Setting Stones in Metal Clay

8/10/2019 Setting Stones in Metal Clay

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Seting Sones in Meal Clay

Jeanete Landenwich

Brynmorgen Press,


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All righs reserved. No par of his publicaion may bereproduced or ransmited in any form or by any means,elecronic or mechanical, including phoocopying,recording, or any sorage and rerieval sysem excepby a reviewer who wishes o quoe brief passages inconnecion wih a review writen for inclusion in amagazine, newspaper, web posing, or broadcas.

ISBN 978-1-929565290

Prined in Hong Kong

Second prining

Copyrigh 2008Brynmorgen Press

Drawings im McCreighDesign, edi & layou im McCreigh Abby Johnson Michael DelesIndex Jamie Kingman-Rice

Designs o all he jewelry shown in his book belongo he ariss. Unless oherwise noed, phoos arecouresy o he ariss.

Preceding page:Pendan, Hiroaki Shinonome, KugiFine silver, diamond. 2 x 1

Front cover:Brooch, im McCreighFine silver, malachie, moonsones. 2" by 1 "

For ordering and permissions, visiwww. brynmorgen.com


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CONTENTS

1 Gemsones 9

2 ools & Maerials 17

3 Choosing he Righ Seting 29

4 Bezels 41

5 Prongs 67

6 Oher Seting Opions 79

7 Te Work Behind he Work 98

Appendix 106


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Acknowledgemens

Tis book is dedicaed o all ariss working in meal clay. I isexciing o be par o he evoluion o his wonderul maerial,

waching as he field has developed rom basics o he ad-vanced work ha we are seeing oday. I hope his book willencourage he creaion o innovaive setings, and inspire su-

perior work wih gemsones o all kinds.Id like o say a special hank-you o my edior, im Mc-Creigh, whose confidence gave me he opporuniy o ex-perimen and describe he soneseting ideas I was collecing.Tanks o Abby Johnson and Michael Deles a BrynmorgenPress or heir care and energy in bringing his book o lie.Tank you o Kevin Whimore o Rio Grande or helping

wih my preliminary research. And a big hanks o he won-derul ariss who offered images o heir work o help illus-rae some o he echniques in my book. Im sure hese

beauiul examples will moivae ohers o push heir limis. And finally, hanks o my husband, Dave, or his paience

while I pu in he hours o research and wriing. Your love,encouragemen, and humor were a grea pillar o supporhrough all o i. Tank you! You are a reasure.


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Inroducion

When I began working wih PMC, he wide range o exures, he sponaneous process o hand-building,and he flowing orms ha resuled were a wonderul oule or my creaive sensibiliies. As I became a-miliar and comorable wih he maerial, I began o look beyond he basics and searched or ways o in-corporae color ino my work. My firs idea was o use sones. Bu I came o PMC rom a poters back-ground and had no mealworking skills. Te big quesion became, How in he world do I do his? Be-sides pressing a cubic zirconia ino a ball o clay and firing i, how do I se oher kinds o sones? Nohaving a background in mealworking, I was in a quandary. o ge he color I waned, I urned o ohermedia, firs resin, hen vireous enamels, and evenually colored pencils and oil pasels.

Bu here was his litle voice, a persisen, unshakable orce ha kep calling. An affiniy or beaui-ul, colorul, unusual naural sones was building. I began atending gem and jewelry shows and soughou shops ha sold loose sones. Websies ha sold unusual varieies and cus o sones were being book-marked on my compuer. Gemsones had become a passion, and here was quie a collecion accumula-ing in my drawer. I began o ask mysel some quesions. Do bezels always have o be hin? Do hey always have o pressin a he edges? Do hey have o be sricly uncional? Do hey have o be inconsequenial in he design?Can hey be decoraive? Can hey be a ocal poin ha enhances he sone? Can hey be a design ele-men? Can hey be exured? Can hey be shaped? Can hey be parial? W ha abou prongs? How abouincorporaing ready-made seting componens? And so my ques began. Tere are dozens o ways o a-ach gems o meal jewelry, and while any well-made seting will work echnically, no all will work aes-heically in a given siuaion. Te seting is an inegral componen o he overall piece and should becareully considered o reflec he characer o he whole design. Te goal o his book is o expand your reperoire o soneseting opions specifically or use wihPMC. And bear in mind ha in addiion o sones, many o hese echniques can be used o se ohermaerials. Bezel setings, or insance, can be used o se enameled componens or polymer clay ele-mens. Prong setings can be used o se coins, abs can be used o se decoraive ceramic pieces, anddozens o oher exciing objecs.

