Trick to Setting Stones In Stamped Bezels?

I got some 14k stamped gold open-back oval bezels from Hoover & Strong, and
I took them to a someone who was going to show me how to set my calibrated
cabochons in them, and she was unable to do it. Whenever she tried to push
the bezel over the stone with jeweler's pliers, and also with prong setting
pliers, the metal would flex, so she never could get the stone to remain
seated, and was unable to burnish the bezel to get the metal to rest against
the stone. She tried annealing the metal, and also grinding to thin it out,
but nothing worked. Is there some trick to this, or was she just using the
wrong techniques?

On Tue, 14 Oct 2003 18:06:33 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry "Dale"
wrote:

I got some 14k stamped gold open-back oval bezels from Hoover & Strong, and
I took them to a someone who was going to show me how to set my calibrated
cabochons in them, and she was unable to do it. Whenever she tried to push
the bezel over the stone with jeweler's pliers, and also with prong setting
pliers, the metal would flex, so she never could get the stone to remain
seated, and was unable to burnish the bezel to get the metal to rest against
the stone. She tried annealing the metal, and also grinding to thin it out,
but nothing worked. Is there some trick to this, or was she just using the
wrong techniques?



Wrong techniques in two catagories.

First, with flexible settings like open backed bezels or any of a wide range of
more delicate settings, it's often needed to support the work in some manner to
keep it from flexing, or even being crushed, by the forces needed to set the
stones. The traditional material for this is orange flake shellac, which I
still prefer to most others. It melts easily enough with a low flame (take care
not to burn it, holds the metal well, and when cool, stays nicely rigid. And
it's cheap compared to other stuff. More than a few folks, though, find it a
bit too brittle, and prefer setters cements that start with shellac, but then
add various fillers to make them tougher. There are a variety of formulations
that do this, some sold just as "setters cement", and others sold as lapidary
dop wax (the red works nicely) or other such. Commonly brown in color, or red,
but I've also seen variations in an ochre yellow color. All will work for you,
with the minor differences in melting point or hardness probably not being
significant for this use. When you're done, you melt the shellac again, taking
care not to overheat your stone, and clean off excess in alcohol. Or, if you
like there are new thermoplastic materials out now that do the same sort of
thing, but with a bit less mess than shellac based products. Jett Sett is one
such. white plastic beads that melt in very hot water to a goey consitancy,
like melted shellac, will also adhere somewhat to the metal, and when set, forms
a rigid tough support for the metal during setting.

Second, for those low bezels, pliers are the wrong tool. You can use them when
such bezels are securely soldered down to something, and then it's sometimes a
shortcut, but even then, pliers are not really the right way to set those
bezels. For the short, tapered, thick walled types, you use chasing punches or
a hammer handpiece, and for the stamped ones with vertical, thin metal walls,
you use a burnisher or a bezel roller. Gentler than pliers. Pliers want to
push both sides of a bezel together at once, which is twice the stress needed to
push just one side at a time. With a bezel roller or burnisher, you're putting
a lot less force on the metal than with pliers. And in both cases, either
hammering with punches or a hammer handpiece (or in some cases, even just with a
small hammer itself), or in the thin metal types you do with bezel rollers or
burnishers, the work will be a LOT easier when the bezel is properly supported
in some sort of setting cement, shellac, or jett sett compound..

Peter

"Peter W. Rowe" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 14 Oct 2003 18:06:33 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry "Dale"
wrote:

I got some 14k stamped gold open-back oval bezels from Hoover & Strong,
and
I took them to a someone who was going to show me how to set my
calibrated
cabochons in them, and she was unable to do it. Whenever she tried to
push
the bezel over the stone with jeweler's pliers, and also with prong
setting
pliers, the metal would flex, so she never could get the stone to remain
seated, and was unable to burnish the bezel to get the metal to rest
against
the stone. She tried annealing the metal, and also grinding to thin it
out,
but nothing worked. Is there some trick to this, or was she just using
the
wrong techniques?

Wrong techniques in two catagories.

