micellular
has rocks in the head
Rock fever is curable with more rocks.
Member since September 2015
Posts: 640
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Post by micellular on Feb 14, 2017 16:13:29 GMT -5
My roommate commissioned a birthstone necklace for his mom, and I gave Rio Grande's pre-notched settings a shot. Ran into the reported trouble of one very thin prong, but that's why I bought two settings.  It seems secure, and looks great! I love this material - it's amethyst from Zambia and shows those prized red and blue flashes. Though the orangey-red flash on the bottom right is reflection from my orange pants.    |
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Post by rockjunquie on Feb 14, 2017 16:35:46 GMT -5
My roommate commissioned a birthstone necklace for his mom, and I gave Rio Grande's pre-notched settings a shot. Ran into the reported trouble of one very thin prong, but that's why I bought two settings. It seems secure, and looks great! I love this material - it's amethyst from Zambia and shows those prized red and blue flashes. Though the orangey-red flash on the bottom right is reflection from my orange pants. Yay! You are now a working lapidary artist. Looks great! I love African amethyst! Beautiful. What mm is that? |
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micellular
has rocks in the head
Rock fever is curable with more rocks.
Member since September 2015
Posts: 640
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Post by micellular on Feb 14, 2017 17:10:42 GMT -5
Yay! You are now a working lapidary artist. Looks great! I love African amethyst! Beautiful. What mm is that? 6.2mm stone, 6.0mm setting. I daresay the setting would be easier if I calibrated the stone, but I haven't yet broken the habit of trying to squeeze out every last hundreth-carat. But now I know the upper tolerance of that setting! |
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Post by radio on Feb 14, 2017 17:14:27 GMT -5
Gorgeous! And you did a fine job setting it! I don't buy mountings (or hardly anything) from Rio as quality has went in the crapper. I've also had bad luck with Tripps mountings and have narrowed it down to dealing with Jamming Gems for mountings.
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micellular
has rocks in the head
Rock fever is curable with more rocks.
Member since September 2015
Posts: 640
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Post by micellular on Feb 14, 2017 17:26:08 GMT -5
Gorgeous! And you did a fine job setting it! I don't buy mountings (or hardly anything) from Rio as quality has went in the crapper. I've also had bad luck with Tripps mountings and have narrowed it down to dealing with Jamming Gems for mountings. I think I'll end up changing suppliers too, but I also had to get chain + pliers so I just wanted to combine shipping this time (and see for myself the quality, haha). |
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Post by radio on Feb 14, 2017 17:50:56 GMT -5
Gorgeous! And you did a fine job setting it! I don't buy mountings (or hardly anything) from Rio as quality has went in the crapper. I've also had bad luck with Tripps mountings and have narrowed it down to dealing with Jamming Gems for mountings. I think I'll end up changing suppliers too, but I also had to get chain + pliers so I just wanted to combine shipping this time (and see for myself the quality, haha). Next item to add to your tool box www.ottofrei.com/Store/Stone-Setting-Pliers/Wes-Gem-Brand-Gem-Set-Pliers-Mini-Model-100.htmlThese are adjustable to a fraction at a time, so no (or very little) danger of squeezing prongs too tightly and chipping at stone. tutorial here: |
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NDK
Cave Dweller 
Member since January 2009
Posts: 9,440
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Post by NDK on Feb 14, 2017 18:26:39 GMT -5
Beautiful piece. I'm sure your roommate's mom will love it!
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Post by MrP on Feb 14, 2017 19:11:03 GMT -5
My roommate commissioned a birthstone necklace for his mom, and I gave Rio Grande's pre-notched settings a shot. Ran into the reported trouble of one very thin prong, but that's why I bought two settings. It seems secure, and looks great! I love this material - it's amethyst from Zambia and shows those prized red and blue flashes. Though the orangey-red flash on the bottom right is reflection from my orange pants. @micellullar Great Job!..........................MrP |
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Post by orrum on Feb 14, 2017 19:31:14 GMT -5
Big atta gurl!##
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gemfeller
Cave Dweller
Member since June 2011
Posts: 4,059 
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Post by gemfeller on Feb 14, 2017 19:38:44 GMT -5
Nice work! I second Radio's suggestion, as well as a set of files and hand-polishing tools to even out and repolish the prongs. Those cast settings often need a little TLC to bring them up to snuff. Nice stone -- it's great when an amethyst that size can hold color so well. Many wash out because of the short light path. Love good Zambian but I find rough hard to get these days.
