Removing a Pearl

Hello all,

My wife has a pearl that she purchased as a souvenir in Hawaii. It's
currently mounted on an old gold dolphin that I did for her using two part
epoxy. The epoxy was a Jewelers Epoxy type 330. My wife would like me to
move the pearl to a newer gold dolphin version that I've done that is much
nicer.

Does anyone have a suggestion as to how I can safely remove the pearl from
the current peg setting?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Cheers,

Ralph

Ralph Gibson

www.gibsonsjewelry.com

Ralph Gibson schrieb:
Hello all,

My wife has a pearl that she purchased as a souvenir in Hawaii. It's
currently mounted on an old gold dolphin that I did for her using two part
epoxy. The epoxy was a Jewelers Epoxy type 330. My wife would like me to
move the pearl to a newer gold dolphin version that I've done that is much
nicer.

Does anyone have a suggestion as to how I can safely remove the pearl from
the current peg setting?

Thanks in advance for any help.

A fast but not save method (for a beginner) is to heat the gold, and then
remove the Pearl fast, before the pearl gets too warm. The epoxy is getting
weak at temperatures higher than 130°C.


Mit freundlichem Gruß,
Heinrich Butschal
--
Schmuck gut verkaufen und günstig kaufen http://www.schmuck-boerse.com
Geschichten berühmter Juwelen http://www.royal-magazin.de
Schmuck nach Maß anfertigen http://www.meister-atelier.de
Firmengeschenke und Ehrennadeln http://www.schmuckfabrik.de

Hello Heinrich,

Thanks very much for the suggestion. I had considered putting the whole
dolphin with the pearl in very hot water. But perhaps I can simply place
the gold dolphin in the hot water, with the pearl in the air, and wait for
the epoxy to soften. Sounds safer than also heating the pearl.

Thanks again and have a great evening.

Cheers,

Ralph

Ralph Gibson

www.gibsonsjewelry.com



"Heinrich Butschal" wrote in message
...
Ralph Gibson schrieb:
Hello all,

My wife has a pearl that she purchased as a souvenir in Hawaii. It's
currently mounted on an old gold dolphin that I did for her using two part
epoxy. The epoxy was a Jewelers Epoxy type 330. My wife would like me to
move the pearl to a newer gold dolphin version that I've done that is much
nicer.

Does anyone have a suggestion as to how I can safely remove the pearl from
the current peg setting?

Thanks in advance for any help.

A fast but not save method (for a beginner) is to heat the gold, and then
remove the Pearl fast, before the pearl gets too warm. The epoxy is getting
weak at temperatures higher than 130°C.


Mit freundlichem Gruß,
Heinrich Butschal
--
Schmuck gut verkaufen und günstig kaufen http://www.schmuck-boerse.com
Geschichten berühmter Juwelen http://www.royal-magazin.de
Schmuck nach Maß anfertigen http://www.meister-atelier.de
Firmengeschenke und Ehrennadeln http://www.schmuckfabrik.de

On Wed, 17 May 2006 02:19:08 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry ted frater
wrote:

If it were me that had this problem, id do the following.
Id make a sperical depression in the 2 halves of a wooden clothes peg
the same dia as the pearl.
thats to hold it securely, and safely.
then Is champ this clothes peg in my pillar drill engineers vice.
then id very carefully align up the drill, the same size as the pearl
insert or a shade smaller to start with,, with the cut off top of the
peasrl insert and drill it out.
you need to have the skill and the tools of a watch maker to do this
accurately.

Um. Ted? I think you misunderstood the posters situation. He doesn't have a
pearl with a broken off post in a visible hole that could be drilled out,which
is when your method is right (though I usually just do it free hand, not with a
drill press. Works fine)

His pearl is still installed nicely on a piece of jewelry, from which he wishes
to remove it. The drill hole no doubt is not visible, so you couldn't line up a
drill with the peg or existing hole. Much easier to remove it with solvents or
via heating, and the majority of jewelry repair technicians will likely use the
much faster and less smelly heating method with fine results.

And of course then there's my current neato method of removing broken posts from
a pearl's drill hole. Using a laser welder with the beam diameter smaller than
the end of the broken post, one can weld on a small bit of wire to the broken
stub of the post to give you something to pull on, and then with the laser set
at too low a power setting to melt either the end of the post, or the wire
welded to it, you just repeatedly hit that end of the broken post and theweld
on it. Taking care that the reflected beam from the laser isn't being directed
at the pearl, the result is that the post heats up quite quickly, softening the
epoxy, and letting the pull on the wire remove the post easily. The pearl gets
only warm to the touch.

the only downside to this is the knowledge that one is using a thirty thousand
dollar toy to do, in about the same amount of time, what one can do with old
traditional hand tools. Kinda overkill to do it with a laser. But easier, and
the thing is sitting there in the shop anyway...

cheers

Peter

Peter W.. Rowe, wrote:
On Wed, 17 May 2006 02:19:08 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry ted frater
wrote:


If it were me that had this problem, id do the following.
Id make a sperical depression in the 2 halves of a wooden clothes peg
the same dia as the pearl.
thats to hold it securely, and safely.
then Is champ this clothes peg in my pillar drill engineers vice.
then id very carefully align up the drill, the same size as the pearl
insert or a shade smaller to start with,, with the cut off top of the
peasrl insert and drill it out.
you need to have the skill and the tools of a watch maker to do this
accurately.


