First ever claw setting (help!)

[Aurarius]

Just don't have one!

May have been a purchasing error a few years ago, but I have the wooden pin, and that vice, but not the ring clamp. I didn't get a kit you see, just individual bits

I'm not ruling out buying one, I just haven't had a need before.

Faith

A substitute in the meantime might be one of these:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Silverline-...ds=swivel+vice
I recently bought my second one from Aldi, which is identical to this Amazon one but cost only £6. It will enable you to get work horizontal.

If it was me I'd mount the ear-ring for setting on a T-shaped plate (one you've made yourself for peanuts or the overpriced alu one that typically comes with the Benchmate system:https://www.hswalsh.com/product/grs-...chmate-004-106). Drill a small hole through the top plate to one side of the T's vertical (or, better still, down through the vertical), gloop some hot polymorph on to the plate and sink the earring post into the polymorph, passing the post through the small hole as you do so. You'll be ready to go in a couple of minutes.

[Faith]

Thanks

That little vice looks great for the money. I'll have a play and see what I can construct from thermoloc and things in the garage!

Faith

[ps_bond]

Most of my t shaped plates are cut from a length of aluminium extrusion bought cheaply on EBay. A short piece makes a lot of them.

[Faith]

Thanks Peter,

Sadly the return to work will slow my progress now, but I have a bunch more silver studs to practice on next weekend, and will try some of the work holding ideas in the hope of achieveing neater results

Faith

[Faith]

Hi all,

Attempt 4:


This time a garnet. I felt it went way better, i didn't damage the outside of the claws this time, and the stone is straighter, perhaps not dead on, but nearly. Any imperfections you can see to improve on?

Also massive thanks to Chris for the burr tip, when I looked at the 1.4mm in the packet i thought I had no chance with something so miniature, but it was so much better!

Also thanks to everyone encouraging me on the work holding front. In the end I didn't get round to buying anything new, but had a play around and ended up clamping the stud between two strips of wood in the vice. It was rock solid actually and made a huge difference.



And finally ta Mark for the tip on straightening the claw.

Tomorrow I'll make this one a friend I think

Faith

[Gemsetterchris]

Jolly good improvement, looks reasonable.
Be sure you never ever cut deeper into the claws than halfway as they'll lose their strength..you'll need to push/pull claws so everything works out just so...

[Faith]

Thanks Chris,

These were trickier than the zirconia in that they had quite fat girdles, how would u handle that?

Anything else in particular that you see that isn't quite right?

Thanks again,
Faith

[Aurarius]

Thanks Chris,

These were trickier than the zirconia in that they had quite fat girdles, how would u handle that?

It looks very pleasing, Faith. Well done for thinking of a way of getting the setting into the position you want to work on it.

Different types of burr will produce different shaped seats for girdles to sit in. A setting burr or a round burr will produce a broader opening than a hart burr.

It's worth considering what you're going to do with the claws once you've cut the seats. Some pre-made settings have relatively short stubby claws with flat inner profiles (e.g. this one: http://www.cooksongold.com/Cast-Ring...rcode-NP1-S201), which once notched can only really be pinched against the girdle and rounded off at the top.

Other claws are longer and possibly thinner, and may have flat or rounded inner profiles. These can be left long whilst the seats are cut and then pushed down flat on to the crown (in which case it may be best to flatten off the inner edge of the claws if these are rounded - a setting burr will do this for you automatically). You can then file the claws back to the desired length (unobtrusively short but long enough to still be secure) and finish off their tips by rounding or otherwise shaping them, removing flashings with a graver, and polishing everything up to a smooth finish that doesn't leave any sharp protrusions to snag on clothing.

I think diamonds tend to have thin girdles rather than thick ones. Chris will know far better than I do what stones typically have what shape girdles.

[Faith]

Thanks Mark

So possibly I needed a super tiny round burr, maybe half a mm to round out the inner part of the seat a little for these.

These settings have longer thinner rounded claws, but being quite small, and with quite small stones I felt like pushing the claw over onto the stone would be too much. The garnets also have very flat tops, the girdle is only a smidge below the table so I was shooting for flattish domes. Do you think claw pushed over would look better?

It's nice to be able to consider style more now, rather than just the mechanics of getting the stone in there somehow!

Ta again
Faith

[Gemsetterchris]

It's impossible to cover all the possible combinations of claws & stone cuts...yes sometimes a ball burr can help.
You just need to do lots of setting & learn new tricks as you go...some stones maybe unevenly cut, this is why it's best to cut each claw individually as needed.