Thanks Chris!

[Faith]

Ooh thanks Sarah I'll have a search.

That's interesting and not quite what I was expecting. I actually forgot that I have made one claw setting for a cab (jump ring & wire cross construction) and the trouble I had with those (I broke a pair of pliers trying to get the claws to bend) convinced me that claws were clearly too advanced!

i'll have a look at some premade settings too - like you I'm largely driven by making what I like, but I would like some all round skills, for example at some point I'm making 60th birthday earrings for my best friends mom, and while she doesn't like to say, I think she'd like faceted stones in claw settings... in gold - so there's 3 things to learn!
Faith

[Faith]

Hi Sarah, this one per chance?
http://www.professionaljeweler.com/a.../0200fys1.html
Faith

[Dennis]

That's quite a good tutorial, Faith. Two comments:

The burnishers are also easily made from burrs with the heads broken off. Everyone has a few of those, or burrs too blunt to be useful. They can be held in a universal handle. There are also scribers of the shape shown which can be highly polished.

Because setting burrs wobble slightly when run by machine, the hole will be a little on the big side. You can make a start with an undersized round burr and then finish more accurately with a setting burr touched with oil and hand turned in a universal handle.

The only problem is that handles from every source I have tried, will not tighten sufficiently just by hand and need a gentle go with pliers.
http://www.cooksongold.com/Jewellery...prcode-999-AZM

[enigma]

Hi Faith

I just found claw settings really fiddly to get the claws perfectly aligned etc when you make your own, far easier to get to grips with setting in a pre made one first.
Mind you before I did my course I had a diamond to set in a pre made one , I should have videoed the procedure as it was hilarious and took me ages as I hadn't a clue what I was doing but I did get there in the end LOL.

This was the tutorial I was thinking of that one of our members did:
http://www.cooksongold.com/forum/sho...=flush+setting

Now there are disagreements between different setters on which techniques etc are best but I did find that Johns technique here has worked well for me as I had been struggling with flush settings and making a mess which then had to be tidied up previously.
Ive just set 13 stones this way with no problem and hardly any clean up so Im really happy with it- I mostly just used the fine round pusher I made from an old 1mm burr ground to a smooth round end to push the meta over now so not really any clean up involved.
I rarely use the setting burrs that Dennis mentions tbh, I normally just use a slightly small round burr to cut the seat as they are easier to keep square .
Like I say though I am far from being any level of expert on stone setting.

[Faith]

Thanks Sarah and Dennis,

Some brilliant advice there to get started. Now you've made me want to try flush setting next! but i'll have a think about designs for me and my 'friend-commissions' as well as tool requirements for the various settings - because...

The burnishers are also easily made from burrs with the heads broken off. Everyone has a few of those, or burrs too blunt to be useful.

...some of us have zero burrs Dennis, not a one I did have a couple of broken screw mandrels - but alas I threw them away (silly). So there will be some burr shopping soon.

Thanks again

Faith

[Dennis]

Well Faith, You will need a selection of twist drills to make pilot holes right through. This lets light in and allows you to locate where the cavities for the stones will be. For simplicity most of us use the mounted twist drills which all have the same shank size of 2.3mm.

Traditionally a centre punch is used to make a small dent first, or the drill will wander when you start it. I find it less traumatic to do this with a 1mm round burr.

Round burrs are the most universal burrs, because they need not be held perfectly upright and can be inserted to various depths.
Some setters never use anything more and Sara has said that she finds them sufficient.

Having made the drill holes by machine a lightly oiled round burr will also work more accurately turned by hand as mentioned in my last post. Dennis.

[Faith]

Thanks Dennis, good shopping list

Been meaning to get "shanked" drill bits, I've been managing for small holes with a weeny Archimedes drill I've had for ever.

Would you recommend sets of drill bits / burs or getting them individually? The sets are obviously cheaper than buying the equivalent one at a time, but I wonder if there'd be sizes I never use etc.

Faith

[Dennis]

I would be quite miserly Faith and get selected drills, about a third of the size of the stones. In a set there are sizes you will never use, for instance ones less than 0.7mm in diameter which tend to break off easily.

For round burrs get them slightly bigger than the stones, because you do not need to insert them fully.

For practice stones, a pack of CZs, possibly 2 or 3mm which will not strain your eyes too much. You will also need magnification. A cheap headband with extra lenses that drop down will cost £10 or so and will do the trick for some time. If you wear glasses, it will work with them on. Don't bother with illuminated ones as that just adds weight.

Actually, I might be wrong, but I fancy this one: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-6x-2-0x-...-/191538126213 Dennis.

[enigma]

Yes, and refuse to ever work with stones under 1mm unless you are a masochist or have amazing eyesight LOL

If you do want to get a set this has more useful sizes than the smaller one :
http://www.cooksongold.com/Jewellery...prcode-984-021

Just one other thought, do you have a Dremel or a pendant motor? as the Dremel speeds are too high with too low a torque to be ideal for drilling and burring so you may find your burrs go blunt really quickly.

[Faith]

Thanks both

I think my natural inclination was to get just the sizes I needed, so praps that's a good place to start and if I end up getting a set later it'd wouldn't be the end of the world to have spares.

Oh Sarah don't say that...! I do have a Dremel and the little guy is quite new! It is one of the better ones, slowest speed is 5000 rpm (for most it's 10000), still too fast?

Faith