Lapidary_Journal_Jewelry_Artist_-_February_2016_

Photos 3 and 4 Bevel the edge of the cab

to a peak down the center, and fi nish

the shape on this wheel. Make sure the

bevel peaked edge goes directly down

the center. The closer you get to this

shape at this stage, the easier it will be

down the road. When up to the 600

wheel, bevel the bottom edge with a

45-degree angle but barely cut into the

gem. This will prevent chipping during

setting.

Continue on through all the wheels.

You will fi nd that you will not have to

spend much time on each one due to

the softness of the rough. Once you are

at the 1200 stage, spend a lot of time

smoothing. You will note that this wheel

will still cut the gem. I round all edges

very slightly here, so slightly that you

wouldn’t even notice without magnifi -

cation. If you can see too much round-

ing, you have gone too far. Back up! I

polish the back, too, as I love to cut out

designs on the back. For polishing, I

used a rough leather wheel with cerium

oxide.

Fabricate the Setting

Photo 5 Use square wire that is long

enough to fi t the entire perimeter of the

stone. I used 2mm round wire and drew

it out square on my rolling mill. You can

certainly start with 1.5mm square as

mine is 1.54 when rolled square. Fit to

each side and cut to the length of the

stone plus 3mm or so. Use hard solder

and solder only one side down onto the

20 gauge sheet. Make sure you leave

enough sheet for the design on the top.

Pickle and rinse.

Fit your stone and scribe the metal

on the other side so you will know

where to lay the other side down. We

want a snug fi t. Doing this takes a

pretty good eye but you can do it. If it

is not angled correctly, sweat it off and

resolder it down properly.

Photo 6 Now add the cap at the top.

Notice that it does not extend to each

side. I used fl at wire 5.3mm x 14 gauge.

You will need to use 14 gauge by the

height you cut your stone. This is

a wide “prong” that will be used to

snug your stone tight. Pickle, rinse,

I polish the back of the gem, too, as I love to cut out designs on the back

of the metal.

The photography

videos John

recommends in his

P.S. are:

Q“How to

Photograph Your

Jewelry with Jim

Lawson”

Q“How to

Photograph Your

Jewelry: Beyond

the Basics with Jim

Lawson”

Available at http://www.

interweavestore.com.

FIND THOSE

VIDEOS

s Y s t a s w v w

photography

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lapidary journal )( Jewelry artist