Tis book is a collecion o he setings ha I have discovered so ar, and i llusraes heir adapaiono meal clay. Some o he echniques are simple, as, and easy; ohers require more planning. Some ohese seting mehods have grea versailiy and will be used ofen. Ohers are more specific o paricular

siuaions. Eiher way, here is a place or all o hem. I hope ha hese mehods will jumpsar your creaiviy, leading you o he exciemen o learningnew echniques. Te decision abou which mehod o use depends on he characer o he piece, he in-heren naure o he sone (such as is resisance o hea, is srengh, ec.), and he kind o skills you bringo he job. Wheher you have mealworking skills or no, here is an opion or everyone, and a way o seevery sone. In his book I reerence he Precious Meal Clay brand because his is where my experience lies.Tese mehods can be easily adaped o any kind o meal clay. In ac, here are also reerences o ways ouse meal clay in work ha has been abricaed wih convenional mealsmihing echniques.


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Holly Gage

Winer Dance

Fine silver, dendriic quarz, cubic zirconia


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hrough he ages, humans have been drawn ohe beauy and mysicism o gemsones. Temany varieies have been used no only in making

jewelry and wearable ar, bu also decoraively inuncional and non-uncional iems such as ools,urniure, archiecure, sculpure, and as currency.

Gemsones were, and sill are, used in religiousobjecs such as monsrances, reliquaries, rosaries,and icons. Sones such as lapis were ground inopowder or use as eye cosmeics. Some o he firs known gem maerials in-cluded lapis lazuli, amehys, emerald, amber, ur-quoise, garne, jade, and coral. In early socieieshese sones were reserved or he wealhy, andserved in many culures as symbols o saus andpower. Common olk would use more easily ob-

ained ornamens such as shells, bone, seeds, andanimal rophies like anler and eeh. Folklore and legends abound, rom hemeaning o cerain sones as amules and alis-mans ha ward off evil powers, o providing spiri-ual powers, magic healing powers, proecionagains injury, and as a source o inner srengh.Tere are gemsones chosen o represen each ohe planes ha are seen as reflecing he cosmos.Zodiac sones are believed o relae o consella-

Gemsones

ions and heir effec on he iming o ones birh.Tese ancien radiions live on in he assignmeno birhsones o he monhs o he year. Tepower o he gemsone indusry oday plays on heinrinsic value o a gem, is naural beauy, and isimporan role as a saus symbol.

Gemsones are ascinaing o sudy, and wihhe easy availabiliy o hundreds o differen kindso sones, he varied and unusual cus, and heconinued discovery o new species, gemsonesare a un way o add color, dimension, and value omeal clay designs. Te mehods and echniquesaugh in his book will provide he reedom o useany kind o sone.

Naural Gemsones

Naural gemsones are divided ino wo caego-ries, called precious and semiprecious. A gem-sone ha is rare and has a hardness o nine or enon he Mohs scale is considered a precious sone.Tese gems have he highes commercial value.Te mos amiliar examples are diamonds, rubies,emeralds, and sapphires. Semiprecious soneshave a hardness o less han eigh, and are abun-danly available. Lesser qualiy precious sones aresomeimes classed as semiprecious.

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Some naural sones can wihsand hea, andhis allows hem o be se ino meal clay and firedin place. In addiion o he mineral isel, we needo be aware o inclusions, cracks, and fissures in anaural gem because any o hese can cause prob-lems. While inclusions can produce beauiul andeven specacular effecs in a sone, hey can alsopredispose i o cracking and breaking when firedin he kiln.

Tere are a ew organic maerials, ound onland and in he waer, ha are considered gems,hough hey are in ac ormed by he biologicalprocesses o living organisms. Tese include pearl,ivory, shell, coral, amber, and je. Tese gemsshould never be kiln-fired as hey will burn up a alow emperaure.

Synheic GemsonesSynheic, lab-creaed, and lab-grown are synony-mous erms. Synheic sones are made in he lab-

oraory, and have he same appearance, composi-ion, hardness, and opical and chemical proper-ies as naural gemsones. Teir inclusions are verydifferen rom hose o naural sones, being morelike gas bubbles, or veil and eaher paterns. Many,

bu no all, synheic sones can be fired in he kilna he lower emperaure schedules o meal clay.

