?
will a ruby withstand .999 Silver Fusing heat? if so, I want to embed
the stone into molten silver and carve down to expose it after
cooling.
since I must mail order without seeing the stones, I need a
trustworthy source for finer quality stones that won’t rip me off.
thanks
Jim
Jim, rubies normally will stand soldering/fusing heat however there
are caveats to that. The stone must be very clean inside. If there
are any inclusions, veils, cracks etc, anything could happen. Also,
do not under any circumstances cover the stone with flux. It will
simply eat into the stones’ surface! Also the metal will not
directly adhere to the stone only encapsulate it. It would be best
not to embed the stone into molten metal. I have experimented with
this process previously with no good success. On the other hand, I
have cast stones in place successfully many times. In such cases, the
stone is brought slowly up to casting temperature and the metal is
cast around it in an enclosed environment. This process is done all
the time including with metal clay. Doing it in the open ambient air
would probably create a thermal shock that could crack the stone. It
would be better to place the stone into a seat and then build up
solder around it. Cheers, Don.
Jim,
It is never a good idea to heat any stone if you can avoid it.
Today’s date so many rubies and sapphires are heat treated and
fracture filled. Reheating these stone to a high temperature might
alter your stones drastically. You may have to remove the stones and
set new ones to replace them. It is not worth the time and trouble
in my book. If they are not treated (or have just been treated with
traditional heat treatment), why subjet your stones to this kind of
heat with all the risks that it involves?
Why not set the stones at the last stage the way it should be?
Just curious.
Cyrille
It would be best not to embed the stone into molten metal. I have
experime nted with this process previously with no good success.
Thought about replying yesterday, but I forgot - had actual work to
do 
To expand on Don’s reply and even take it farther in the interest of
education - after you imbed the stone in metal, how are you going to
expose it again?
The expanded part: Moh’s scale (“The Girls Can Flirt And Other Queer
Things Can Do” - Talc, gypsum, calcite, etc.) goes from one to ten,
with diamond being ten and corundum being nine. Long ago somewhere I
read a really interesting paper that said: If the scale is expanded
and diamond becomes 1000, then corundum is around 350 and everything
else is under 100. Steel being something like 6-6.5, depending on
the steel, that means that steel is the butter, and diamond is the
hot knife, to mix metaphors. And your ruby, being 10 times as hard
(or so) as your tools, will just strip the edges off as soon as it
touches. Kind of like digging in granite with a popsicle stick…
Hey Jim,
Why not take and and counter set them with either setting burs or
even round then either burnish or lightly tap them in place. The
amount of time you would spend trying to clean up the mess of fusing
them into place not to mention your more then likely going to abrade
the stone just isnt worth it. You will have a much cleaner look and
Im sure you will be much satisfied with the results.
Good luck,
Paul