My own Diamond Setting Tools (36 photos)

 Here are my very own assortment of Diamond Setting tools. They may seem to be extensive, but they give me such wonderful results.

 I'm very sure you have seen every one of them throughout my blog, they might seem very repetitious, but Diamond Setting Tools 'just never go out of style'.

 I could give CAD (Computer Assisted Designing) an extra notice. But at my setting bench, CAD was used extensively long after 'these tools' were created. I was trained as a Diamond Setter 65 years ago and CAD was not even a glimmer in the inventors' eyes.

For your information on this day of August 9th, 2023, there has been 70,018 visitors to our blog and is now seen in 94 countries. There are now 283 tutorial essays. All I can say is a heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone & everywhere.

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 In this box are my favourite burs that are used specifically for making 'bearings' for engagement claw rings. These burs are cut exactly to the dimensions to the shape of diamond.  

 I use every size of these "High Speed Steel" (aka HSS burs) I don't want to be searching for one bur, here are all of the available sizes that are now commercially made.

 This mini-clamp is still serving throughout all of my gem setting projects. I formed a little indentation in the little pins and these prevent any marking on my new items. 

 Even on my Guinness World Record disk it still worked for me. I don't have to buy a (GRS) large and heavy clamp, that large clamp had many limitations in holding these items.

 In my assortment of 'extra' burs, I found that many times that some loose burs do get misplaced or dropped unto the floor. 

 I have 77B, Cup-Burs, Bud-Shaped and Round burs all of these came in different sizes. If I used just one bur, then the rest of them were "money well spent".

 

 Here is my GRS clamp (before I sold it). It was too heavy and I wasn't too disappointed in giving it away.

  This is my fantastic DIGITAL MICROSCOPE that magnifies all the way up to 200x power. As you can see that it has a 125GB microchip for saving photos.

 Brushes are the backbone of any setters bench, some of them are even tooth-brushes. Then another is a paint-brush (3rd from the left) and a women's 'make-up' brush (2nd from the right). Don't laugh, if it works, then it's good for me!

 This photo was taken as a reminder of tools from the past that we don't use anymore. I believe it was a grinding & buffing machine. During some of my travelling I saw these two items (shown below) that are relics from pre-1900's and are older than antiques.

 Imagine putting your gravers to this floor-model grinding machine? The operators must have had a 'pully system' to make the large wheel rotate. I tried to turn this wheel, but with limited success.

 

  This brooch was created circa 1936 A.D. Every bit of this item was 'crafted & made by hand' and not by any computer. AMAZING CREATIVITY, agree? The setter used his Milgrain wheel extensively. 

 

 I bought, but not bent the claws to this shape. When I saw this set of 'bent jaws', I knew that these pliers were meant for me.

 I suggest keep looking (in person) at your favourite tool supplier or hardware store for any unusual selection of tools. 

  This size of Diamonds are so small that I'd need 250 of them to make 1 Carat of stones This 

 stone-picking fob is made with a combination of 'Charcoal and Wax'. The Charcoal leaves NO RESIDUE what so ever, after the stone is released into the metal.

 This is my 'second home'. You can see a little metal tray that catches any wayward stone or diamonds. It has raised sides to catch any little stone that might get dropped.

 BURS, Do you have or use any burs? I keep many of them still in their packets. I use them for easier location in the need of my stone setting, I keep them either in these packets or on a bur peg-plate.

   Can you imagine using these antiques in weighing your diamonds? 

On the far right is my Diamond scale that is 100% more accurate.

 These glasses were made prior to the Opti-Visor being used today.  BTW, just for your curiosity is a ring that my Mother wore after her sudden demise.

This unusual clamp has a particular name to it, can you quess what it's called? 

How about "Inside Ring Clamp" I prefer it more than the wooden clamp as it's much easier to hold.

 I can turn the screw-type holder without hitting it with a hammer to get it tight. All I do is to turn the screw tight and it gets locked into place and never to get loose while I'm using it.

 These plastic inserts are what the ring sits on.

 In England circa 1945, a race was on as to who could drill a hole the quickest. It was between this fly-wheel and a motorized drill. Guess who won?.....The jury is still out!

 BRUSHES? This wasn't bought in any tool supplier or even a hardware store. Would you believe it's a 'shaving brush', I use this in brushing and collecting metal scraps in my bench. It's so gentle and has a wide swath.

 This Copper rod has just one purpose and that is to GENTLY push gems into their right place. If you use steel, the stone could be damaged.

 The little indentation has just one purpose and that is to gently cover the Table of the stone. As you can see that the indentation is being slowly worn down. Reducing its reasoning to be used further.

Here is a 'steel pusher' I'd use it to move claws or bezels that have little danger of being broken.

 I use these 'Separating Disks' for one purpose and that is to create a serrated edge on the tip on the pushing tool. If I didn't have this edge, the tool would slide off and this is not wanted.

  

  In this photo, is how I would create these 'modified pusher' edges.

 To correct the worn down the Brass Pushers is redrill the centre hole with a round bur.

I'm now correcting the inside hole as the same size of the claw that is required to be 'pushed'.

 I'll be drilling 'deeper and wider' to the specifications that is required. Many of my hand-tools are created by me and not through any tool supplier company.

 My files have different numbers on them as to the 'grit' size of the Triangular or 'Mini-Pillar' file.

This is my Onglette #2 "Right-Sided" graver. I modified this graver to allow me to Bright-Cut only on one side, the Right-Side.

 The top graver is what you buy in our tool supplier. The lower graver has been modified on my Bench-Grinder. I never allow my gravers to used with a large & thick body. 

When I'm Pave' setting, I need the fine looking graver to be as shown in above photo.

 Here are more files but with additional marking to let me know what grade they are. I don't want to waste my time looking for the grit texture at every moment.

  Here are the different anvils for the Reciprocating Hammers. These being shown are the new & untouched configuration. The lower hammer on the right, is the modified anvil.

 This anvil is needing to be reshaped, immediately. The edges are rounded and one corner is literally broken away.

 

 In this photo is a very coarse file, it isn't used for metal filing. It has one sole purpose and that is to file wax forms or rings. You can see the wax residue in between the teeth of the file.

Those 4 lines were made by me to signify that the file is #4 grit. Plus that "2" is of a #2 grit.

 Just another series of scribed 'markings' tell me at an instant is each file has its own grit of the Pillar (wide) file. The 00 is the most coarsest file that I have in my collection. From here I go down to a #4 which is the finest grade.

 This is a "Half-Round" file that I use on special occasions. You can see that the teeth are so far apart as I presume the grit could be high as #00. In making these files, the teeth were made by a machine cutting each series of teeth, 'one tooth at a time'.