Views of a silver bracelet. => 7 photos

 Can you imagine that this engraving was solely done 'by hand' and not by any computer program?

 What tools were used? The engraving tools were the fantastic 'Florentine, straight liner', Onglette, Flat graver and many sizes of each.

 

  

  Here are a few strange and wonderful views. The Florentine gravers come in different widths for specific patterns.

 These photos were taken at my diamond setting bench, and nothing has been plagiarised. There are many Flat gravers that my own inventory wouldn't be able to cut these patterns & designs.

 The underneath display of the 'Straight Liner' or Florentine graver comes in different widths. You can see the two different widths along with two combinations of cutting lines. Together, these two blades can create a wonderful patterns.

 These intricate patterns are not for the beginner to attempt. After many years of drawing designs on the surface, the engraver will succeed in becoming what others might achieve with some difficulty.

            This silver drawing is almost like painting on canvas.

 When I use my Onglette gravers, I too find relaxation in my metal carving.

  Here is the photo below of a FLAT graver that will eventually create wonderful patterns. This digital microscope will prove to be beneficial in examining the cutting blade.

10 Diamond setting errors => 10 photos

 In these photos, there are many problems being displayed. I will offer my best solution to circumvent any future problems to each of them. Here are the many errors that need to be discussed & displayed.

 In December 2018, I wrote an essay in Ganoksin on 'the topic of diamond setting errors'. 

 I had the misfortune of giving this diamond ring to another 'setter' to help me get my 'end-of-the-season' work completed. I gave my diamond setting twice to this setter, 'FIRST & LAST TIME'.

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1) Why were the claw tips so high on the Crown Facets?

2) Why wasn't the ring 'pre-polished' before any stone setting was to commence? Another point was that the small holes were not drilled through; why was this avoided or just neglected?

3) There was no effort in cleaning the underside section of the ring?

4) There was no indication of any Bright-Cutting done to the 'diamond basket'. This should have been attended to before any small stone setting.

5) The Rhodium Plating was not applied in any orderly fashion. Many areas were just roughly 'painted' with little care given. There are still many tool marks on sections of the 'diamond basket'.

 6) Why wasn't the 'ring-cleaning' process given more care? 

 7) The sides of the claws were not even touched before setting of the main diamond. WHY WAS THIS NEGLECTED?

8) The claw tips are so unbelievably high. This is very dangerous,  if the client moves one or two of the claws...GOODBYE, diamond!

9) It appears to me that there was no care given while setting the large centre diamond

10) In attempting to insert the large diamond into the 4 claws, there was a major problem. The problem was that the Girdle of the stone was very wide in its thickness.

 That setter didn't allow for this problem. I would have used a bud bur with the same thickness as the Girdle and created a special seat for this wide 'Faceted Girdle'.

 In closing, there was no care given anywhere in the stone setting. 

How to grind a (NEW) graver? => 24 photos

 I found these photos in my archives and think that it's best to show them again.

 I'm not proficient in making videos, but being an avid photographer IS MY FORTE.

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 This one photo displays the 'before & after' example of the all-important 'grinding process'. In this photo are two Flat gravers with all of the essential description words on their sides.

In my previous essay, I explained what each word fully meant. Here they are again:

"HSS" refers to the tensile strength of the blade as 'High Speed Steel'.

"Glardon" is the company that manufactures the blade.

"N 10" refers to the base width or thickness of the blade.

"Swiss Made" denotes the name of the country of origin.

 To start the grinding process, it is best to remove the back end of the graver. Some handles will accompany this extension, and the decision to keep or remove this piece of steel is up to your graver holder.

 ALWAYS WEAR PROTECTIVE GLASSES AS THE SPARKS COULD HIT YOUR EYES OR FACE!!!

 Cut it into the shape of a spear, I'd reduce the length to 1/2 of what it was when new.

 To prevent any steel shards from getting lodged into the fingers, it is best to wear latex gloves at all times. I use them for safety reasons (and not for glamour.)

The brown tinge is where some overheating started. This must never happen near the front tip of the blade. This means that the HSS has begun to soften. Whoops!

 Keep dunking the blade into a beaker of water to avoid this from happening.

 What I do is to gently contour the front of the blade as shown here.

 Remove any 'sharp edges' anywhere on the blade. If not, your fingers might get sore from pressing on the sharp edge. (I know this from my own experience).

