Flush / gypsy stone setting

[Nick martin]

Hi all,

I'm certain this question is a common theme but I'm still struggling to find an answer.

I wish to flush set a few stones into various pieces I've made. I completely grasp and understand the theory, I'd say, but its the tool part I'm falling down on!

Creating the seat for the stones using drills and burrs has been done, but I can't seem to push the silver on the rim of the hole over to hold the stone. I've got a slim curved burnisher tool but is this appropriate?

When I watch videos of this technique, or read articles, people talk about using an old beading tool etc, but is there a purpose made tool that I could order from Cooksons that would prove a better choice?

Thanks for bearing with me,

Nick

[josef1]

I always use a broken burr shaft that I reshape to a dome on the end then polish it all up.The size of the stone determines the size of the tip/dome you use. then put it into a graver handle the type with a small chuck on it. You can sort of see what I mean on this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li9W2FSP1Eg

[Didi]

Hi Nick
There are probably much better people here to answer your question but this is what I did when faced with exactly the same problem.

I took an old broken drill bit and broke off the remaining drill shank. this left a pointy but ragged shape which I then filed it down using a hand file to get a better shape. I then put it in the pendant motor and ran it on sandpaper/micromesh until I'd got a smooth, sharp point. I then drilled a small hole in a piece of dowel and shoved the old drill bit in it. It works perfectly. Its not pretty but it does the job.
Hope this helps.
Didi

[Nick martin]

Thanks for the quick reply both of you.

So.. The way forward is to custom make the tool ( instead of buying one ) as you've described. That seems straight forward enough to me. When we talk about polishing the tip so as not to leave any marks, then can you describe this process please?
I presume you don't mean that you use a hard felt mop,tripoli, rouge etc right?

Sorry for all the novice questions but this is a great help to me.

Nick

[ps_bond]

I've changed how I make these things of late - I use a diamond polishing wheel to shape the tip (both tool & wheel spinning) then use a finer one to polish.

However, they're expensive and there's more than one way to skin a cat, particularly when you haven't got a need to polish carbide tooling. An easyish way to do this is to spin the broken burr in a flexshaft (or Dremel, or...) and grind it to shape on an oilstone, moving the thing from side to side so you don't grind a groove as you lift the burr to form the profile (ogive). Then repeat with finer grits of wet & dry to get the scratches out. Finishing up I've used thin card with green rouge scribbled over it to get the final polish, same movement as the initial grinding.

[Exsecratio]

I took an old broken drill bit and broke off the remaining drill shank.

Be aware that some drill shanks are left in the soft state and may not last very long (as well as bending if struck)

best wishes

Dave

[ps_bond]

In the same vein, I've not yet noticed any steel burrs where only the business end is hardened; carbide burrs are a small amount of carbide on the end of a steel shank - you can see the delineation as a change from matt grey to shiny.

[Dennis]

There's more than one way to skin a cat

True, but you might have to skin several cats before you know what's best for you, poor things. The little burnisher is OK for the final flourish, when making a bright circle around the stone, but there's nothing like the tool below for actually shifting some metal.

It was made from 5.0mm round tool steel on a course, by hammering the end, shaping and polishing. I use it with the sharp edge down and you can see the effect on the flush set stones of this hollow ring made on the same course. Surprisingly there is hardly any damage, even to the texturing. Dennis.

[Nick martin]

Thanks for all the pointers, appreciated. Practice is the way forward of course but a little useful knowledge also helps.

Nick