The sadest thing in the world.....

[Faith]

Well not really, but I'm pretty sad right now.

Here lies my first attempt at dome setting:

10342

That little loop in the foreground had previously been attached, threaded through a hole drilled in the back of the dome and soldered on the inside. Pretty sure that getting the stone out now will ruin that little dome and pretty sure I can't solder it with the moss agate in.

So possibly not so much a case of ask the experts and more 'share my pain' :(

Hope everyone else is having a more successful weekend :)

Faith

[Dennis]

Yes Faith, accepting a solder joint when it is not secure is a common cause of failure and we've all been there. That doesn't mean you're a bad person. :^o

Just try this: Fix the dome firmly into your thermosetting plastic and then with a pointy craft knife or snap off knife. insert the point little by little between metal and stone. Go round and round and eventually a small gap will appear. don't be in a hurry or the metal will be too buckled.

Once the stone is slightly loose, release the dome and push the stone out with a hard wire, or iron panel pin inserted through the hole. Dennis.

[Faith]

Thanks Dennis,

I will try that for sure as it's good practice even if I don't manage to save the dome this time.

I think I have changed my mind about the design too, I think I want integral hookwires like this:

10343

Would u still drill the dome and solder from the inside to attach? This time it doesn't look like the joint failed actually, the wire seems to have sheered flush with the back of the dome.

Many thanks :)

Faith

[Dennis]

Well, I often add a short section of close fitting tubing slipped over a wire, to give a bigger foot for soldering. Then you deed not drill a hole, only make sure the surfaces match.

I do worry about where you intend to attach your wire. Things tend to flop forward and down if attached at their centre, so I aim at a point a third of the way down. It means that in this case it would be further forward too. Dennis.

[Faith]

Thanks Dennis, that's a good shout about the wire position, further up would be fine :) Do you reckon the tube foot would be stronger than drilling the dome to solder? I liked the drilling idea just because i can solder from the inside and preserve the outside finish (which is usually where the wheels come off for me!)

Ta again :)

Faith

[Dennis]

Swings and roundabouts Faith.

[enigma]

You definitely aren't the only one Faith and Ive done it more than once too so didn't even learn my lesson the first couple of times !
Just be thankful its only one stone ;)

[theresa]

Did you burr the hole before soldering to make a tighter fit? Just thought I could see a tiny bit of swarf, but I could be wrong.
It's pants when soldering comes apart.:'(

[Faith]

Aww thanks Sarah, yeah it could definitely have been worse!

Thanks Theresa :) I didn't burr the hole no, I drilled right thru the dome, emeried both sides, balled the end of the wire, threaded it thru and and soldered on the inside. It looked like a good join as there was a solder meniscus thru to the outside, and indeed the solder didn't fail, the wire sheered through :s

But I shall try again and with my new design I'll use heavier wire for an integral hook anyway and be super careful not to put strain on it during setting.

Many thanks again
Faith :)

[Dennis]

Wires can fail due to overheating. A final insult is quenching while red hot.

[Faith]

Ooo it probably was that you know Dennis, I'm pretty sure I did overheat the first one, and that's the broken one. I never quench tho at least, I sit poking things impatiently until they no longer burn my fingers!

Thanks Dennis I'll have to watch that.

Faith :)

[pearlescence]

Sounds more like metal fatigue caused the breakage. When you were setting the stone did the wire get twisted?

[joyerico]

Hi Faith,

Unless you have bent the "bezel" inwards, you can try drilling a small hole again in the back - with a lot of care not to touch the stone - and using a wood stick try to push your stone out.

On the other hand, is a good practice to always test soldering strength by twisting wires & clasps. Or simply polishing everything in a tumbler. If it survives, then it is well soldered.

Good luck.

[Faith]

Hi Wendy and thankyou, the whole thing was embedded in thermoloc to set, which I figured would support and protect it all, but now you say that of course the dome was round and so could have twisted under the pressure of setting, while the little loop was stuck. Mental note not to do that again!

And thanks Joyerico, the stone is well and truly set now, so I'll need to use Dennis's method to open the "bezel" again before I can poke it back out.

Ta again :)
Faith

[Faith]

Hi all,

By way of update I'm finally finished!!!

I ended up having to make a few saw cuts to extract the stone, and made two completely new settings, which seems to have taken forever as I've had really limited time for my jewellery lately, but finally have my finished domeset earrings here:

1044110442

This time I was especially careful to put no pressure on the wires while setting also.

Thanks again for everyone's help and advice on this these and any feedback on the finished little guys is most welcome :)

Hope everyone's well :)
Thanks,
Faith

[Dennis]

Beautifully set and I particularly like the round shape of the ear wires.

Can I see a little excess solder at the top? Its probably just the wires reflected. Dennis.

[mizgeorge]

I think those are just delicious - in fact they're the first I've seen for a long time that make me really sad I can't wear earrings any more.

Well done for persevering - the end result was more than worth it!

(and I think it's a reflection on the top - very nice pictures btw - especially the second one)

[Faith]

Awww thank you both for those lovely comments Dennis and George :)

It took me a while to get the wire shape pleasing, and both the same lol, and practice has definitely improved my bezel setting, so thank you for all the tips along the way Dennis :)

Just checked too and there's no stray solder *phew* There shouldn't have been anyway as all the soldering was done well inside the domes, so think your right and it's just a reflection :)

Aw how come you can't wear earrings any more George? I feel bad now I made earrings that made you sad, but glad you like them so much thank you :) Thanks about the photos too, they were taken on my dinky SLR and cos it wasn't sunny enough I used my iPhone LED torch to light up the stones for the second pic.

Faith

[enigma]

Those look great Faith, super well done!

[Wallace]

Totally worth the learning curve. Brilliant result

[china]

Good work can't! see anything bad too about them

[Faith]

Thank you Sarah, Wallace & Bob :) I'm definitely glad I didn't give up on them now :)

Faith

[Kathryn Harrison]

Gorgeous!

Sent from my EVA-L09 using Tapatalk

[Faith]

Thanks Kathryn :)