'Baguette setting' can be very easy. This is only if you know 'exactly’ how the technical setting steps are to be applied and in sequence!
This Baguette setting exercise is not for the 'faint of heart'.
On my “Scale of Difficulty of 10”, (10 being the most difficult) Baguette setting is at an '8'. This is due to the multitude of metal carving steps, using only the “Bud & Round" shaped burs and a Triangular file, of #4 cut!
"The Scale of Difficulty"!
Amethyst stone! This is a definite 8, on the Difficulty Scale of 10! Why is this rating so high? This is due to the fragility of the Amethyst stones!!!
Blue Sapphire & White CZ are quite easy, as they are @ Scale of 6.5!
There are no short-cuts! There is no easy way to do this kind of setting, either the stone is 'sitting & fitting' correctly, or it isn’t…Simple as that!
If you can see that these two (2) spots these are now acting as a guide for further drilling with my #007 round bur! I'm repeating myself many times as these 'beginnings steps' are so important.
You now see the three (3) dots that will eventually be a bearing cut. The left & right side of these dots are where the corners of the stone will be sitting/placed.
Here you can see just 'where & what angle' my bud bur is angled at. This specialized cutting is now preparing for the angles for the stone. The bur size must not be any larger than a #007 (or #008 max).
After all kinds of bearing cuts, I always use my 'mini-magnetic tumbler' to just make sure everywhere is nice and semi-polished!
This stage of preparation is not an option, it looks just simply 'ugly'. The angles on all 4 corners are totally missing, hence a poorly looking Gallery & not to be used for any stone! "Short-cuts" are now resulting in a poor setting and stone breakage!
Showing these two rings, you can see how poorly cast the ring is on the right side. Pre-cleaning is a 'YOU MUST DO THIS...NOW'! When the stone is in the ring, it's now too late to fix or do a minor repair!
In this photograph, you can see the three colours of stones I'm presently working on, Blue Sapphire & White CZ's are the easiest to set. This is because there are no problems with the Mohs Scale of Hardness (9) of these two stones.
BUT, Amethyst stones are the 'most' delicate to set. The chances of breakage are quite high! REMEMBER, get the setting Tripoli & (light) Rouge polishing done NOW! Even BEFORE you solder the 4-claw head! Amethyst stones, I believe are at about 6 on the "Hardness Scale".
What are those 'long lines' on the metal? The answer is that the person who cut the 'rubber mold' had little knowledge (or care) about how to remove the ring from the vulcanized-rubber. Hence, these lines are now a cleaning problem, as they must be removed completely, or having a new mold made before any new waxes can be injected!
When the person used their Exacto-knife to cut open the mold, the resulting lines are formed by trying to cut the mold in half! There was little care given as where the 'separation' should occur. The 'rubber-separation' must occur at the side of the ring, not where it is shown here!! This now makes the 'pre-cleaning' stages much harder task to bear.
In hammering the 'End-Bezel' (as it's properly named), the setters favourite 'reciprocating hammer' anvil must start at the center then go to the corners, and again making very sure the stone is NOT MOVING and not crooked!
You can now observe just where the 'anvil' is being placed for the initial hammering. BTW, start the pressure of the hammer anvil at it's 'lightest, or softness' stages of hammering!
In this photograph, you can again observe where the anvil is hitting.
In this last 'hammer contact', I've totally hammered the 'end-bezel'. All of this was shown from the little arrows, signifying where the hammer must touch!
DON'T LET THE ANVIL get close to the front edge of the 'End-Bezel'. Try and aim the anvil to make contact in the middle of the bezel walls. Just in case the moving 'anvil' won't hit the stone...OUCH!
I rest or balance my reciprocating hammer-anvil against my fingers. I don't want any unnecessary movement of the 'anvil' that could run amok and 'ruin' the stone.
The 'end-bezel' was bent back on purpose, why so? The reason is that these two stones are about 10% longer than the opening of the gallery. The stone should have a dimension of 2 x 4mm's, many times the stones are not as noted on the stone-folder.
The stones being shown & to be set are 1.95mm x 4.25mm. The very slight 'bending action' can be easily corrected & filed afterwards, once the 'clean-up' is initiated. This is really an easy task! I use a Pumice wheel of #180 grit, then using a Pink Pumice wheel at #1,000 grit.
In this photograph to fit the stone, I used a flat & smooth-faced plier jaw just to pull back the 'End-Bezel'. I don't want any sort of plier marks anywhere as the cleaning could be a major problem afterwards.
You can now observe how thin the stones are and each of them are longer than the bezel-frame. With this problem, 'we' must make allowances for the (incorrect & unusual) dimensions.
The positioning of the 'anvil' is so very important! This will make your 'downward hitting pressure' to make a narrow contact all in one small 'hit'!
You can, as well, use your "steel pusher" to start the moving of the end-bezel. Copper or Brass pushers are not powerful enough to move the metal over the stone. Starting your first compressing of the bezel wall, I prefer if you could start in the center of bezel..on both sides together!
Place your 'metal pusher' on one corner, then the opposing corners! With this series of metal-pushing or moving the metal over the delicate 'Facets'.
Place your 'metal pusher' on one corner, then the opposing corners! With this strange series of metal-pushing or moving the metal over the delicate 'Facets'.
Your stone will never get crooked because you are totally IN CONTROL at all times. This is even preventing the stone from getting crooked or twisted. When the stone is secure, it is almost impossible to straighten the stone afterwards!
ALWAYS USE YOUR 10X POWER LOUPE. Your 3x power head-visor is not strong enough to see how the stone is being set.
In this (great) photograph, I'm now demonstrating just how the positioning of the 'hammer anvil' can be used. You can see where the anvil is positioning during the hammering process! Don't let it get closer to the stone than being shown.
This Amethyst stone is now tight! The filing for the 'clean-up' will with little effort, you can 'file to trim' the 'bending of the top End-Bezel frame.
This lower photograph being shown is the "Side-View" and it's showing the stone sitting in the Gallery.
Time to start the filing (and overall cleaning) of the End-Bezels using only a "Triangular #4 cut, 20cm in length".
In this lower picture, you can see four little dots, or holes. These are made to guide our next step in preparing the metal-frame for the new stone!
Next stage is to connect the dots into one straight line. This is where the 'End-Facets' will eventually be placed. what size of bur, I'd be using a round bur #007!
To prepare the corners of the Gallery, I'll be using a Bud shaped bur of #007. The angle of the bud bur cleaning out the 4 corners must be held at a 45-degree angle, obviously, the stone is faceted at almost a 45-degree angle as well. I use my 10x loupe to check just how the bur is cutting. What you see is that I must now carve out the sides of the Gallery.
Now you can see just why I used 4 little dots, or holes to guide my round bur. If I didn't I'd be having my round bur spinning & cutting not where I want my stone to sit.
I'd like you to drill into the corners deeper, as this will prevent any corners of the stone to touch the metal
Where are the corners of the stone? See what I mean? None of the 4 corners are going to be touching any metal.
The "Gallery angle" must be the very same angle as of the stone; End of story! Detailed cleaning of the Gallery is half-way finishing of the stone setting, get this done correctly.
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