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Post by opalpyrexia on Oct 3, 2019 16:07:48 GMT -5
New for me, anyway. About three years ago I trial-fit dinosaur cabs in their earring settings, something that's a good practice to follow. One cab fit fine; the other became stuck. I didn't insert them with dental floss behind them, the usual technique to ensure that one can remove a cab. I was relying on my wax+charcoal ball if either cab became stuck. Well, the wax ball failed me — no matter the temperature of the wax. I tried many times. The usual last-ditch approach in this situation is to drill a hole through the back of a piece, and then poke the cab out with a wire. But I didn't want a hole.
So the earring pair just sat. Until yesterday. That's when an idea popped into my head: I have some sodium silicate solution. I took a bamboo skewer, created a stand with thick paper, and barely touched the skewer to the surface of the sodium silicate. Then I stood the skewer on top of the cab.
An hour or so later I picked up the skewer and pulled the cab right out. Easy.
(You can see that there's an unshaped ear wire on the setting. So I didn't need to remove the cab because the soldering was finished. But I had decided to remove the wires and solder on jump rings.)
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Post by fernwood on Oct 3, 2019 17:05:02 GMT -5
Great thinking.
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Post by toiv0 on Oct 3, 2019 20:39:55 GMT -5
Good save and cute stand. Genius I say
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Oct 3, 2019 20:40:53 GMT -5
Very clever! That's definitely the most creative solution to that problem that I've seen.
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Post by opalpyrexia on Oct 3, 2019 23:04:33 GMT -5
Good save and cute stand. Genius I say
Thank you, but you're too kind. If there was thinking going on it was all subconscious. I was busy at the computer when it suddenly, for no reason, came to me.
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Post by opalpyrexia on Oct 3, 2019 23:09:25 GMT -5
Very clever! That's definitely the most creative solution to that problem that I've seen.
Thank you. In the future I'll cut the stick or dowel shorter, maybe only 1.5 to 2 inches long. At about 5.5 inches it was so long that balancing it was difficult.
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Post by TheRock on Oct 4, 2019 0:07:06 GMT -5
Nice Job!
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Post by rockjunquie on Oct 4, 2019 11:20:52 GMT -5
Do you think crazy glue would work, too?
I'm always super paranoid abt leaving that dental floss off.
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Post by opalpyrexia on Oct 4, 2019 11:52:40 GMT -5
Do you think crazy glue would work, too?
I'm always super paranoid abt leaving that dental floss off.
It certainly would work, especially with a gel version. It would work better for low-dome cabs to maximize area. I think that there could be some risk of pulling a divot out of the cab with a small bonding area if some sideways force is required to release it from the bezel. I've had a couple of opals fly off my brass dops while either cutting or being careless with them, leaving a tiny button of opal on the dop.
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