"The Jeweller's Bench Book" => "Orchid in Print" Volume 2. => 3 photos

  Many years ago I met Charles Lewton-Brain and he asked me if he could write a few short notes about my position as a "Diamond Setter, tutor and writer". I gladly accepted his offer and I still have his book in my possession and paid little attention to it until this past weekend. I will now edit his text and subsequent photos for OUR blog. 

"Gerry Lewy's bench for setting with his burs on display". He is a Diamond Setter and teacher in Thornhill, Ontario, Canada he told me "I have a rounded indentation in the bench pin to brace & rotate my shellac stick."

                                    REFERENCE TO THE NUMBERED SETTING TOOLS.

1) The variety of his 'bur pads' are very important as he keeps his burs separated by shape and size.

2) The round pads are where he keeps his gemstones while he is working. He told me, "These rubberized floor-pads can be bought in any hardware store". He will keep them cemented to his bench top in case any pad gets loose and the stones might get lost.

3) He puts a tincture of oil into a used 'glass fuse' with a piece of cloth. He needs to keep his burs well lubricated at all times.

 I was honoured in having me (the only Canadian) to be selected in this interesting book along with other jewellers in our vast world-wide community.

The official name of this book for your reference is: 

"ORCHID IN PRINT" MAXIMUM BENCH WORK, Volume 2.

(REVIEW) => "Flush Setting" your large Square stone. => 30 photos

 The "Rate of Difficulty" easily exceeds '50, out of 10', plus this PATTERN IS NOT FOR THE BEGINNER. There are no short-cuts in this insanely 'challenging' exercise.

 Mistakes can easily occur, PLEASE READ THIS TUTORIAL-ESSAY MANY TIMES BEFORE STARTING YOUR PROJECT.

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 Select (carefully) which stone you wish to set, it all depends upon the amount of metal (space) that is now available.

 In theses two 'bur packets' are the set of round burs, these range from #003 all the way up to #026. Why so many burs? You just don't know which bur is required at a moments notice.

 My diagram should be of great importance to you, as it describes the 'depth & width in setting this rather difficult stone shape.

 This first step is to drill a hole in the center of the allocated space. Keep your drill held in a vertical position, the hole must not be drilled at any angle.

 Select a 'bud-shaped' bur that is smaller than the stone (as shown).

 Inspect the square stone that you want to set, I'd even have a few 'extra' stones in case one or two of the Girdles are too thick.

The stone MUST BE UNIFORM IN SHAPE AND WIDTH.

 On the flat surface, I'd scribe in ink four lines, these 'lines' will be where the corners of the stone will be positioned. I'd call this my "GPS" as I need these lines as a guide for my many metal cutting.

 With a 'round-shaped' bur I'll measure the overall size of the stone to this bur, but not larger.

 In using the pre-selected bud-burs, I must excavate the metal where Pavilion of the stone will be laying. As well as using the bud and round burs, I'll be creating a mini-shape of a square hole.

 I'll now use the four corners of the square stone and gently carve a distinct pattern and 'turn the round hole into a square hole'.

  With a larger Round bur, I need to cut more of the metal and have greater access for the square stone to sit. This is a very delicate process, there is no need to do anything of this metal carving quickly. "SPEED WILL QUICKLY RUIN A BEAUTIFUL MASTERPIECE".

 Frequently place your square stone on, or against the new hole. Keep cutting the opening until the stone is slowly fitting into the hole.

Carve out all of the corners of the stone to fit along the four (GPS) inked-lines.

 Now you see why I drew those 4 inked lines, if I didn't draw them I'd have a stone sitting out of place on the desired metal place, or just badly crooked. YUK!

 In using any of the small round & bud shaped burs, continue with the 'opening process'. As I mentioned before, frequently excavate more of the hole as the stone MUST BE LOWERED INTO THE HOLE and not touching the inside metal. 

 This is the most delicate stage of this setting, as everything is depending upon this bur shaping.

 With the smallest bud-bur that you now have, cut the 'four corners' inside the hole to accept the stone. 

 I would use my 10x loupe and examine where the 'corners and sides' of the stone are being positioned.

 BTW, I used an Onglette graver and cut out the corners of the hole. I need this new opening as the need to have a square hole made possible, as soon as possible.

 At the base of the Onglette cutting I will use a round bur and drill (as shown), why is this needed now?

These four holes will be used for the corners of the stone to be 'resting'.

 If there is a need to use a bud-bur to excavate the four holes to the facet shape of the four corners, do this now! 

 The four revamped holes MUST ADHERE TO THE FOUR CORNERS AND THE PAVILION FACETS, agree to this?

There is now much delicate work and checking to see if the stone will be fitting accurately.

 The size of the corner round hole MUST REFLECT TO THE SHAPE AND CONTOURS OF THE STONE. The round bur must be of the exact dimensions to that of the stone.

 From the inside 4 corners there now must be a bearing for the exact placement of the Pavilion to that of the stone.

 After many times that the stone is being placed into the square hole, we can now go further with this exercise. 

 The Table of the stone must be lowered further into the metal, basically the stone must be lower than the surface of the metal, the reason for this will be shown in a few minutes.

 If you see that the Culet of the stone is protruding below the inside surface of the ring CHANGE THE STONE. As this sharp point is not acceptable.                             

