Claw setting by hand?

[enigma]

Well its what happens when you are stupid and don't tie your hair back lol
Trouble with a Dremel is they just keep going until you can get to turn them off.
I wouldn't be without my hammer handpiece, makes setting so much easier.
Especially gold, that can be a nightmare by hand.
Fine silver is ok though, I don't use it on fine silver bezels but I almost always use it with gold.

[china]

Well enigma beat me to it so as you can see they are many many times more versatile than a Dremel, I now have two one has the hammer handpiece fitted all the time, I have put a little choc of wood under the foot control stops me over revving the hammer handpiece, if I wish too I can just remove it and I have the full speed.

[enigma]

Hmm, I might do that, its a pain when you have to keep changing handpieces through a job.

[Faith]

Thanks both its very tempting, plus I would clearly get to have a whole better class of problems, like the pain of changing handpieces

Oh dear Sarah Mental note to tie hair back always! Its fingernails I always worry about losing with the Dremel, I don't know if it could actually happen, but the force with which it can yank things if it catches has made me nervous.

I'm glad it wouldn't be a necessity for those earrings though, I don't want to feel like I forced myself into buying one by over committing on the project!

Ta again
Faith

[Faith]

Hi all,

So I have another question. To cut the seat in the setting, as a reminder it's this one:

http://www.cooksongold.com/Findings/...prcode-NNJ-846

I think I want to try doing it with burs, either by hand or with Xmas Foredom, but it seems there are two schools of thought as to whether to use a setting bur the same size as the stone, to cut all claws at once, or to use a hart bur a fair bit smaller than the stone and cut the claws one at a time. My question is which way is likely to be easier for a first go at this?

Many thanks
Faith

[enigma]

I find it easier to use a hart burr the same size as the stone that way its easier to keep them all at the same height.

[Faith]

Thanks Sarah,

So I've looked at a lot of pictures of this, with a setting burr it looks like as well as cutting a slopey shelf for the stone, its straight sides also thin the inside of the prongs (more lower down than at the top). With a weeny hart burr I can see that (with a very steady hand) you could cut 4 perfect little notches and not thin the claws at all.

With your stone sized hart burr are you shooting for perfect notches or not? I'm thinking if you turn the hart burr into the setting, its width will cut away part of the claw insides until it gets to the right depth (even tho it hasn't got straight sides). Is that okay, or do you try to wiggle it into the setting creating some tension and then turn it to try to just cut away little notches the exact shape of the burr?

Possibly I'm just going to have to have a go and see what happens, I just cant see it in my head yet.

Thanks

Faith

[enigma]

I use the Hart burr to cut the notches on the sides so depending on the shape of the stone you may need to use another ( smaller) one to cut the seat as you don't want to be cutting into the prongs at the wrong height.
Are you going to get a couple of silver ones to practise on?

[Faith]

Hi Sarah,

Yes, definitely! Maybe more than a couple of silver ones given my lack of confidence about this. So far I can't even figure out which burrs I need to buy. My stones are brillants (I think, they're these: http://www.wardgemstones.com/stones/...hyst-dark.html), and I measured em all, they're between 3.98 and 4.02 mm, so perhaps just a 4mm 90 degree hart burr? Oh and a cup burr for the tops of the prongs, but then again I don't know what size. Very confused

Possibly getting everything I need in one order is a bit of a pipe dream!

Faith

[enigma]

Yes your other problem is that the burr sizes aren't accurate either, I would maybe go for a 4mm and the next size down but Im no expert, I just tend to fiddle around until something works lol.
I bought a set of cup burrs: http://www.cooksongold.com/Jewellery...rcode-989-010X
Do be careful with them on an amethyst though as they will scratch if the touch the stone.