Jett Sett review and tutorial

I bought a bag of Jett Sett about a year ago and promptly forgot about it. I struggled with setting every stone, always wishing I had an extra arm. Two nights ago I was cleaning off a shelf and found the bag of Jett Sett and realized I could use it to set a prehinite I was struggling with. I think I never used it because I didn't realize how easy it was! So, here's how Jett Sett works.

First, you will need hot water. The water needs to be between 150 and 160 degrees so a mini crock pot works great. My mini crock pot gets a little too hot so I have to watch the temp with a thermometer to see when I'm at about 155. I'm sure you could heat the water in the microwave or on the stovetop but make sure you don't microwave the Jett Sett. The Jett Sett can't go above 180 so be careful.



Next, dump the amount of granules you think you'll need into the hot water. This is where the crock pot will come in handy because the temp of the water will go down when you add the cold granules. The crock pot will heat everything back up gradually. The granules will clump together when you pour them into the water so take a spoon and help them all form into a ball. Leave everything in the hot water for a minute or two.





So, now you have a hot lump of plastic, which is problematic. I think this was the part that made me the most nervous. "I'm supposed to just pick this hot lump of plastic out of 160 degree water and mush it with my hands?" "Really?" Well, it actually wasn't that big of a deal. I pulled it out with the spoon and then mushed all the water out of it and formed it into the shape I needed. It was hot and a little uncomfortable but not horrible and it definitely didn't burn me. I'd just say to use care with it and use your best judgment at first. So, I formed the hot plastic lump into a vague "T" shaped blob and brought it to my bench vise. I formed it into the vise and tightened it down slightly and then put the bezel I wanted to use into the warm plastic. With my fingers, I pushed the material over the edge of the bezel and then waited for everything to cool, which took about 10 minutes.




So, now that the bezel was held securely in the Jett Sett and the whole thing was firmly in the vise, I could hammer the bezel down with both hands! How great!! It was easily the most stress free stone I have ever set. There are hundreds of uses for Jett Sett and the instructions you get with the media will cover many of them. It's fabulous stuff, I can't wait to explore all the uses for it! The bag you get is actually pretty big, you could easily split it with a metalsmithing friend and still have a ton to work with. If you do get yourself some Jett Sett, do yourself a favor and don't let it sit on a shelf for a year! Put it to use immediately!!!

This tutorial was brought to you by Ann Hartley of Hartleystudio