earrings, gold and brilliants

by Mario Cesari on January 24, 2012 · 7 comments

in Uncategorized

x

The earrings,  polished just too much, lost some crispness

 


Made two tubes of the right diameter (the crown of the stone rests in the thickness of the tube), made four holes in the circumference at middle height.
Now I’m enlarging the holes, leaving between them the thickness of a prong

cut in half the tube

to get two pronged bezels

some filing with the round file to set the inclination and regularize the prongs

here are the four (I’ making two pair of earrings) bezels, the prongs are ok

a nick with the saw just under the prongs

with a square file the nick is enlarged and deepened, the bezel is held in a piece of wood

ready for the back

the paillons are in place

the bottom has been soldered and cut in circle

to solder the stem, I heat the bottom of the bezel on which a paillon is placed, and keep the stem near the flame. When the paillon starts melting I rest the stem on it, wait till the solder wets bezel and stem, take away the flame and wait for the solder to set before opening the tweezers.

I nick the inside of each prong with the saw, a little filing with a triangular file will perfect the notch.

 

the stone enters with a click


some beading over the tip of the prongs

forgot to say that I made a groove at the bottom of the bezels

The butterfly nuts are 0.6 mm thick, somewhere between gauge 24 and 22.  First I cut the shape, with a round punch I deepen the center and bore a hole. With a tracer punch I  make a groove in the middle of the wings

Then I  roll up the wings until they will let the stem pass through with a little effort.  Just a little under the end of the stem I made a circular groove with round nosed pliers: the butterfly nut clicks in the groove and stays secure.

I JUST SAW THAT I’VE USED UP 94% OF THE SPACE GANOKSIN ALLOWS ME TO USE.
ANY SUGGESTION ON HOW TO GO ON?
I was planning to post an article on the unconventional use of the wire rolling mills.
Goodbye, Mario

 

Mario Cesari
Mario Cesari Born in Venezia, Italy, metalworker for thirty-odd years, learning blacksmithing and chasing in London, cuttlefish bone casting and jewel construction back in Venezia, small-scale sand casting and other traditional nepalese techniques in Katmandu. Went to live in the country and learnt forge welding and Damascus steel making, attended seminar on Ancient Etruscan Techniques and learnt granulation, made replicas of scientific instruments for museums. In 1999 at UGA in Athens, GA, as visiting artist. Translated Metalwork and enameling by H. Maryon, wrote articles for Italian and American crafts magazines. In the last years mostly researching, teaching and taking care of my site http://www.pennabilli.org
Mario Cesari

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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }

Suzanne January 29, 2012 at 10:38 pm

Great sequence of photos. A really clear tutorial showing exactly how much work is involved!

Mario Cesari January 29, 2012 at 9:03 am

Thanks for the question, I did’nt know how to name these small pieces, that is why there’s no caption yet on the photos.
The butterfly nuts are 0.6 mm thick, somewhere between gauge 24 and 22.

sandra hall January 28, 2012 at 11:53 pm

I was curious as to what Gauge you used for the butterfly nut,

monte jones January 28, 2012 at 7:33 pm

very impressive im going to do some tube work soon(my first attempt) this demo helped greatly great photography

Corinne Lazaro January 25, 2012 at 9:53 pm

Great Demo!

Ellen January 25, 2012 at 3:47 pm

This was amazing and perfect in its detail, thank you so much for sharing.

jean January 25, 2012 at 1:47 pm

this is the best demonstration i have ever seen. the photos show exactly what you are explaining.

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