Jewellery Making Supplies Blog

Stone setting is a way of securely attaching stones into a piece of jewellery.  You can use various techniques to incorporate stones into your designs including: Claw, Gypsy, Bezel, Illusion, Pave, Channel, Tension and Grain. The stone’s shape and hardness dictate which type of setting technique is suitable.  Stones can add colour and a focal point to your design and helps your design attract customers’ attention!

Types of settings

1.  Claw settings: A small amount of metal is used to make up claw settings, allowing light to pass through the stone and also allows easy access to the stone for cleaning. Claw settings are made up of prongs. The prongs are bent over the stone to secure in place.

2. Gypsy settings: are done by using the surrounding metal to set a stone. which makes the stone appear flush within the piece of jewellery.

3. Bezel settings: or rub-over settings require a tight wall of metal around the stone. It sits on a ledge of wire or a sheet of metal at the base. Creating a wall and pushing it against the stone.

4. Illusion settings: are used to visually exaggerate the appearance of a small stone. This is done by a stone being set into a collet with a large wall.

5. Pave settings: the word pave originates from the French meaning paved.  Pave setting uses small stones to cover the surface of a piece of jewellery. Tiny beads of metal are pulled up from the surface and are pushed up over stone.

6.  Channel settings: are usually used in lines. Stones that are channel set are supported on two sides and underneath. The two sides are pushed down to tighten the stone in place.

7. Tension settings: use the metal surrounding it to secure stone in place. It requires tension through the metal to support the stone. A tension setting allows light to pass through it and show its full beauty.

8. Grain settings: consist of small stones in lines. Tiny beads or grains of metal are pulled up from surface and are pushed up over the stone.

Bezel Setting on a Pendant

You will need:

Tools:

• Texturing Hammer, Wide Stripe
• Half Round File and Handle
• Flat Stake
• Emery Paper
• Emery Stick Flat, Medium
  
• Dividers
  
• 6″ Steel Ruler
• 3″ Adjustable Saw Frame
• Saw Blades 3/0
• Soldering Block
• Hand Torch
• Pickling Powder
• Borax Cone and Borax Dish
• Flux Brush
• Shears and Stainless Steel Tweezers
• Triblet
• Square ended pusher
• Burnisher

Materials

• 1mm Silver Sheet (15mm x 40mm and 12mm x 50mm)
• 20mm of 0.3mm x 3mm Fine Silver Strip
• Solder Strip
• 3mm Moonstone Round Cabochon
• Silver Snake chain

STEP 1

Take the 12mm x 50mm Silver, the texturing hammer and the flat stake. Place your silver sheet onto the flat stake, hold one edge of the silver sheet, use the texturing hammer strike the sheet numerous times in one direction, turn the silver sheet and repeat on opposite end.

STEP 2

Using a half round file, use flat edge and file the edges straight and using Emery sticks buff the edges to become smoother.

STEP 3

Using Dividers measure 42mm on steel ruler and score a line width ways in the textured sheet. Saw pierce along this line. The textured sheet will have become hard as it has been worked on, it is ready to anneal, quench and pickle. To create a curve, push the non – textured edge against a large curve of your choice. If you have bangle mandrel this would work perfectly.

STEP 4

Place curved edge against 15mm x 40mm piece, approximately the same length. Take a sheet of course emery paper and rub edges down until flat and sit flush onto the larger piece of sheet.

 

STEP 5

Using borax cone and dish make up flux and with a flux brush dab flux on sheet and the just buffed edge, then place the curved piece of sheet onto one side of silver sheet. Then with shears snip two small pallions of hard solder and place on the fluxed join.

STEP 6

Using hand torch gently apply heat, gradually increasing until it is hot enough and the solder flows. Then quench & pickle.  Repeat on the opposite end, again using hard solder. Quench and pickle.

Tip:  When using more than three solder joins, use hard solder as many times as possible!

STEP 7

To make the bezel, wrap the strip around the stone, letting it strip overlap, once you have the correct shape remove the stone. Where the strip overlaps saw pierce or cut with end cutters and make sure the two ends are flush with no gaps. Flux the join of the bezel; place a small pallion of hard solder on the join with tweezers. Apply heat gently and evenly to the bezel until the solder flows remove flame. Quench and pickle.

STEP 8

Place bezel onto triblet or use round nose pliers and tap with a mallet to get true circle.  Check the stone fits at this stage, if bezel is too large saw pierce down the solder line, if the stone still does not fit file the ends. The bezel strip will be higher than the stone, to reduce the height rub the base against course emery paper. The height of the bezel needs to be approximately level with the beginning of the curve of stone.

STEP 9

Place the bezel on right hand corner of your piece. Flux and add medium solder pallions around the outside of bezel. Solder on wire mesh and soldering block. Apply heat evenly starting gently and gradually increase until the solder flows. Quench and pickle.

Tip: A wire mesh is advisable so the heat can be spread evenly through the piece; this will also prevent the bezel overheating and maybe melting! Using remaining textured sheet curve over triblet or using round nosed pliers and this will make your loop for necklace.

STEP 10

Rub edges on emery paper until flush. Flux loop and centre of piece. Place together. Using shears cut pallions of easy silver solder and place two pallions either side. Heat gently and gradually increase until solder flows. Quench and pickle. Clean up piece going through grades of emery paper leaving a matt finish.

