BEADS! How are they created? => 19 photos

This essay is only about the formation of "BEADS"; although these photos have been repeated many times, they are important.

 These little pieces of metal have only one purpose, and that is to hold a gemstone securely. But to make them is another story!

                       ====================================================

  These little pieces of metal must be created in an orderly fashion. Resulting in round pieces of metal 'against and over the girdle' of the gemstone.

  From a very rough metal casting, I've created a heart-shaped (pendant) item.

 When the 'beaded-pendant' has been created, the surface should be smooth to the touch and have no sharp edges to cut into the skin.

 Bead Burnishers are little steel rods with one hole in the tip; these come in different sizes. What do they do?

 They make the rough-looking bead that we just created just smooth and rounded.

 Where there is a larger space in between the holes, a pattern is to be crafted. In this pattern, I've cut a square as shown here. This square can be 'bright-Cut' in making it look like another gemstone.

 

Before any 'Bright-Cutting' is to start, all of the metal cutting tools must be sharpened. I prefer the #800 grit Polishing Paper.

 In this photo is my #40 Flat graver getting ready for loads of metal cutting.

 When the Flat graver is highly polished, the cutting result resembles another gemstone.

 The remaining metal has a new feature. Those little triangular-shaped nodules will be new beads.

 When the white gemstones are set, it will be very difficult to distinguish the metal square from the stone.

  The eye will now find it hard to distinguish which is the shiny bead from the metal carving. Isn't this interesting?

 Much of the 'bead raising' is done BEFORE any stones are set.

  Here are two Onglette gravers that are doing my metal carving. The graver on the left is an Onglette #2, and the fine, thin blade is a 'knife-shaped' #0. Without these blades, no beads can be made.

  Here is another method for creating beads. In between the two holes, a line should be cut very DEEP.

 Another DEEP line must be cut as shown here. You could use a very thin Bud Bur to cut into the + pattern. From this simple cutting, FOUR new beads will eventually be created.

 I will definitely burnish all and every bead that I've created. I don't want any rough spots to be felt, anywhere.

 I will Bright-Cut all of the metal before any stone is set.

 I used a "156C" under-cutting bur to create seats for the gemstone

 Here is another 'bead-burnisher' rounding the bead tops.

To separate every new set of beads, I'll use a Bud Bur of #1 to clean away any shallow cuts. I need DEEP CUTS TO JUSTIFY EACH GROUP OF BEADS.

 Even today, I can look at this essay and wonder why no other setters have come up with this idea of creating new beads.

 All of the space has to be used; I've created 'decorative beads' if there is extra space.

 

Errors in sharpening your graver? => 6 photos

 The oil stone MUST BE THOROUGHLY WET WITH OIL. The steel blade must never be used on a dry area of the stone.

 The graver MUST INITIALLY BE RESTING COMPLETELY ON THE OIL STONE. Not at an angle as seen in the picture on the left.

 The angle of the blade must always be 45 degrees. This angle will give you the exact cutting angle when it is used against the metal.

  The 'keyword' is lubrication. This means that the stone must be "dripping wet" with oil.

 Watch out for this common error: the graver angle is too shallow. What will happen is that the graver point will be too long, and the point will keep breaking as you are cutting with it.

 Keep the graver face at a 45-degree angle at all times.

 This oilstone angle is not perfectly flat (horizontal) because of a problem where all of the oil is draining away to the left side of the stone.

 Thus leaving a very 'dry area' on the right side of the stone to do the graver sharpening. This will result in reduced areas to do the actual sharpening.

                                         

Jewellery - Soldering from 1946 => 3 photos

 I found this catalogue (in my home) that was printed in 1946 by a jewellery company named "Handy & Harman". The soldering techniques then were good by their standards, but today that is another story.

 What I found interesting was the use of a 'mouth blow pipe' and 'foot bellows'. Do these diagrams bring back any memories? 

Belt Buckle for a Horse's Face => 4 photos

This is a short essay, but rather interesting. Have you ever seen how wax buckles are created?

 To begin this essay, we must have a hole for the belt buckle, agree? But how is the hole made in the first place? 

 When the wax is injected into the rubber mould, the wax circulates around this very important PIN. Without this pin, the belt buckle won't be created. 

 If you think of drilling a hole yourself, forget it, as it can become a real messy process. Sometimes DRILLING of the hole won't be in a straight line. Furthermore, the hole must be 100% uniform in its thickness.

