Photos 11 and 12 Build a bezel for the
diamond or use premade tubing. I hand
hammered a spiculum and used that.
Setting the diamond is easy. Place the
tube in the fl ex shaft, and apply the
bur using a pin vise. Rotate the tubing
at about 8000 rpm or about half the
speed of the fl ex shaft max speed. Once
the seat is cut, insert the diamond and
burnish the setting with a smooth/pol-
ished burnishing tool. Do this while the
fl ex shaft spins, and it will be a breeze!I used liver of sulfur on the piece and
polished it off everywhere except the
sawn areas of the bezel “prongs.” I also
left a spot or two dark for contrast. It
is completely up to you as to how you
fi nish your piece! Note the 18K gold did
not oxidize. Pretty cool, right?Set the Stones
Photos 13 and 14 Time to set the rhodo-
chrosite. I do this with a bezel pusher I
made out of tool steel and roughed it
up so it will not slip off of the metal as
I push. You get some nasty marks on
your bezel this way, but it is really thick
and cleanup is easy. Just be careful not
to touch the stones with any tools! I
use a rubber abrasive wheel such as a
Crate. I use a rougher abrasive grit, then
a polishing grit.
I had a few stubborn prongs so I con-
tinued with a bezel punch. I place my
punch on about a 15-20 degree angle
and hammer away — gently! Use mag-
nifi cation to watch the prong just touch
the stone, then stop. Move to the next
millimeter or so, and continue hammer
setting. Use even blows and cleanup
will be much easier.
TIP: Copper sheet rolled out super
thin can be placed against the stone to
protect it as you clean up with the fl ex
shaft and abrasive wheels.
Photo 15 Polish your piece up and photo-
graph it. Hope to see you in Quartzsite
and Tucson!P.S. Having a hard time photographing your
beautiful jewelry? Yeah I did, too, until I
got James Lawson’s DVD’s on how to
do it. I am a pro photographer doing
nature, landscape, and wildlife, but
jewelry is a completely diff erent animal.
Pun intended! Jim does all the cover
shots for this magazine, and he is an
all-around great guy. He has two videos
that give you everything you need to
know. This was completely unsolicited,
by the way!JOHN F. HEUSLER G. G. owned a fi ne jewelry store
and gallery for 31 years in St. Louis, Missouri and is
now retired. John is a gemologist, master gold- and
silversmith, and a lapidary. He has been cutting
gemstones and handcrafting jewelry for over 45
years. He offers his designer cabochons in Quartz-
site, Tucson and on his website http://www.slabstocabs.
com. He gives instruction in a one-on-one format in
his studio in California or will travel to teach.see
more
work
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lapidary journal )( Jewelry artist