Simulaed GemsonesSimulaed, or imiaion gemsones are an inexpen-

sive way o have a look-alike o an expensive or raregemsone. Tese sones are no really sones aall. Tey look like naural gemsones, bu he opi-cal, physical, and chemical properies are differen.Te cubic zirconia (CZ) is he mos widely knownsimulan. CZs are manuacured a a emperaureo abou 3000 F (1650 C), making hem ideal orkiln-firing a any o he meal clay emperaures.

Glass and plasic are requenly used o makesimulan gemsones. Polymer clay can be made olook very much like naural semiprecious sones.Plasic and polymer canno wihsand he hea ofiring, period. Some glass may survive a firingschedule, bu esing is recommended. Synheic and naural gemsones are alsoused o make simulans. Tese are composiesones, such as doubles and riples, where heacual gemsone is he op layer, used o someoher maerial ha makes up he res o he sone.Tis using o he layers makes hem unsuiable orkiln firing.

Enhancemen

For as long as gems have been se in jewelry, peoplehave experimened wih ways o enhance heir ap-pearance. Modern echniques include oiling, dy-ing, saining, waxing, oiling, hea-reaing, irradia-ing, drilling, and filling. Kiln-firing will affec heseapplicaions and change he appearance o hesone. Tis means ha even i a gem maerial is in-herenly capable o wihsanding high empera-ures, i is possible ha a paricular sone migh ail

because o is reamen. Par o he exciemen oworking wih naural sones is he undersandingha no wo specimens are exacly alike. All he ob-servaions given in books (including his one) reero researched resuls, bu remember ha here areno promises.

Cus of Sones

Cabochons are he simples cus, wih plain, pol-ished suraces. Tey can be domed, or squared asin a buff op. Tey usually have fla, unpolished

backs and can be cu o varying hicknesses rang-ing rom a very hin ew millimeers, o all domescalled ongues or bulles. While simple in heir

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domed look, cabochons can be cu ino endlessshapes. Tis cu shows off he specacular effecsha occur in sones such as jaspers, ruile quarz,and agaes. Mos cabochons are cu so ha hecurve o heir profile creaes a slope or angle a he

botom edge, where he op mees he botom.Tis is wha allows a bezel o hold he sone se-curely in place.

A well-cu cabochon has a sharp edge like he sone on he le.Cabs wih round or irregular edges around he base will bemore difficul o se.

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Undersanding he pars o a aceed sone willclariy deails o he seting process. Faceing isdone mosly on ransparen gemsones, houghopaque and ranslucen sones are someimes ac-eed. Faces are he highly polished, fla planes hareflec ligh. Tey are cu in geomeric paternsdesigned o achieve he bes play o ligh. Te qual-iy o he cu is imporan because a sones colorand fire is deermined by he way ligh eners he

gem and is refleced rom he botom aces backhrough he op. In he language o aceed gems, he ermshape reers o he ouline o he perimeer o hesone. Some common shapes o aceed sones areround, marquise, oval, emerald, pear, baguete,cushion, rillion, square, and hear.

Pars of a Faceed Gemsone

Cule

GirdleCrown

Pavillion

able

I is helpul o know he proper names or he pars o a aceed sone.Tere are more erms ha are imporan or lapidaries, bu or seting ,hese will be enough.

Mos cabochons all ino one o hese our ypes: sandard,high (bulle), buff op, or double (lenil).


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Choosing he Righ SetingTere are several acors o consider in deermin-ing wha kind o seting o use or any paricularsone.

Te Cu

o ge he maximum sparkle rom a aceed sone,consider a prong seting or a bezel cup seting wih

an open back. A closed bezel seting migh high-ligh a specacular buff op agae cabochon. A abseting, or combinaion ab seting wih a shor

bezel a is base, migh showcase a cabochon soneha has beauiul sriaions hroughou he opand sides.

Te Shape

Shapes such as he marquise, hear, and squareaceed sones have poins ha are vulnerable o

chipping. Tese need o be proeced in he setingby double prongs or a parial bezel a he ips.Tinly cu cabochons need a seting wih a solid

back o give i exra suppor in order o avoidbreaking.

