Bead & Bright Cut
May 10, 2008
May 01, 2008
Azures - A Jour
After drilling the holes, turn the jewelry over and clean up the back of the plate. If the plate is thin, all you can do is scrape away any burs and polish with a bristle brush. If the plate is thick enough, you need to cut away some of the metal surrounding the holes. These cuts are called azures. Azure is the American English derivative of the French term a jour or adjoure.
The easiest method to cut an azure is to taper the hole using a bud or cone bur. Then polish the taper with a hard felt point in your flex-shaft.
On finer jewelry, you will want to cut a square or triangle shaped azure. The results look like bright cutting on the backside of the jewelry. To begin, cut a tapered hole with a bud bur. Then, using a hart bur held sideways cut your corners in each hole. Next, use a small wheel bur to clean away the metal between the corners. Then use a polished flat graver to clean up and polish your cuts.
Brad
April 29, 2008
March 29, 2008
Too Thin a Skin
Before bead setting stones, properly
measure the thickness of your metal. At a minimum, the metal should be as thick as the distance between the girdle and the culet.
If the metal is too thin, you will not have enough metal to get a good bead.
If the metal is particularly thin, use a setting bur that is slightly dull. Then, rather than cutting the metal away cleanly, it will push some of the metal down. This metal will bulge down below the plate supporting the stone.
Brad
February 28, 2008
Stonesetting: Managing Your Melee
Managing Your Melee
Jeffrey Connolly CMBJ
Friday April 25th & Saturday April 26th
They’re marvelous, miniscule and sometimes malicious – they’re melee stones, and they’re everywhere. In this seminar you’ll learn Skills, Techniques, and Tips designed to take the frustrations out of handling and setting these little gems. You’ll also discover how to improve the quality of your work and reduce the time required to complete a melee job. This seminar will cover many setting techniques, including prong, bead & bright, channel, pave and flush.
This seminar sponsored by Jewelers of America, is part of the program at the Bench Jewelers Conference & Expo, April 24 – 27, 2008 in Los Angeles. For details on all the seminars offered, more conference & expo information, and to register go to: www.BenchConference.com.
Brad
February 13, 2008
Stonesetting: Bead Setting
Bead Setting
A mistake many beginning jewelers make is to cut the seat too shallow, not allowing them to form adequate beads to hold the stones. On the other hand, be careful when cutting that you do not cut all the way through the metal. As a general rule, cut the seat deep enough that the table of the stone will set just below the plate surface.
Brad
February 04, 2008
FREE Pave Seminar
This coming Friday I’ll be presenting a FREE seminar on Pave Setting in Tucson at Rio Grande’s Catalog in Motion.
For more information on Catalog In Motion go to: http://www.cataloginmotion.com/
The details of my seminar are:
Pavé Setting with Bradney Simon
Friday, February 8, 2:00pm–3:30pm
Pavé setting has long been associated with elegant jewelry. In this seminar, you will learn how to perform fine quality pavé using a unique method to speed your work and improve your quality.
Bead setting a row of diamonds girdle to girdle and true pavé will both be demonstrated. Many tips and tricks will be shown to make your work easier and more proficient.
See you in Tucson,
Brad
