Hi from Edinburgh

[Tonyprior]

Hello Everyone
I'm an amateur, making little bits and pieces for family and friends. I started with lapidary about 15 years ago and progressed to making some silver jewellery as a means of using some of those cabs. I was taught the basics of filing, sawing and polishing in my lapidary club, and progressed with books and the internet - at least I think I made a little progress. I have my own little workspace at home.
Recently I've had a bit of a knock in my first project with 18ct yellow gold :-O - I'd be glad for some advice.
Best wishes
Tony

[CJ57]

Hi Tony, I'm across in Fife. There will be lots of advice on here!

[metalsmith]

Hi Tony - its good to have you

[ShinyLauren]

Hi Tony - welcome to the forum!

[Tonyprior]

Thank you for the welcome folks. I was blown away by your designs and work, Caroline and ShinyLauren.

[CJ57]

Thank you Tony, that's really good of you to say :)

[Dennis]

Hello Everyone I'd be glad for some advice. Best wishes Tony.

Hello, Tony and welcome to the forum. What was the question again? Dennis.

[Tonyprior]

.

Hello, Tony and welcome to the forum. What was the question again? Dennis.

Hello, Dennis, and thanks too. I'm not sure this is the right place to post the question, but to keep it short, in trying to wrap an 18ct yellow gold bezel/girdle around the circumference of a double-sided (lenticular) crystal opal, I found the metal much less malleable than sterling silver and couldn't complete the job. I am wondering if the basic design concept was wrong, though I have managed it before using sterling silver. I was surprised at how tough and resistant to 'pushing' 18ct was, compared with sterling, but I do want to mount this stone (actually a pair of stones, for pendant earrings,) in gold and would like to show both sides of each stone. I am wondering if putting 5-6 small prongs on each side of a narrow girdle might be a solution. Perhaps there's a better solution?

[Dennis]

You're right Tony, 18ct is pretty tough and when setting it I have resorted to round pliers. Larger bezels would need a punch and a hammer, even if you moved to 20ct.

Anyhow, none of this is appropriate to opals which are fragile in the first place. So yes, you might add claws made from quite thin wire, maybe about 0.3 or 0.4mm round. You have not given any more information about the stones.

However before resorting to that, you might consider making scallops in the rim of your bezel with a cylinder burr, or a round file and treating the upstanding parts as claws. You can gauge the effect by drawing them in with a waterproof pen, which comes off again with meths. Dennis.

[Tonyprior]

Thanks Dennis, this is very helpful. I'm going to consider your two suggestions for a while.
The stones are freeform teardrops, approx. 12.5mm x 7.00mm x 3.5mm thick.
I made everything more difficult by not making the girdles uniform in thickness, and they don't lie exactly in one plane. This was to conserve opal, but of course it's made setting much more difficult. I think I could have managed it in sterling, but it wasn't a good choice for a first project in gold. Working alone, much of what I learn is from mistakes.

May I compliment you on your fine work in your online albums.

[Dennis]

Thank you Tony.