Tip: Use oxidizing solution on the textured strip of the pendant and polish raised areas to enhance the appearance of the texture.

STEP 11

To set the stone, try to gain as much grip as possible. Using a flat bezel pusher, push one part of the bezel wall against the stone. Push in at points ‘north’, ‘south’, ‘east’ and ‘west’. This is to avoid a build up of metal. Push in between these points and continue to do this around the stone. Bringing the pusher up to a higher angle, and apply pressure against the middle and top edges of the bezel. Use a burnisher rib for the top edge to get rid of sharp edges and brighten the silver.

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STEP 13

Now hook the silver snake chain through the loop. You have finished the project!

Bending metal is one of the basic jewellery techniques which every jeweller comes across in the designing process. Mastering this technique is crucial in order to avoid damaging your piece’s surface.  Before setting to use this technique, acquaint yourself with the following tools:

1. Mallets

If you are looking to bend your metal without marking it, make use of mallets – nylon and rawhide are very suitable. Mallets are flat shaped and used in forming ring shanks and bangles.

How to make a ring shank

To shape your metal into a wire or band rings use a mandrel and a mallet. Use a vice to secure the mandrel and place your metal horizontally across it – a third of the way up the vice’s end. It is easier to start bending the metal to a smaller diameter than needed as it is easier to extend the diameter than to decrease its size. Use the mallet to hit the wire where it stops making contact with the mandrel. This will curve the wire. Continue this by moving the wire forward across the mandrel and remember to always keep the straight portion horizontally. Bend a third of the length and turn the piece around to bend the other end.

To adjust the form, place your piece on a wooden surface and tap with the mallet. Solder your piece before adjusting it into a perfectly round ring shape.

 

2. Hammers

Steel hammers can be used in a similar way to bend your metal and make the process a lot quicker than mallets. They will however stretch your design and make it thinner. Unless you are using a texturing hammer, using a hammer to bend your metal will leave marks that need to be removed.

 

3. Triblets, mandrels and stakes

These are tools that will also help you shape your metal. They are usually made from steel, but you will also find wood and nylon tools.

Note: keeping these tools in a good condition is essential to avoid damaging your metal.

DO regularly anneal and clean the entire surface of the metal that you are working on.

DO NOT: use a stake that has been hit with a steel hammer as this will mark it. The mark will be transferred onto your metal.

Use water or acid on steel tools as they can be easily damaged and repairing this is an extensive process.

 

4. Pliers

These are used for bending wire, strips and sheet metal and holding small items you are working with. There are a few types of pliers, which will help you fulfil different tasks. Use your pliers carefully as they can easily damage soft metals. By using nylon jaw pliers you can decrease the change of this happening; or simply wrap masking tape around your pliers’ jaws.

 

Depending on what you are trying to achieve you will also need: round-nose, flat-nose and parallel pliers. They will help you give different shapes to your metal, adjust shapes or straighten and increase curves. Parallel pliers are particularly useful when making fine adjustments to forms (e.g. bending angles) but most type of pliers will provide good leverage.

For thick wire use a mallet. It is difficult to bend using pliers without causing damage even if the wire has been annealed beforehand.

If at the end you are not completely satisfied with your forming, you can flatten and straighten your material and start again. For best results, you should anneal your pieces. In order to do this, a rawhide mallet should be used on a steel surface and any textured surfaces should be protected with masking tape.

With the convex curve uppermost, you need to place the metal on the block. You then need to mallet inwards from the edges, continuing to do so until the sheet is flat again and repeat if required. In some cases,you will need to pass the sheet through the rolling mill several times.

Annealed wire can be straightened between two flat steel plates, or tapped with a mallet. If your wire is lengthy, use a vice and pull hard on the end with pliers or use draw plates.

 

 Most types of jewellery require at least one movable joint, therefore it is a vital part of a piece and should be considered during the designing stages. You need to think about the type of movement you require, specific to the design.

Types of Joining Links 

•  Rivets: A rivet has the ability to hold pieces together without solder. You need to push your small piece of wire through similar holes in two or three separate pieces.
• Screws: A special “tap and die” set, designed for jewellers, allows small wire and tubes to be used to make screws that are in proportion of the piece. The size of the wire you are going to tap should be larger than the inside diameter of the tube, but smaller than the outside.
• Hooks: A hook can be used to fasten a chain or necklace or even to hang additional pieces from which prevents these pieces unhooking themselves when being worn. This type of joining method enables the piece to be more versatile, for example you might want to add a pendant to a simple chain but on some occasions just have the chain on its own.
• Hinges: Used to join two pieces which can then be moved without losing the integral line. On each edge, alternate your pieces of tube and solder them. Ensure wire passes through all the tube sections.

Joining Tips

1. Practice: When you are making joining links for your new design, we would recommend making a couple of mock-ups first. These can be made using paper, card, modelling clay etc. You should choose a material that mirrors the behaviour of the metal you intend to use.
2. Experiment: The most common joining links are having holes and jump rings. Try and make your piece stand out from the rest with an innovative joining method!
3. Strong Links: You need to ensure that the wire you are going to use for a jump ring is strong enough for your piece. The circle will distort if this is too light for the weight of the chain/necklace.
4. Solder your jump rings: To make your jump rings look neater, you might want to solder them. You will only need a small amount of solder, as long as you ensure the join is really tight. Large pieces of solder might form a lump, which will need to be filed down.