"AJM-magazine essay of Gerry Lewy's => Diamond Setting Bench" => 32 photos

 This detailed essay was printed in the "AJM" jewellery magazine many years ago. Only now have I had the opportunity to retrieve it from my PDF archives. The underlined text is from the magazine, since then I've added newer topics and photos.

  Gerry Lewy, “Gemz Diamond Setting”, Thornhill, Ontario, Canada.                    Diamond Setter, Teacher - Author! aka “Gerry, the Cyber-Setter!”

=>"AJM" JEWELLERY MAGAZINE ESSAY. CIRCA (many years ago)<=        

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 The next time you consider tossing one of your old burs in the trash think of Gerry Lewy's bench. This diamond setter reconditions all of his old burs, using a separating disk to sharpen each burs’ teeth. To avoid mixing old and new burs, Gerry keeps them separated in trays by shape and use.

"My primary business is Bead setting, Pavé, Gypsy setting, Princess stones, and Bright-Cutting. In a nutshell, all of the easy stuff," says Gerry.

 "I don't do much production of four-claw work. That's not my thing." Although Gerry’s bench could drive someone crazy, he can honestly say that he always has the right tools for the job. Specific points of interest are described below.

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1. Burs in wooden boxes. I keep my high-speed steel burs against the back of my bench in four boxes. They are arranged by age, size, and function. My favourite bur for diamond setting is the 90° high-speed steel bur, aka “HSS” bur. This mirrors the shape of any diamond, it's great for cutting Pavilion seats in prongs. It also takes the place of a file when preparing for the actual resting place for the diamond. Simply use the base of the bur as a pseudo-file.

TWIST-DRILLS in a wooden box. 

Even a simplest twist drill 'needs its own resting spot'. When a twist-drill gets worn down  or broken, I'll quickly resharpen, or repair it.

 2. Modified burs. I keep one box for 'modified' burs only. For example, I will transform large round burs into cutting or shaping tools for Cabochon Bezel Setting by cutting off half of the bur to resemble an upside-down shape of the CAB stone.

 This is the perfect tool for Cabochon setting, for the inside of a bezel. This re-shaping can be done with any 'Bench Grinder'.

 My moto is: "it's not the bur you need, it's what you can modify that bur into?"

3. Burs in pin-bur holders. The burs on the front of my bench are separated by shape & size. I keep all bud burs in sequential order of size in one green tray, all cup burs in another, and so forth. The very large burs that I don't use daily are set aside. 

   Each tray has its own shape of burs, there is no need to keep looking for a specific style of bur, they are all in separated trays.

The BLUE TRAY HOLD ONLY MY "156C" (Carbide) BURS. I always keep them in sequential order regarding size.

This tray of burs contains only "77B. Cup-Burs". I would never mix up two or three shapes of burs. My time cannot be wasted looking for one bur. If one or two of these specific burs are no longer cutting...GOOD BYE, BUR!

4. Wheels and discs. I keep all of my wire-wheels, along with the paper sanding discs in one 'easy to find' tray.

 

 All of my Paper 'EMERY' disks along with the Pumice 'FLAT & TAPERED' wheels are as well kept separate from the REST OF THE 'CLEANING' BUR INVENTORY. 

5. Box for 'mini-sized' engraving blades.

 These blades are never thrown away, this is because I use an "Adjustable, Graver Handle" that will accommodate any length of blade.

6. Oil & OIL-STONE

 Instead of using the (painful)"Oil of Wintergreen", which can irritate sensitive skin, I use ordinary machine oil with a 'light viscosity', I can buy this at any hardware store.

7. Bench pin. I dug a recess into my bench pin for holding gemstones during a setting project. Also, I keep my bench pin oiled. This dulls the wood a bit so it's less likely to reflect fluorescent light into my eyes as I work.  (It also looks cleaner!)

 Even when the need to hold a "12mm x 16mm, Amethyst" from being dropped into your bench being lined with metal. This expensive stone won't get damaged.

 This stone that is sitting on the edge of Bench-Peg is waiting for an accident to happen. Get that stone into the Bench-Cup that has been carved out...NOW!