  HAMMERING 

  When the stone has been lowered successfully into the metal, the hammering can start. But where will the hammer touch the metal? I always want the answer to be easily seen at all times in this delicate process. KEEP THE STONE LEVEL AT ALL TIMES!

 These 'little spots' is where the hammer-face made contact to the metal. The metal is not being hammered flat, but it is being moved towards the stone.

 Don't let the hammer-face touch the stone, if you do ...GOOD-BYE STONE!

 Very lightly hammer the four corners around the corners of the stone. Remember, that this is the most delicate areas in the whole hammering process.

 When all of the 'side and corner' spots have been hammered with precision, it is best to even out the hammering areas. 

 It is not advisable to have any 'flat' areas due to the continual hitting, this will often occur.

 With your graver it is now well into the FINISHING aspect in the stone setting. I could use my FLAT graver and BRIGHT-CUT the inside walls of the opening. THIS IS SO IMPORTANT!

 With your Pumice Wheels (#180 and #1,000 grit) kindly smooth the surfaces all around the Flush setting.

  

  "NOW YOU'VE PUT A "SQUARE STONE INTO A ROUND HOLE". Was this difficult?

How do you shape your NEW ONGLETTE graver? => 31 photos

 This technique was the very first thing that I learned when I was an apprentice, circa 1961.

 This particular display graver was made for my 'left-handed, student' the store-bought Onglette graver is suitable for anyone who is either 'left, or right-handed'.

 This metal shaping technique will allow my student to be able to sit down and engrave immediately.

 This graver must first have the 'end removed' on the bench-grinder. It must be tightly locked into place as this process depends upon accuracy at all times.

 Here is a close-up of the 'end section' that must be removed to fit into the wooden handle to fit the length of the palm of the hand.

  Here are the FLAT and the Onglette gravers after the shaping has taken place.

 The graver must ALWAYS BE KEPT COOL, if not, the overheated steel will ruin any future work in metal carving. If there isn't any 'pooling' of water on the blade. STOP! Make sure that there is water sitting constantly on the blade.

 The optimum length of the (working area) of the blade is measured at 15mm's. After having the blade starting to get warm to your touch, drop it into water immediately!

 The total carving area is at a 'gentle curve' this whole process took me approximately 30 minutes, from start to finish.

 The graver must never exceed the first joint in the finger (as shown).

  To prevent any steel particles from getting into my skin, I used thin Latex gloves.

  From the start of the 'gentle curve', to the face of the graver was the length I measured with 15mm's.

 If any 'brown staining' is occurring, this means that the steel is getting overheated. KEEP THE BLADE COOL TO THE TOUCH.

  HERE ARE THE MANY (photo & text) DETALS OF GRAVER SHAPING & PAPER POLISHING.

 My very first step is to remove 1/2 of the blade that will be sitting inside of the wooden handle.

 GENTLY start the shaping of the 'face of the blade' that will be doing the metal carving.

 The measured length of the blade that will be used is 14.50 => 15.00 mm's.

 At the desired 'length on the blade' is where shaping is now to start. Keep your eyes on the 'measured length' at all times.

 NOTICE IF THERE IS ANY STAINING ON THE BLADE, THIS IS SO IMPORTANT. Keep a jar of water within close reach to the rotating grinding wheel.

 

 Once that the desired shape of the graver has been made, the next step is the "Paper Polishing", as I always write in this blog "There are no short-cuts anywhere in Diamond Setting".

 In this photo you can easily see that there are many water droplets collecting as the blade is held against the Emery Wheel.

  The first of many papers is the #240 grit Emery paper. This coarse paper removes any imperfections that might have been created within the creating of the blade.

(Some stone setter will use a #400 grit paper, I chose not to use this paper as it isn't always necessary). I will rub a soft graphite pencil core into the pores of every "Polishing Paper". This will make that paper even more softer and make it to a higher grit.

 With this newer grit #600 paper, it is even now within the range of #750 grit, WHY BUY MORE PAPERS IF WE CAN MAKE OUR OWN?

 I want to make the steel blade 'shiny to the touch'. I can do two things here, rub the graver on the #600 and then rub it again on the 'softer' pencil-rubbed section. 

WOW, two papers on just one side of the board!

You can see now that the steel blade is starting to shine like a mirror.

 With the rubbing of the pencil, the paper will be now from an #800 paper it will be now equivalent to #1,000 grit.

 We are getting even smoother paper due to this "pencil rubbing" process. The Polishing Paper was bought at #1,200 grit, it will be now almost #1,600 grit without buying any newer papers.

 Where the rubbing has taken place, it is best to put the blade first at the paper where hasn't been any 'rubbing'. Then carefully place the blade on the 'pencil rubbed' area.

 Always be mindful of where the blade is being positioned on the paper for polishing.

 I polished even the 'face & sides' of the graver. Now you can see how the metal is really shining. This is the "Left-Sided" Onglette blade.

REVIEW OF A FEW IMPORTANT STEPS:

 The desired length of the 'curvature of the shaping' should be 15.00mm's.

 KEEP YOUR FOCUS ON THE TAPERING THAT IS BEING DONE.

  KEEP YOUR ONGLETTE BLADE COOL AT ALL TIMES! OVERHEATING IS THE ULTIMATE ENEMY.

 ALWAYS LET SOME WATER REST ON THE BLADE, WHILE THE GRINDING IS BEING DONE.

 The Level of Difficulty is approximately 50 out of 10.