 

  Removing this thick pin can be quite a slow process. Remember, there is a large amount of wax sticking to the pin. When I removed this pin, I held the wax form firmly and SLOWLY TWISTED THE PIN.

 Twisting the pin is the only solution, and successfully not breaking the wax PIN SHAFT in the process.

  On the reverse side of the 'face', you can apply a sprue for new casting alternatives.

 WHEN YOU INJECT YOUR WAX, PLEASE KEEP THE LONG PIN IN THE MOLD.

               Wasn't this an interesting idea for creating a belt buckle?

"POLISHING PAPERS" for your gravers => 16 photos

 "Polishing Papers" are the "Creme de la Creme" of your gravers. They are the best kind of process for finishing the process of making a bright finish to any metal cutting blade.

   I keep my polishing papers to a maximum of #1,200 grit. But there is another process where I can double that grit texture without buying any more papers. You can do this yourself.

 As seen in previous tutorial essays, I've explained and shown that by buying a soft-leaded 'Drafting' pencil. I can easily rub the core of the pencil into the pores of the paper.

Here is my actual pencil with the significant writing on the wood.

                                   "PRIMARY #1-309"

 The result is that from a #1200 grit paper, it will become in excess of #1800 grit in just moments. That cost will be just the purchase of your #1200 grit paper. How simple is that?

  With this #1,000 grit/texture paper, I will rub the Onglette blade where the Emery Paper was used. 

 Don't forget that this paper is now equivalent to the #1,500 grit. 

 In polishing the Bead Raiser, I'll again, 'enhance' the texture on both sides of this graver.

  Don't forget to go to your local hardware store and purchase this "Drafting Pencil". It will increase the tactile texture of the metal cutting blade. 

  Keep your "Emery & Polishing Papers" in close proximity to the working area of your bench. They are always needed, no matter what you are doing.

 The 'shiny' area of your paper is where the Pencil Rubbing took place. The soft core of the pencil got embedded into the Polishing Paper.

 I use my 'revised' Onglette #2 to enhance the Bright Cutting to make it shine like a mirror of a telescope.

 All of takes is one polishing paper and a drafting pencil.

 I'm in the process of rubbing the #1,000 grit paper. My graver will rub along the 'embedded' drafting area.

 DON'T TAKE SHORT RUBS. EACH RUBBING SHOULD BE AS LONG AS THE AREA WHERE THE RUBBING TOOK PLACE.

  DON'T HESITATE TO RUB HEAVILY. BE AGGRESSIVE AND HOLD THE PENCIL SECURELY TO THE PAPER.

 Even if your graver is a thin Onglette #1, don't hesitate to resurface the blade.

 Every area of the Onglette blades needs to be highly polished. You are dependent upon the brightness of the new metal cutting.

 If your blade is dull, so will be your metal carving.

 If a section of your polishing paper hasn't been 'touched', don't worry. This way, you will have literally two papers on one.

 

 The polishing paper of even #800 grit could be close to your finer textured papers. Sometimes, a little rough texture on your blade might cause some problems. Get rid of them as soon as possible.

  A polishing paper of #1200 grit or #1800 will give you many days or even weeks of beautiful metal cutting.

                I hope that you learned something new in this essay.

"EMERY PAPERS" for your gravers (must READ & LEARN) => 8 photos

EMERY PAPERS ARE YOUR EXCLUSIVE REPAIRING TOOL.

There is no other tool or method to reclaim the surface of your metal cutting blades.

                             =================================================

 To start the resurfacing process, the first paper will be a 'cleaning' paper. This will remove any deep indentations on the side of the blade.

 This process starts with the basic 'cleaning' paper, which is the #240 grit. This will have a (very rough) coarse texture.

 These numbers being shown here are sequentially smoother as the grit (numbers) get larger. These numbers are the 'beginning and mid-range' of textures.

  No matter the length of the graver, these well-used blades need to be continually repaired. This tutorial essay will be a 'required reading' for you to learn this task.

  I am repairing the RIGHT SIDE of this blade. Please apply AMPLE pressure with the aid of your fingers. The pressure must be administered to the full width of the blade nearest to the working area.

 If the Onglette graver has a pointed area, then the blade must be cleaned directly to that spot.

 For the LEFT SIDE, a similar task of cleaning is required. Don't forget the 'gentle rocking' motion. All areas of the blade should be repaired.

The same technique of cleaning is used now on the #400 grit paper.

 The same technique of  'cleaning' is used on every graver, no matter the shape or length of a blade.

  Here is my inventory of every shape and length of gravers.