Um. Ted? I think you misunderstood the posters situation. He doesn'thave a
pearl with a broken off post in a visible hole that could be drilled out, which
is when your method is right (though I usually just do it free hand, not with a
drill press. Works fine)

His pearl is still installed nicely on a piece of jewelry, from which he wishes
to remove it. The drill hole no doubt is not visible, so you couldn't line up a
drill with the peg or existing hole. Much easier to remove it with solvents or
via heating, and the majority of jewelry repair technicians will likelyuse the
much faster and less smelly heating method with fine results.

And of course then there's my current neato method of removing broken posts from
a pearl's drill hole. Using a laser welder with the beam diameter smaller than
the end of the broken post, one can weld on a small bit of wire to the broken
stub of the post to give you something to pull on, and then with the laser set
at too low a power setting to melt either the end of the post, or the wire
welded to it, you just repeatedly hit that end of the broken post and the weld
on it. Taking care that the reflected beam from the laser isn't being directed
at the pearl, the result is that the post heats up quite quickly, softening the
epoxy, and letting the pull on the wire remove the post easily. The pearl gets
only warm to the touch.

the only downside to this is the knowledge that one is using a thirty thousand
dollar toy to do, in about the same amount of time, what one can do with old
traditional hand tools. Kinda overkill to do it with a laser. But easier, and
the thing is sitting there in the shop anyway...

cheers

Peter
I dont think I misunderstood, I just assumed he would have the wit to
sawoff the metalwork leaving the post in the pearl. only then hed drill
it out.
I suggested this as its a "cold" way, with no risk to the pearl from heat.
I wouldnt heat a pearl by any method as I have no experience of doing
this. Especially as ive no experience in heating epoxy to soften it.
1,
I usually heat cure it to make it go clear
and 2.
to make it go off faster.
I suppose I could run a trial with some of the mother of pearl shell
ive here. That to me seems along way round. cut and drill for me would
be the fastest way.

On Wed, 17 May 2006 19:07:30 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry ted frater
wrote:

I dont think I misunderstood, I just assumed he would have the wit to
sawoff the metalwork leaving the post in the pearl. only then hed drill
it out.
I suggested this as its a "cold" way, with no risk to the pearl from heat.
I wouldnt heat a pearl by any method as I have no experience of doing
this. Especially as ive no experience in heating epoxy to soften it.
1,
I usually heat cure it to make it go clear
and 2.
to make it go off faster.
I suppose I could run a trial with some of the mother of pearl shell
ive here. That to me seems along way round. cut and drill for me would
be the fastest way.

Try it my way. Use a small torch flame just glancing off the back of the
metal, going nowhere near the pearl itself, while putting a bit of tension on
the pearl with pearl tweezers, so it will pull off the moment the epoxy softens.
Takes ten seconds, no more. The pearl itself is not being heated by muchat all
(usually still just warm to the finger.) The method requires no damageor
sawing of the metalwork, so it's equally suited to moving a pearl to a new
mounting, or removing a damaged pearl in order to replace it with a new one. If
for some reason I had to remove the pearl AND the peg still in it, I'd also
usually not try to saw it off, since often, the pearl peg is at the bottom of a
cupped depression, so actually reaching the base of the peg often would require
major dissection of the metal. Instead, I'd grab the pearl and just flexit
back and forth, and start rotating it slightly back and forth. since thespan
between the base of the peg, and where the peg is held by the glue, is quite
short usually, the length of peg free to twist is short enough that it wouldn't
take much twisting to stress it to the point of breaking off. With most karat
golds, at least, its likely not too hard to snap off a pearl peg by twisting it
this way, and doing so doesn't put any undue stress on the pearl itself.it
won't work if, when gluing, the epoxy filled the cup too, so more than the peg
is glued. But you can see before hand, if that's been done.

cheers

Peter

Peter W.. Rowe, wrote:
On Wed, 17 May 2006 19:07:30 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry ted frater
wrote:


I dont think I misunderstood, I just assumed he would have the wit to
sawoff the metalwork leaving the post in the pearl. only then hed drill
it out.
I suggested this as its a "cold" way, with no risk to the pearl from heat.
I wouldnt heat a pearl by any method as I have no experience of doing
this. Especially as ive no experience in heating epoxy to soften it.
1,
I usually heat cure it to make it go clear
and 2.
to make it go off faster.
I suppose I could run a trial with some of the mother of pearl shell
ive here. That to me seems along way round. cut and drill for me would
be the fastest way.


