What does a Bud bur look like? => 8 photos

  Bud burs, as one travelling student said to me, these are my "Buddy burs". These are so very important that every jeweller should use them as well as in stone setting.

 This bur is also named "Flame bur". This elongated shape is also important in metal carving. You'll notice that this shape is fantastic for cleaning the inner frame of End Bezels. 

  Bud burs come in all sizes. When the gemstone setter requires a certain size, it must be made available without any time lost.
 During my hectic stone setting days, I needed a large selection of these burs. Cost was not the critical aspect, but just having them available made up for the cost of purchasing them. 

             Here is my inventory of Bud Burs:

 From a small size bur #003 and then resting against a #050. WOW! Quite a difference in size, agree?

 

  These are my 'mid-range' of Bud burs. I won't mix a large size of bur with a small one. My purpose is to save time looking for one bur among 'hundreds' in my collection.

 These two packages of Bud burs, starting at #003 on the left, then on the right is a size #015.

These 'often-used' Bud burs are well defined as 'good to have'.

 In this bur box are all of my extremely large sizes of burs. I keep them separate from other smaller shapes, and they are well-lubricated.  These are very expensive and sometimes hard to find at a moment's notice.

 Here is a variety of smaller burs. They tend to get well-used, so I'll just place them together with the other 'often-used' burs.

End Bezels for Baguette stones => 18 photos

  When the need arises to set either a 'Tapered' or a 'Straight baguette', the technique is still the same. Plus, in this type of stone setting, there are simply NO POSSIBLE SHORTCUTS.

 The inside 'End Bezel' is GENTLY moved backwards with the aid of your pliers. This process 'will be corrected' when the stone is set. What we are doing is gently increasing access to the End Bezel for the stone-setting process.

 What must happen now is to widen the opening for the selected stone shape. If the stone is of a 'tapered shape', thus the opening must be shaped to that stone. 

 The inside of the bezel should be filed and trimmed, as all of the bezel claws must be cleaned. There shouldn't be any rough edges to be seen, as with the blue stone.

 The 'End Bezels' should be filed smooth. Both of the end claws should be filed equally on both ends.

 I think that a Triangular file #4 will be the best file to use in these tight areas.

 The "Reciprocating Hammer, Anvil' should lightly tap the bezel end claws. If the Hammer touches the stone with too much force, the stone will quickly shatter.

  Have the Anvil lightly 'tap-touch' the corners of the bezel claw first. As this will secure & prevent the stone from moving.

  I marked the metal exactly where the anvil will touch. DON'T HAVE THE HAMMER ANVIL HIT THE VERY FRONT OF THE METAL BAR.

 It is permitted to have a slight incline of the stone. Why is this? The angle of this stone will merge with the shoulder stone and the main (unsoldered) stone.

 The Hammer Anvil is not pounding the metal; it is only GENTLY keeping the stone secure in the bezel.

 You can see that the Hammer Anvil is not coming close to the stone. It is only gently moving the metal towards the stone, but not touching the soft stone.

 You can now see the stone as it blends in with the Bezel.

                        IMPORTANT NOTES ON STONE SETTING

  I suggest using a round bur to prepare a seat for the stone. DON'T LET THE STONE SEAT GO BEYOND THE  BEZEL.

  My other suggestion is to drill three little holes. These holes should not exceed the width of the stone.

 Please use a 'bud-shaped' bur to excavate the Pavilion where the stone will sit. Clean out the corners and have the Bud Bur clean all along the Pavilion of the setting.

 Clean out the plugged opening of the bezel; if not, the stone will not sit well as expected. Before the stone is finally set, it is imperative to pre-polish the bezel frame.

 The inside of the bezel should look like a long square. The Pavilion will sit accordingly, and when the hammering starts, there won't be any problems while the stone is being 'tightened'.

 From the beginning to the final finish, this will make any client happy with the results.

Go to this blog essay dated => "AUGUST 22. 2025 ESSAY". It covers the cleaning aspect of this essay.