First, with flexible settings like open backed bezels or any of a wide
range of
more delicate settings, it's often needed to support the work in some
manner to
keep it from flexing, or even being crushed, by the forces needed to set
the
stones. The traditional material for this is orange flake shellac, which
I
still prefer to most others. It melts easily enough with a low flame
(take care
not to burn it, holds the metal well, and when cool, stays nicely rigid.
And
it's cheap compared to other stuff. More than a few folks, though, find
it a
bit too brittle, and prefer setters cements that start with shellac, but
then
add various fillers to make them tougher. There are a variety of
formulations
that do this, some sold just as "setters cement", and others sold as
lapidary
dop wax (the red works nicely) or other such. Commonly brown in color, or
red,
but I've also seen variations in an ochre yellow color. All will work for
you,
with the minor differences in melting point or hardness probably not being
significant for this use. When you're done, you melt the shellac again,
taking
care not to overheat your stone, and clean off excess in alcohol. Or, if
you
like there are new thermoplastic materials out now that do the same sort
of
thing, but with a bit less mess than shellac based products. Jett Sett
is one
such. white plastic beads that melt in very hot water to a goey
consitancy,
like melted shellac, will also adhere somewhat to the metal, and when set,
forms
a rigid tough support for the metal during setting.

Second, for those low bezels, pliers are the wrong tool. You can use them
when
such bezels are securely soldered down to something, and then it's
sometimes a
shortcut, but even then, pliers are not really the right way to set those
bezels. For the short, tapered, thick walled types, you use chasing
punches or
a hammer handpiece, and for the stamped ones with vertical, thin metal
walls,
you use a burnisher or a bezel roller. Gentler than pliers. Pliers want
to
push both sides of a bezel together at once, which is twice the stress
needed to
push just one side at a time. With a bezel roller or burnisher, you're
putting
a lot less force on the metal than with pliers. And in both cases, either
hammering with punches or a hammer handpiece (or in some cases, even just
with a
small hammer itself), or in the thin metal types you do with bezel rollers
or
burnishers, the work will be a LOT easier when the bezel is properly
supported
in some sort of setting cement, shellac, or jett sett compound..

Peter

Thanks for the speedy response, Peter. That's interesting, because after a
few tries with the pliers, I mentioned that I had heard of something called
a bezel roller, but she said you couldn't use that until after you used the
pliers to bend the bezel to hold the stone steady. She used golden flake
shellac, but when she got after the bezel with the pliers, it just popped
off. If she had used a roller instead, the force vector would have been
angled down, in the direction of the shellac, which would have enhanced its
mechanical support of the bezel. I think I know enough now that I can
probably do it myself.

On Tue, 14 Oct 2003 21:45:19 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry "Dale"
wrote:


Thanks for the speedy response, Peter. That's interesting, because after a
few tries with the pliers, I mentioned that I had heard of something called
a bezel roller, but she said you couldn't use that until after you used the
pliers to bend the bezel to hold the stone steady

Pliers can be used, gently, but only if you've got a firm grip of things, AND
the base of the bezel is supported well enough by either the rest of the
jewelry, or shellac or other cement, that it won't change the shape of the seat
itself. Most of those stamped bezels are kind of springy, what with being
fairly thing metal. That just makes the pliers more difficult to use.

Also, it may be important to mention that you need to be sure the bezels are
annealed. Most are supplied that way by manufacturers, but some are not. In
normal use, they get annealed during the assembly process, when one solders them
onto the jewelry, but if that's not happening, then be sure to anneal the
things, or they may be too springy still from stamping.

. She used golden flake
shellac, but when she got after the bezel with the pliers, it just popped
off.

That's one reason why some of the more expensive setting cements are preferred
by some folks. They aren't as brittle, so don't break or crack quite as easily,
then letting the work go. But I'm also wondering whether she just didn't have
the bezel firmly enough gripped by the shellac. You can't just stick it down
onto some shellac, it's got to be down into it a bit. That means it's flowed up
a little into the inside, and but a bit on the outside. You need to be sure
it's not blocking the stone from sitting on it's seat in the metal, and you need
to be sure that the portion of the bezel that needs to form down over the stone
is still exposed, but after that, the portions below these limits should be
well stuck to the shellac. And if some force will be needed, be sure the metal
is warm enough that it actually is "wet" by the shellac sticking to it, rather
than just a cold formed shellac around the metal, but not stuck to it.

