Hand Drill
Burnisher
Pusher
Silver Tube
Stone-Setting Bur
Loupe
Gemstone
Making a 3mm Faceted Citrine Stacking Ring
You will need a shank of some kind. This is hammered 2mm wire.
For the setting, you will need tubing of approx. 3.5mm outer
diameter and 2.5mm inner diameter
Putting it Together
Solder setting onto shank
Pickle
Preparing the Setting
Place ring in vice and drill out the setting
Check Setting
Check with a loupe that the seating is even
Looks okay!
Checking Stone
Check with a loupe that there is enough of an edge to push over the stone
Check stone sits straight in the setting
Preparing to set Stone
Remove the stone from the setting and
gently file and emery around the top of the setting
Make sure setting is smooth and tapered all the way around
Setting the Stone
Check stone in setting again
Hold stone steady with finger nail and carefully push over edges on opposite sides, then all around
Finishing
Use a burnisher to even out any creases and bring out shine on setting
Polishing
This is purely optional, but tumbling with mixed stainless steel shot polishes the ring and strengthens the setting
Completed Piece
After four and a half hours in the tumbler, you should have a perfectly-set, beautiful shiny ring!
15 comments:
Great tutorial. Good explanation and good photos. Very easy to understand.
Thanks so much Wendy! I'm gonna try with my hand drill, maybe I can get more accurate results that way.
I didn't know if anyone else used a hand drill- works great for me! I think we have the same one :)
Great tutorial, 'Betti! I have never attempted tube setting before - when I am ready, you can be sure that I am going to refer to this. Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge with us!
Thanks again, this is a great tutorial.
Elizabeth
Thank you Wendy!! I'm going to try it right away!
Fantastic tutorial. I am going to check out handdrills too.
You make it look so easy!
Thanks!
Great tutorial. Beware the tumbling though as a weaker stone can smash!
Great tut but would be helpful to know what size tubing and size bur to use!
I would love to hear comments re: tumbling a faceted stone. I've heard it's a no-no, but obviously it works for you. Is it because it's small?
Really great tutorial ! Does anyone have any guidlines for which stones you can tumble with steel shot ?
I'm late to this post, but would love to know what size/brand/type of burr you use in this example? and bezel tubing? Very new to this have never tried tube setting but dying to try it.
thx,
peggy
Hi there. I recently attempted a bezel setting
Which was going great up until it came to filing the top on a 45 degree angle on the outer bezel. I filed too far at one part and now i dont know how to fix it. Any hints you might be able to give me in relation to this? Hoping to hear back from you soon :)
Great tutorial! Question: Can this be done for smaller (4-6mm) flat bottomed cabochons, or is this technique only used for faceted stones? Making the bezel out of wire is difficult with these smaller sized cabs, so i'm wondering if this tube setting could be done easier. Thanks!
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