8. Files. To quickly locate the correct file for the job, I number my files with indelible ink. The large pillar files are numbered by grit size, and the triangular files are labelled with small lines; one line indicates a #1 cut, two lines indicate a #2 cut, and so on.

9. Handpieces. I enjoy & use my “Marathon" Micro-Motor handpiece—especially for Bezel Setting and subsequent “post-setting” cleaning, where manoeuvrability is necessary.

 I can easily move the lightweight handle from vertical to horizontal during the setting process.  This action cannot be done if the handle is tied to a thick motor cable.

 This photo is of a round bur that is 10 mm in diameter. I used this bur only two times and it was paid for on only these two occasions. (Now it's on display!)

 This is my "Reciprocating Hammer" which is used as a 'mini-hammer' but is 100% stronger in being a 'variable speed-hitting hammer. I use this in Bezel & Flush Setting.

10. Vulcanized rubber. I use this piece of rubber to clean wax off diamonds after setting.

11. Pliers. To customize my pliers for prong setting, I use a Corundum wheel to etch grooves inside the jaws. The prongs nestle into these 'grooves', preventing my pliers from slipping off  the claws during setting. 

12. Mini-container of OIL. I also put my oil into any little container that I can find. Two of them are 'make-up' plastic container that comes with its own lid, these were great when I was teaching out-of-town classes. I had my choice of oil and it's container always near my bench-peg.

13. Magnet. I use a strong magnet to remove any of the 'graver shavings' while I'm using the oil stone. This will prevent a 'build-up of metal' over a period of a few days.

14. Polishing papers.

 I keep wooden sticks of "Emery & Polishing" papers in my bench tray. 

Each stick is labelled by grit, on the #400 stick, I rubbed an area with a soft pencil lead. This fills in the small granules in the paper and transforms that #400 paper into #600+ paper for finer polishing. This is used primarily for "Bright-Cutting".

For example the #1,200 paper, as shown will automatically change into #1,800 paper.

15. My Bench with all of "my friends".

 "My friends" are what I call them. I respect what they can do for me and what I can do for them in having them 'modified'. The pile of mini-towels on the far left corner of my tray is where my elbow will rest.

 16) HAND-HELD' LOUPES

 This collection of loupes range from 6x power all the way up to 22x power. The stronger magnification is for diamond appraisals and observing any defects in the Diamond or Genuine Gemstones prior to any stone setting.

17) Thumb Guards

 These rubber protective finger guards are a 'skin and finger-saver' for the setter. Without it, the finger could very easily get a serious infection if the cut is deep.

18) "FLAT & ONGLETTE" blades & "Adjustable-graver handle"

 My teacher gave me his own graver that he used in the mid-1940's, his initials were "S.L." Many of these gravers shown here are still being used today primarily for "Bright-Cutting" and "Cut-Down" which is a diamond setting design & pattern..

 19) MORE GRAVERS!

 These gravers can still be used in conjunction with 'adjustable graver handles' these can be seen (above) with the little screws attached.

20) GEMSTONE HOLDER

 These two holders have either 3, or 4 spring-action, wire-claws to hold any size of loose stone. These are used mainly to examine the stone for any peculiarities inside that stone. There is no need to hold the stone in your fingers tips.

21) Digital Microscope

   This microscope has an added bonus of storage up to 128 GB's of memory on a USB module. This microscope has a powerful magnification of 400x power. When I bought this microscope I wasn't into 'blog-writing', but I used it mainly for examining inclusions in diamonds & genuine stones. 

 I enquired recently that this 128 GB module that I bought 5 years ago now comes in a 256 GB's size. Technology has greatly improved in only 5years.

22) "Inside, Ring-Holder"

  I bought this ring holder almost 15 years ago and it has become the main ring holder at my bench. Why? I like it so much that the diameter of the clamp suites my hand 100%.

 This 'essay-interview' appeared in the issue of the “AJM” magazine many years ago. This was circulated across the United States & Canada, as well as many other countries. I had to download the text PDF version, only today I posted this essay with newer photos.