And if even these steps are not enough to ensure a good grip, there's another
step setters sometimes need to use, especially when setting small things like
earrings, or setting stones in bits of metal that will then subsequently be
soldered to something else, like diamond set bezels or the like, in designs
where setting the things before assembly is an advantage. In these cases, it's
common not to use just shellac, but to actually solder something to the setting
that can be buried further into the shellac than the finding, giving a secure
grip. This can be just a scrap of bronze or brass or silver sheet or whatever ,
soldered with just a bit of easy solder to the bottom of the bezel. Back when
the old solid copper/bronze pennies were more common, I'd sometimes just snip
one in half and solder the finding to the straight edge, giving a nice tab to
the bottom of the finding to grip in the shellac, or for things not needing the
support of shellac, just holding in a ring clamp. The tab is then easily
trimmed off after setting.

If she had used a roller instead, the force vector would have been
angled down, in the direction of the shellac, which would have enhanced its
mechanical support of the bezel. I think I know enough now that I can
probably do it myself.

The other thing to think about is that if you're popping the bezels off the
shellac, even if they're well held, then you're pushing too hard, (sounds like
a "no brainer", right?) And the reason is usually that you're trying to push
too much metal, too far, at once. Use a smaller tool, perhaps a roller or
burnisher with a smaller, more tightly curved surface, so as to be moving a
smaller amount of metal at any one time. While bezel rollers are nice gentle
tools that can work a large amount of edge in a short time, sometimes you need
to back down to just a small brass rod in a good handle, pushing just a little
bit of metal at a time. To avoid getting kinks in the edge, push a small bit,
just a small distance, and work evenly around the stone this way. It DOES work.
Sometimes it just takes a little more relaxed, patient approach. With the
possible exception of things like pave setting and raising beads in the harder
white golds, which can take some substantial muscle power, in general stone
setting should be a gentle thing. If the metal isn't moving the way it should,
rethink what tools you're using and the speed you're expecting the metal to
move.

One final thing to remember about bezels. The force is angled towards the stone
and down at first, till the metal is pretty close to the stone, but it's
springyness will prevent it from ever quite going tight if just pushed towards
the stone. The final tightening is generally done with the force going straight
down, or often actually angled slightly back so as to be parallel to the
surface of the stone. Usually, that part is done with a burnisher, but can
also be done with the roller in some cases.

Hope that helps.

Peter

There are a couple of other things I can think of that I do. I slightly
undercut the bezel which helps it to move. I also rough up my steel pusher
by hitting it with a file which helps it to grip as you rock the bezel over.

Chris

"Peter W. Rowe" wrote in message
news
On Tue, 14 Oct 2003 21:45:19 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry "Dale"
wrote:

[snip]


Hope that helps.

Thanks loads for all the advice. I went out and bought a few tools and a
visor and some diamond setter's cement. Actually, I asked for chaser's
cement, but didn't find out I was given the other until I got home. Must
remember to check bags before leaving supply house. Anyway, the diamond
setter's cement seems harder and stickier than shellac.

So, once I had the setting secure, I just pushed with a bezel pusher, and
the metal bent in. Then after going around with that, I used a bezel roller
and finally a burnisher to get it smooth. I did pop the setting out a few
times, and once when using shellac I actually broke off a big piece of the
shellac. I think the lady who was trying to show me how to do it was just in
too much of a hurry. So now I'm thinking of inventing a machine to do
it -The Embezeler (tm), or something. I guess I'll get better and faster at
it with practice.

Now I just need to figure out the best way to shim up the stones so their
crowns are all at the same level. I'm going to foil the backs because
they'll be set against a dark background, so I could just use a thicker
sheet metal, and put multiple layers in where necessary.