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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Jul 17, 2016 12:46:49 GMT -5
Tried another sterling bezel yesterday. This one turned out to be a comedy of errors and I should have tossed it in the scrap pile several times. I really never thought it would turn out to be anything worth keeping but after over 4 hours of playing with it my wife actually wore it out that night. No issues with the solder at all . Still having a heck of a time with the bezel rocker and burnishers. My other issue was with the solder on bail. The bail has to be soldered on before the stone is set but then the bail is in the way when trying to push the bezel over. I tried to uncurl the bail and worked one time but I had to do it again and it weakened and snapped. I had to heat and remove the broken one and reinstall a new one. edit: after posting this I checked my rio receipt and figured out the bezel problem. I ordered 24 gauge. I will be ordering some 28 gauge Monday. Thanks for looking Chuck
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Post by radio on Jul 17, 2016 15:47:18 GMT -5
Looking good! Rolling the bezel near the bail can be a pain! I have only three tools I use for the bezel. A brass bezel roller with the thicker rocker, a curved burnisher and a straight burnisher which doesn't get used as much as the curved. The roller will not fit under or around the bail, so one must use the tip of the burnisher and apply a good deal of pressure and make multiple passes over the bezel. Pretend this stone has a bezel around it, and you are holding it in your left hand. Grasp the handle with all four fingers, set the burnisher at about a 45° angle and using your thumb to apply pressure to the stone, pull the burnisher toward your thumb while exerting a good bit of downward pressure on the bezel. I start just past the curve of the burnisher, then on the final pass or two, move to the curved part to smooth any areas not lying against the stone as they should. Edit: One must burnish the bezel in several short strokes of 1/4 inch or so at a time. Turn the stone stone in the left hand and go over bezel as many times as needed to get it as flush to the stone as possible. There should be no visible gap between stone and bezel
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Jul 17, 2016 16:44:14 GMT -5
Thanks radio - I really hope a thinner bezel wire helps. I just hate waiting on orders from Rio though. Every time I realize I need something else its another 5-7 day wait. Chuck
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Post by Jugglerguy on Jul 17, 2016 16:58:55 GMT -5
I'm really glad you found a better model for this one. It wouldn't have looked as good on your hairy chest!
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Jul 17, 2016 17:03:11 GMT -5
I'm really glad you found a better model for this one. It wouldn't have looked as good on your hairy chest! Not a willing model by any means. I snapped a picture while she had it on and that photo came out better then the ones I took propped. Not the best example of Leland Blue but I hate to burn through my top notch stuff on practice bezels. Chuck
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Post by radio on Jul 17, 2016 17:29:00 GMT -5
Thanks radio - I really hope a thinner bezel wire helps. I just hate waiting on orders from Rio though. Every time I realize I need something else its another 5-7 day wait. Chuck Thinner bezel is a double edged sword. it will fold over the stone much easier, but it will also deform easier and will be easier to melt. 26 ga is my favorite for most stones. Try Sante Fe Jewelers supply and choose priority mail for 3 day delivery.. I've always had outstanding customer service from them
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Jul 17, 2016 17:46:44 GMT -5
Thanks radio - I really hope a thinner bezel wire helps. I just hate waiting on orders from Rio though. Every time I realize I need something else its another 5-7 day wait. Chuck Thinner bezel is a double edged sword. it will fold over the stone much easier, but it will also deform easier and will be easier to melt. 26 ga is my favorite for most stones. Try Sante Fe Jewelers supply and choose priority mail for 3 day delivery.. I've always had outstanding customer service from them Good advice. I had thought about the melting part. I think RIO jumps from 24 right to 28. I did not see 26 listed. Never heard of Sante Fe so I will be checking them out. Chuck
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Post by Pat on Jul 17, 2016 18:47:24 GMT -5
Just checked. rio has five styles of 26 gauge bezel wire. In rio's SEARCH, type in 26 gauge bezel wire.
Leland Blue new to me. Good looking!
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Jul 17, 2016 19:06:25 GMT -5
Just checked. rio has five styles of 26 gauge bezel wire. In rio's SEARCH, type in 26 gauge bezel wire. Leland Blue new to me. Good looking! Leland blue is a bi-product of the iron ore industry near Leland Michigan in the 1890's. Very popular in the Michigan gift shops. By shear coincidence I sold two cabs tonight of much better quality material. You can see a shiny steel pellet in the bottom right side of the first one. Chuck
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Post by radio on Jul 17, 2016 19:25:01 GMT -5
Thinner bezel is a double edged sword. it will fold over the stone much easier, but it will also deform easier and will be easier to melt. 26 ga is my favorite for most stones. Try Sante Fe Jewelers supply and choose priority mail for 3 day delivery.. I've always had outstanding customer service from them Good advice. I had thought about the melting part. I think RIO jumps from 24 right to 28. I did not see 26 listed. Never heard of Sante Fe so I will be checking them out. Chuck I do not buy anything from Rio unless it is an item I can't find elsewhere. Since becoming a publicly traded company, it is my belief that the quality of many items they carry has suffered greatly in order to increase performance for shareholders. Their Sterling has been very inconsistent for me from order to order in both firescale and difficulty in taking solder. That tells me they use different suppliers and the alloy is different from one manufacturer to the next or there are too many impurities, or contamination from recycled silver. www.sfjssantafe.com/SmetalsItems.php?Gid=SS030&ItemSet=Silver+Bezel+Wire&DepId=metalsSFJS is $28.75 per ounce and Rio is at $30.06. Not a huge difference, but as much volume as Rio does, they should be cheaper than independently owned supply houses, but they are not. This goes back to the shareholder profit thing I mentioned earlier
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Post by Pat on Jul 17, 2016 19:41:18 GMT -5
Rio used to take just one or two days to deliver, no matter which stamp was chosen. Now it is slow as the OP stated.
I'm going to try Santa Fe. Appreciate the info.
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Post by radio on Jul 17, 2016 21:57:38 GMT -5
Rio used to take just one or two days to deliver, no matter which stamp was chosen. Now it is slow as the OP stated. I'm going to try Santa Fe. Appreciate the info. Tell Wendy, Kristen or Robert that Arlen sent you it won't get you or me any discounts, but they try hard to keep and earn business. They always pack a few pieces of candy with the invoice and a hand written "Thank you" on the bag. It's always nice when a company knows you by your first name and appreciates your business.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Jul 18, 2016 7:06:17 GMT -5
Rio used to take just one or two days to deliver, no matter which stamp was chosen. Now it is slow as the OP stated. I'm going to try Santa Fe. Appreciate the info. Tell Wendy, Kristen or Robert that Arlen sent you it won't get you or me any discounts, but they try hard to keep and earn business. They always pack a few pieces of candy with the invoice and a hand written "Thank you" on the bag. It's always nice when a company knows you by your first name and appreciates your business. Just placed my first order with them. Nice to have options. Thanks for the tip. Chuck
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Post by orrum on Jul 18, 2016 7:13:05 GMT -5
I use SFJS. I use very little bezel due to my preference for prongs made from plate silver or hammered wire.
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Post by orrum on Jul 18, 2016 7:16:14 GMT -5
My instructor at Quartzsite always says a perfect calibrated stone in a perfect bezel looks like jewelry store merchandise or made in India/China stuff. Free form in both stone and silver work is a truly unique piece plus the concept challenges both the mental composition skills and the mechanical skills both.
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