Flush setting in curved surfaces

[ps_bond]

I was asked last night about what size of stone to use when flush setting in curved surfaces, so I mocked this up in CAD:



This is a 5mmx2.2mm oval cross-section, with 1-4mm stones (in 0.5mm increments) inset into it. Each stone has been moved so there is enough (virtual) material at the sides to be able to burnish it in; as the stones get larger, you can see that there's progressively more & more metal needs to be moved or removed top & bottom to set the stone (and the burnished area becomes progressively more oval too). In this example, I'd prefer to stick below 2.5mm to keep things clean.

Needless to say, as surface gets more curved, you can really only use smaller stones.

[caroleallen]

That's a great example. Thanks Peter.

[Gemsetterchris]

Yep. That will help a few people.
Sums up what we concluded.
As for burnishing only...I really don't get that.
It can "work", but it doesn't really put much metal over the stones & that isn't great for slightly bendy items.

[ps_bond]

It was very much a case of a picture being worth a thousand words - rather than try to describe it, use the computer to do the hard work.

[Gemsetterchris]

It was very much a case of a picture being worth a thousand words - rather than try to describe it, use the computer to do the hard work.

Your right, but creating a CAD image needs some talent

[mizgeorge]

What a useful picture - and a great reminder of why I try to never set larger stones into curves!

Thanks Peter

[Wallace]

I think I am too old to learn to CAD - I give up with Photoshop!

brilliant result, definitely many words from one picture.

[ps_bond]

As for burnishing only...I really don't get that.
It can "work", but it doesn't really put much metal over the stones & that isn't great for slightly bendy items.

Missed that earlier - depends what level of burnishing we're talking about. I'm not much of a fan of the powered rocker burnisher method Sam Alfano demos, I do use a similar one manually which displaces a decent amount of metal over the stone. Needle burnisher for small stones where it's appropriate. Or alternatively I'll hammer or use a pusher and displace metal that way; depends on what stone, what the mount looks like and mood at the time.

[Dennis]

It would be interesting to contrast that model with a ring made of flat strip. Dennis.

[Gemsetterchris]

It does depend on the job, I'll do whatever works best at the time

A flat strip model won't look any different to the smaller stones shown.