Alice! Thank you for such a wonderful comment. I truly appreciate the feedback. I am working on new videos for the channel and hope to have some posted soon!
I can agree with you on making your own tubing for stones less than 6mm because they are really hard. I make all of my own tubes for most of my stones but having a swage block and a decent hammer makes it a bit easier. Most of the time I make tubes put of D shaped wire and make jump rings out of them. Using D wire has major advantages because we all have some lying around. It gives enough thickness to set the stone and the outer diameter can give some ace effects. Just file to your preference but remember to bevel a 45 degree angle when you have the right size-you need a thin edge to rub over the stone.
@@johnmimist yes D wire that we use for rings. I love using patterned wire and so long as the cab is snug provided you chamfer the edge to 45 degrees and file the edge so it's within 0.5-1mm from the edge it's great. It takes a fair amount of practice because you really do need to make sure the inner edge is super clean before you start pushing it or hammering it over. I tend to use chunky bezels for big cabs and pearls x
Wow, this was VERY, VERY, HELPFUL, thanks! 👍 I believe you just saved me some 💲. I saw another demo that used a ball burr 1st to start out and a setting burr 2nd. I can see how a ball burr might ensure you start out completely centered but knowing it isn't necessary is good. I'm just wanting to attempt to tube set 3mm CZ's. Also, I was stressing out over finding a single punch (instead of a set) when I already have a bezel rocker and burnisher. Now if I can only find the correct size setting burr for my 3mm stones (and maybe 2mm stones) without having to buy a complete set, I'll be good to go! 👍 Thank you again so much!🙂
Hello Millybells! 6.35mm would be very close for a 6mm stone. You will have very little room for error, but it can be done. However, the most important thing is that the inner diameter is about 0.50mm smaller than the diameter of the stone so there is enough of an edge to sit the culet of the stone for a stable position. I hope this helps! ☺️
@@JulessaScofieldMetalsmith Thank you for replying and sharing your knowledge , your videos are very inspiring and helpful to me as a student of jewellery making . I will go ahead to make this setting for my projects 🙂👍❣️
Hi! The wall should be at minimum 1mm thick in my opinion. That gives you about 1/2mm to cut the seat for the stone. So if my stone is 6mm in diameter, I prefer the inner diameter of the tube to be at most 5 1/2mm with at least a 6 1/2 to 7mm outside diameter. Thicker walls work just as well, there is just more metal to push over the stone.
Hi there. I have a 5mm by 3mm round faceted Diamond, and I want to make a bezel set men's ring band. I already have the ring made, I just need to solder on a bezel cup to fit the Diamond. I see premade bezel cups on Etsy, but not sure what size to get. I see one online that says its 6mm on the outside diameter, 4.5mm on inside diameter, and 5mm seat diameter. I already reached out to the seller to ask if it would fit my Diamond, but they are not responding. So decided to come to RU-vid for advice. Thank you for your time, and have a wonderful day.
Hi Jared! I wouldn't use a premade bezel cup since your stone is a faceted diamond. If you can, make your own tube setting or buy a premade tube that has a thick inner wall ( 0.5mm or more) and a diameter of at least 5.5mm. Then you can use a setting bur to open the seat and then burnish the walls down on top of the stone. Hope this helps!
If you're talking about a pre-made tube bezel, I'd say the 6mm outer diameter and 4.5mm inner should be ok. The only thing you really need to find out is the height of the pre-made tube bezel to keep the culet (bottom of the stone) from touching your finger.
Hello Fire!!! For prongs, you could gently anneal them, but you run the risk of un-soldering or melting them. Do you use a prong pusher or just by hand? Sometimes I'll leverage the side of my bench to get some extra force against the prongs since my hands are not always strong enough. Also, if you're talking about a bezel setting, I will take a file and thin out the top edge of the bezel very carefully before re-polishing and pushing the bezel over the stone. I generally do thicker walled bezel settings, so this method has really helped a lot. Hope these suggestions help. Let me know how it goes...
