NOTE: If you feel you need more
fi lings, repeat the whole process. You
will have to fi le and sand the plate to
remove any wayward fi lings.
Set the Stones
Photo 11 Carefully place the bezels and
solder with medium solder. Check all
the way around both bezels to make
sure the solder fl owed completely. If
not, resolder until it has.
Photo 12 A little trick to help in setting
cabochons with a sharp corner or point
like these stones is to use a cut-off
wheel and cut notches in the bezel. It
also adds a decorative touch to your
bezel. You can mark them out or eyeball
them. Just be sure to cut a small “V”
notch at each point, so that when you
press the bezel to the stone, it will close
tightly around the point and just look
like all the other notches.
Photo 13 To attach the chain, solder 2
jump rings onto the pendant with easy
solder. You will have to off set them so
the pendant will hang straight.
To fi nish the piece, I sanded the backand polished the front. Then I set the
cabs by placing them in the bezels and
pushed the bezels onto the stones with
a burnisher — starting at the corners
and curves, then moving on to the
straight areas.
Photo 14 To give the front a little more
texture, I used a small line stamp (I
made it out of a 16d nail) and carefully
stamped all around the bezels. This
is decorative, but also really seats the
bezel so the stone is very secure.
I made a chain using all the sparejump rings I had laying around and
attached a few heart cut-outs to
see
more
work
Their Turn
PAGE 811
12
(^1314)
continue the heart theme. I like
the randomness of the larger and
smaller, round and oval jump rings all
interspersed. I fi nished the necklace off
with a heart and arrow toggle clasp.
JEFF FULKERSON has been creating imaginative
jewelry for 30+ years and has taught at museums,
schools, and events. The award-winning silver-
smith has studied such Native American greats
as Richard Tsosie, Jesse Monongye, and Michael
Cheatham. Noted for his meticulous execution and
attention to detail, Jeff loves the creative process of
seeing his ideas take shape and come to life. See
more at http://www.aldenjeffriesdesign.com.
January/February 2016^29