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micellular
has rocks in the head
Rock fever is curable with more rocks.
Member since September 2015
Posts: 640
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Post by micellular on Feb 14, 2017 20:03:10 GMT -5
Nice work! I second Radio's suggestion, as well as a set of files and hand-polishing tools to even out and repolish the prongs. Those cast settings often need a little TLC to bring them up to snuff. Nice stone -- it's great when an amethyst that size can hold color so well. Many wash out because of the short light path. Love good Zambian but I find rough hard to get these days. What kind of hand-polishing tools would you recommend? I do have a set of needle files, and I used the square to cut the seats a little deeper since my girdles are on the thicker side (~0.3mm). But the pliers did leave some tool marks - I was just thinking this morning on how to deal with them, such covering the bottom jaw with tape, wax, or nail polish. |
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gemfeller
Cave Dweller
Member since June 2011
Posts: 4,059
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Post by gemfeller on Feb 14, 2017 21:09:13 GMT -5
Needle files are great if they're a fine cut. When I started out I glued emery paper of several fineness grades to Popsicle sticks for hand smoothing, then made similar buffs using felt. I charged one felt with Tripoli, the other with jeweler's rouge for polishing. Certainly not as fast as a Foredom with silicone wheels but it gets the job done very economically. If you have a Foredom the Shofu silicone polishing kits from Otto Frei are great -- a little spendy but quick. They used to list them as Brownie Points: the brown ones for gentle prepolish, the green ones for quick final polish on silver and gold. Other kits with silicone wheels are probably as good and cheaper - I mention the Shofus because I use and know them.
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micellular
has rocks in the head
Rock fever is curable with more rocks.
Member since September 2015
Posts: 640
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Post by micellular on Feb 14, 2017 23:10:29 GMT -5
Needle files are great if they're a fine cut. When I started out I glued emery paper of several fineness grades to Popsicle sticks for hand smoothing, then made similar buffs using felt. I charged one felt with Tripoli, the other with jeweler's rouge for polishing. Certainly not as fast as a Foredom with silicone wheels but it gets the job done very economically. If you have a Foredom the Shofu silicone polishing kits from Otto Frei are great -- a little spendy but quick. They used to list them as Brownie Points: the brown ones for gentle prepolish, the green ones for quick final polish on silver and gold. Other kits with silicone wheels are probably as good and cheaper - I mention the Shofus because I use and know them. I'll try the popsicle stick trick - I still have all that wet/dry sandpaper from the days of hand-cabbing!  |
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Post by radio on Feb 15, 2017 3:47:42 GMT -5
Nice work! I second Radio's suggestion, as well as a set of files and hand-polishing tools to even out and repolish the prongs. Those cast settings often need a little TLC to bring them up to snuff. Nice stone -- it's great when an amethyst that size can hold color so well. Many wash out because of the short light path. Love good Zambian but I find rough hard to get these days. What kind of hand-polishing tools would you recommend? I do have a set of needle files, and I used the square to cut the seats a little deeper since my girdles are on the thicker side (~0.3mm). But the pliers did leave some tool marks - I was just thinking this morning on how to deal with them, such covering the bottom jaw with tape, wax, or nail polish. popsicle sticks work well for larger pieces. they work better on small things, or tight spaces if split in half lengthwise. I do a LOT of sanding and have found these to be invaluable! www.sfjssantafe.com/items.php?Gid=347&ItemSet=Polishing&DepId=toolsBelts for them www.sfjssantafe.com/items.php?Gid=348&ItemSet=Polishing&DepId=toolsI go through a lot of belts, so I buy mine in larger quantities from a different source |
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It seems secure, and looks great!