 The length of the 'working blade' must never extend further than the first joint of the middle finger. This is shown and displayed in this photo.

  This photo shows the optimum length of any Flat or even an Onglete graver.

 Here is my beaker of water, always ready at a moment's notice. I'll never start my grinding without this beaker of cool water.

 I might suggest that leaving a little amount of water lying on the blade. NEVER ALLOW THE BLADE TO OVERHEAT!!!

 With this photo, you can see just how close to the grinding wheel this beaker is situated.

 After one or two touches of the rotating wheel, GET THAT BLADE INTO WATER...QUICKLY!

 The design & shaping of your cutting blade is your decision. It's best not to leave the tip of the blade too thick, as sometimes seen in other instructors' blades.

 Once the thickness of the new blade has been created. The next step is to smooth the sides of the blade to your own specification.

 This is the most delicate step in grinding a (NEW) graver. Make sure that the fine tip never has the opportunity to quickly overheat.

 

 OVERHEATING OF A NEW BLADE IS THE ENEMY!!!

 Keep little droplets of water always ON THE TIP of the blade.

 This technique of simply grinding my gravers took me many long months of training during my apprenticeship years. This process is the basis of learning diamond setting. 

 To achieve and learn to grind the fine pointed tips of any graver is not measured in days or weeks. This actual learning process took me about 6-8+ MONTHS.

 Just be darned careful how you maintain the high level of tensile strength at all times.

  This is my bench grinder, and along with that, a very important beaker of water.

 This photo shows the length of my thumb to the 'working length' of the Onglette graver.

 For simpler calculations, the Onglette graver was measured at 23.19 mm.

 This photo shows the 'before and after' lines before any starting of grinding.

 No matter how long or short the graver will be, it's important to have the exposed blade tip used. This is regardless of how much of the blade is IN THE HANDLE.

Here is a series of engraving blades ready to be used.

 This is an example of my collection of blades. In my collection, I have more than 15 blades of all lengths, some are still in their handles, others are to be substituted in case of getting damaged.

WHY must your OIL-STONE be kept clean? =>16 photos

  THIS IS AN IMPORTANT TOPIC ON OIL STONE CLEANING.

 I prefer to repeat essays that are EXTREMELY beneficial to jewellers and novice stone setters.

  The reason for this important cleaning process is to avoid 'pushing' the engraver steel remnants into the delicate pores of the oilstone.

 If we keep rubbing the shards of metal deeper, the final result
will be that the graver will just run on the stone and be rendered nearly useless.

 This topic has been discussed many times, but it needs to be revisited frequently. Each time, I might use different texts & ideas.

 I would like you to share this information with your colleagues or students. 

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  You can see a faint layer of oil resting on this expensive oil stone. This stone is not like other porous oil stones, but it's created for finer metal cutting.

 This stone rubbing must not be used in 'short strokes'. The rubbing should extend 1/2 to 3/4 of the length of the stone. This is why you will anticipate a collection of metal remains all over.

               NEVER USE YOUR STONE WITHOUT ANY OIL.

 If you see a collection of metal remains, STOP!!! Clean the stone!

  You see that there is a little layer of steel sitting on the oil stone. It doesn't belong there, why? This collection will interfere with your future graver rubbing.

  Even if there is a little layer of oil (as seen here), add a gentle touch more to assist your grinding.

 No matter where on your oil stone grinding is being used, keep it well lubricated. After even a few minutes of stone rubbing, remove the steel remains.

 In this photo, the amount of important oil shown is insufficient for normal usage.

This is the optimum amount of oil; nothing less than this.

 Here are my two oilstones. The 'brown coloured' stone is very porous and also so very coarse.

HOW CAN THE METAL REMAINS BE REMOVED? I use a strong magnet to 'lift' the metal off from the oil stone.

  To replenish the old oil from the surface of the stone, I suggest a low viscosity of oil. Motor Oil is too thick for this purpose. Don't take this route.

 These engraving tools need to be in perfect condition at all times, hence the many times that these tools need to be refined.

 Even at he end of the day, from metal sculpting. The oil stones need to be constantly kept clean.

 NEVER RUN YOUR GRAVER BLADES ON UNOILED SURFACES. The reason is that the steel will overheat, which will occur at the very tip of the blade.

 Furthermore, the graver remnants will get stuck in the pores of the stone.