MORE reasons why a steel mandrel' is essential & needed for Bezel Setting? - 13 photos

 This is a detailed review why Steel Mandrels are extremely important in gemstone setting. Let me start in explaining why "Bezel Setting" needs a steel mandrel instead of a wooden, leather-clamp.

 If your Culet of the stone protrudes underneath, I strongly suggest that you place the Culet of the stone in line with the opening in the mandrel.

 When you are hammering on a wooden ring clamp, the 'intense hitting-action' is immediately lost and absorbed into the clamp leather.

 I prefer to have the hammer tightening the stone while on the mandrel, as this gives you more visibility when hitting the bezel.

In securing the mandrel against into the work-bench, you have an additional 'third hand'.

 This delicate stone setting (displaying) project was not easy. As I wasn't 'blessed' with any additional hands, I had to improvise greatly.

How was I going to hold my 1) steel-mandrel, 2) Reciprocating-Hammer 3) loupe and my 4) camera.

  You can see where the mandrel is now resting against my work bench.

 

 Here is the 'leather section' of the clamp, as you can see that the 'additional griping of the ring' prevents any 'stone tightening' to occur.

  

  I can now very easily secure my mandrel into the hole into my bench. Thus allowing both hands to be free.

 In my previous essays I've explained the different angles of the hammer-anvil. Thus allowing the mandrel to be rotated against the bench, while still not touching the ring.

 (This is the photo that I was looking for just for this essay). 

 My right hand is holding the hammer, while the left hand is gingerly rotating the mandrel when needed. BTW, the steel-mandrel is now resting inside of my bench.  

 My left hand is holding the hammering-anvil & while my right hand is holding my iPhone. The steel mandrel is tightly secured into my bench, this is showing 3 things being done at once.

 Here is my hammer resting against the Bezel. As this photo was taken from a previous essay, it's showing the hammering process with the steel mandrel.

 This is my 'hammer-face' that has being displayed in all of the photos in many essays. I keep the 'hammer face' clean from any indentations from the continual 'hitting'.

  For any additional cleaning or "Bright-Cutting" around the inside of the Bezel, I will go to the wooden-clamp.

 As I no longer have any access for the cleaning on the steel mandrel, I need complete 'rotating hand movements' at all times.

 I keep the hammering processes only to my steel-mandrel.

                                  gerrylewy18@gmail.com

NEWER PHOTOS for "What is a Bead-Burnisher", when & where are they used? => 23 photos

  Many months ago I wrote an essay explaining what a "Bead-Burnisher is. Now I've found more explanations (plus photos) of what they are and where they are used. 

 If I don't demonstrate and discuss these tools called Bead-Burnishers, how can my readers like you learn about these wonderful little tools?

This essay is #393 in (our) tutorial blog! 

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 These burnishers are not only used for rounding the Pave' bead set diamonds but so much more. So please sit back, grab yourself a hot drink and be totally amazed.

 I don't plagiarize anybody's writing and above all, everything that I write is from my 65 years of 'setting experience' and still at $N/C.

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Under a 10x power Triplet-lens loup, I'm showing what a Bead-Burnisher looks like.

   Here is a set of 12 burnishers of various sizes and its own specialized handle 'ready for action'.

 Inside this handle is a 'tension gripping' mechanism that holds a burnisher secure without slipping.

  In my online tool supplier catalogue from "European Design Ltd." I found the exact tools that appear in my recent essays. This supplier operates out of Toronto, Canada.

 Instead of buying equipment, I use their photos (with their permission of course).

 Here are two handles that are housing these bead-burnishers. I personally prefer the 'screw handle', in case the 'tension-style' handle wears out over time.

 Bead Burnishers have another great use, which is helping to push over the 'ultra-short' pins to hold a gemstone in place in the setting.

   With these small pins what size of burnisher is required? The answer will be a burnisher that will have 'the recess' that will completely cover the tip of the pin.

 Here is another example of using a burnisher that I used some time ago. The end result is that there are no claws with 'tool pushing marks' anywhere. If there were any marks, how could they be cleaned? These could be ruined in the cleaning process.

 I had a problem pushing over the "Princess-cut" stone claws. I had only one opportunity to move the claws over the square stone. 

 

My decision was to use my Bead Burnisher and gently work with the claws. After this ultra-delicate process, I finished with a "77B, Cup Bur" to have the claw tips rounded. (Was this a delicate setting, what you see is that one claw actually broke off.) My jeweller assisted me with soldering a new claw tip.

 In my Diamond Setting office, I came across many unusual projects. Only a Bead-Burnisher was my answer in getting these diamonds set.

 From a flat plate of metal, I turned the setting into a 'Piece of Art'. You can see the tips of the beads being rounded by using the Bead-Burnisher. 

 Cloth-wheel polishing won't be of any use, as it ruins the effects of the beads. The Bead-Burnisher makes the bead tips totally round.

  Instead of hand-pushing the metal over the "VVS-1" diamonds, I didn't want any marks to ruin the setting on the claws. I just used a larger burnisher tip and let that tool gently do the 'pushing'.

 My client wanted me to scrap and remove these 'Mein-Cut' diamonds. When he left my office, I then took many photos of his brooch and rings and kept these pictures for you to see, and for posterity.

 What you see here are 'antique diamond settings', even in the rings that were made in early 1910 A.D. The Diamond Setter still used a Bead-Burnisher to round and secure his diamonds.

 All Diamond Setting that uses Bead Setting, needs to have all of the beads 'secured and rounded' with a Bead-Burnisher.

 This ring was made in silver (my initials), and even in silver, I made sure that all of the setting was finished using a Burnisher. Using a Bead-Burnisher is equal to 'icing on a cake'.

 

These mini-pin claws had only one thing in common and that was to be uniform. Pliers or any other handheld pushing tool didn't have the same effect as in using the burnisher.

 The tool in the background is the topic of this essay, a Bead-Burnisher. I never avoid in not using it in delicate settings projects like this.

 Here is an up-close photo of the bead-pins being used. There isn't any tool in our inventory that helps in setting multiple mini-stones without damaging other mini-claws.

 This diamond-setting technology was in effect 115 years ago. Just look at the bead setting and think of what the setter used back then, we still use his tools today.

  There is only one tool that will place the many diamonds into the metal with the greatest precision, any idea? How about a "Bead-Burnisher"?

  Just as I finished setting the 9 stones, I decided to burnish the Pave-set beads. What you see here is the completed act of stone setting.

 When I use my Onglette graver to cut into the metal, the rounded beads are also made stronger and have little chance of breaking off. There is 'downward pressure applied to the beads' which in turn gives me a better idea of where the cutting will be. 

 

 I managed to burnish the little beads on my "Fish-Tail" setting, giving additional strength to the bead tips, while I continued with the cutting.

 I noticed this watch case displayed on a poster in an upscale shopping mall in Toronto, Canada. The thing that I noticed was the bead setting, there was uniformity in the size of the beads and all of the beads were in line.

 I know for a fact that the setter burnished all of the beads.

 Job well done! 

                                  gerrylewy18@gmail.com