Try it my way. Use a small torch flame just glancing off the back of the
metal, going nowhere near the pearl itself, while putting a bit of tension on
the pearl with pearl tweezers, so it will pull off the moment the epoxysoftens.
Takes ten seconds, no more. The pearl itself is not being heated by much at all
(usually still just warm to the finger.) The method requires no damage or
sawing of the metalwork, so it's equally suited to moving a pearl to a new
mounting, or removing a damaged pearl in order to replace it with a newone. If
for some reason I had to remove the pearl AND the peg still in it, I'd also
usually not try to saw it off, since often, the pearl peg is at the bottom of a
cupped depression, so actually reaching the base of the peg often wouldrequire
major dissection of the metal. Instead, I'd grab the pearl and just flex it
back and forth, and start rotating it slightly back and forth. since the span
between the base of the peg, and where the peg is held by the glue, is quite
short usually, the length of peg free to twist is short enough that it wouldn't
take much twisting to stress it to the point of breaking off. With most karat
golds, at least, its likely not too hard to snap off a pearl peg by twisting it
this way, and doing so doesn't put any undue stress on the pearl itself. it
won't work if, when gluing, the epoxy filled the cup too, so more than the peg
is glued. But you can see before hand, if that's been done.

cheers

Peter

Ill be away from my workshop for a few days, helping my daughter, but
on my return ill have a go "your" way
I use for all my epoxy bonding, Araldite. Made by Ciba Ltd Cambridge UK.
Have done for 30 years.
Never had to unglue anything!. so something ive not tried.
As an afterthought, re heating the metal post and not the pearl?.
how about 10 secs in a microwave?
Not that weve one.
That should just heat up the post from inside the pearl
Still using the old fashioned stove for cooking as weve no permanently
"on" electricity from the grid.

On Wed, 17 May 2006 20:58:47 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry ted frater
wrote:

As an afterthought, re heating the metal post and not the pearl?.
how about 10 secs in a microwave?

Not sure, but I'd expect it to do the opposite, heat the pearl, not the metal.
Microwaves reflect off of metal, and I think, induce electrical voltages and
arcing, but don't automatically actually heat the metal, I think (dim memories
of this, so don't quote me.) However, pearls have more than just calcium
carbonate. There's a protein material binding it together, and I'd expect that
to heat up quickly in a microwave. Like I said, I'm not sure of this. And not
gonna test it. But that's what I'd suspect...

Peter

"Peter W.. Rowe," wrote in message
...
On Wed, 17 May 2006 20:58:47 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry ted frater
wrote:

As an afterthought, re heating the metal post and not the pearl?.
how about 10 secs in a microwave?

Not sure, but I'd expect it to do the opposite, heat the pearl, not the
metal.
Microwaves reflect off of metal, and I think, induce electrical voltages and
arcing, but don't automatically actually heat the metal, I think (dim
memories
of this, so don't quote me.) However, pearls have more than just calcium
carbonate. There's a protein material binding it together, and I'd expect
that
to heat up quickly in a microwave. Like I said, I'm not sure of this. And
not
gonna test it. But that's what I'd suspect...

Peter

..

Thanks very much to Ted and Peter for the suggestions. I don't have a Laser
welder her, but I do live near the Lawrence Livermore National Lab. But
they probably won't let me play with any of their Lasers. It would be
difficult to saw the peg, as the dolphin's fins protect the pearl. You can
see the piece I'm working on at my web site, at www.gibsonsjewelry.com.
Also, I am planning to reuse the dolphin old dolphin with another pearl to
give away as a Christmas or Birthday gift. So cutting off the peg would
require that I solder another on to hold the new pearl. Which I'd just as
soon not do if I don't have to. And with the current price of gold, I'd
hate to trash the dolphin.

The Micro-wave idea isn't too appealing, and the hot dolphin, warm pearl
route sounds like the safest bet. I'll most likely give it a try this
weekend and let you know how it works out.

Thanks again for all the help and have a great evening.

Cheers,

Ralph

Ralph Gibson

www.gibsonsjewelry.com

On Thu, 18 May 2006 07:53:43 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry "PB"
wrote:

Sounds like a bunch of rocket scietists trying to make oatmeal...

yeah, but it's GOOOOOD oatmeal... :-)


Some really great technical advice and ideas but.

There is a product available called "Attack" - Soak overnight and epoxy
will soften and pearl will be OK.

Yes. As was mentioned already. But takes longer, and requires one to actually
purchase the stuff. And with some pearls (Mabe's, some fakes) it will destroy
the pearl. Safe enough for ordinary cultured pearls. One note, Attack doesn't
work so well if your pearl was glued with super glue. The heating methodstill
works then.


Or I wouls heat it with a torch + Boric acid alcohol ( heat the metal
at the most distant area to the pearl and use that cool clothes pin
idea to pluck it off

Skip the boric acid and alcohol, at least on the pearl. You're not getting the
metal hot enough to need to avoid fire scale, just a little discoloration,
easily pickled off after the pearl is gone. But you can't pickle it offthe
pearl. While boric acid isn't too harsh on pearls, it's still an acid. It CAN
slightly etch a pearl. Not a major issue, as it's a very minor effect, but
since it's not needed in this instance, why use it.


Good luck and cool Ideas


Peter