Hardness

Hardness is a acor when choosing sones or ob-jecs ha expose sones o hard wear. A pendan or

Faceed sones are cu in a variey o shapes, o which hese are he mos common.

pair o earrings, or insance, rarely see muchsress, bu braceles and rings are subjec o acci-denal bangs and bumps during normal wear.Hard sones, such as rubies or sapphires, can besaely se in a high profile prong seting. Sofersones such as urquoise benefi rom a sheleringseting like a ull bezel, or a bezel cup. Britleness isdifferen rom hardness, bu in erms o machingsones o objecs, he same rules apply. Objecsha are likely o see hard wear are no well suiedo ragile, sof, or britle sones.

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Barbara Becker Simon, Ant Lentil Bead

Fine silver, 24k gold, diamond1" diameter

t


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Hea SensiiviyIn radiional jewelrymaking, his acor is no usu-ally very imporan because sones are always seafer all hea processes are compleed. For mealclay ariss, he abiliy o a sone o wihsand heais one o he firs iems o be deermined. Sonesha can wihsand emperaures over 1110 F(540 C) can be se ino meal clay and fired inposiion. Obviously, such sones could also be seafer firing using more convenional mehods.

Gemsones ha canno reliably wihsand siner-ing emperaures require echniques ha will al-low us o complee he meal objec and hen se-cure he sone in place by pressing a meal rim orprong ono he sone. We can hink o his as a orkin he road: I a sone is able o wihsand highemperaures, a specific se o opions is available.I no, ha pah is closed and we can immediaelyocus atenion on seting mehods ha are usedafer firing.

How do you know which caegory a sone fisino? Forunaely, several people have conducedexperimens and are willing o share he resuls oheir research. No wo sones are exacly alike,paricularly naural sones, so here are never guar-anees, bu he char on he nex page will allow aneducaed guess abou wheher a gem will survive.I you are unsure abou a paricular sone, eiherpurchase several and es one by heaing i, or sehe sone afer he meal clay piece has been fired.Bear in mind ha you don need o include mealclay o deermine i a sone will sur vive. Simply sehe gem on a kiln shel and run i hrough a firingsequence. I i survives, you will know i is worhinvesing ime and maerials o use in a piece. I hesone discolors or breaks, you won have wasedany ime or meal clay.

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Naoko Tanaka

Jyoman

Fine silver, quartz crystal19 x 15 x 12


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Gem essKevin Whimore and he saff a Rio Grande conduced ess wih gemsones, firs alone, and hen se ino PMC.Tey share heir resuls here, along wih a warning ha every sone is unique, so your resuls may vary. Used wih per-mission (and hanks).

Tes 1:

TOCH FIINGHea o 1110F (600C)hen hold or 3 minues.

By definiion, his will be aas ramp.

Alexandrite survived good betCZ survived good betEmerald survived good bet

Ruby survived good betSapphire survived good betSpinel survived good betTavalite CZ survived iffyStar Corundum survived iffy

Naural Gemsones

Blue Sapphire (AAA-Grade) survived good betBlue Sapphire (A-Grade) survived good bet

Labradorite damaged unsafePeach Moonstone damaged unsafePeridot survived good betRhodolite survived good betRuby (A-Grade) survived good betRuby (AAA-Grade) survived good betSilver Moonstone damaged unsafeTanzanite survived good bet

White Sapphire survived good bet

Lab-Grown Gemsones

Blue Spinel survived good betGreen Garnet survived good betGreen CZ damaged unsafeMoissanite damaged unsafe

White CZ survived good betWhite Sapphire survived good bet

Tes 2:

SYNTHETIC

GEMSTONES

Fas ramp o 1110F (600 C)hen hold or 30 minues.

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Amethyst damaged not tried unsafeAquamarine survived damaged iffyCitrine damaged not tried unsafeGreen Tourmaline survived survived good betGreen Topaz survived survived good betLabradorite survived survived iffyPeach Moonstone slight damage slight damage iffyPink Tourmaline damaged not tried unsafeRainbow Moonstone damaged damaged iffyRainbow Topaz damaged damaged unsafe

Silver Moonstone slight damage slight damage iffySmoky Quartz damaged not tried unsafeTanzanite survived survived good bet

White Topaz survived survived good bet

Tes 3:SLOW RMPSlow ramp o 1110F (600C)hen hold or 30 minues.

Tes Four:

NATURLSHea naural gemsones and hold a

1110F (600 C) or 30 minues.

Almandine Garnet survived survived good betAmethyst destroyed not tried unsafeAquamarine not tried damaged unsafeAventurine damaged not tried unsafeBlack Onyx damaged damaged unsafe

Black Star Sapphire survived survived good betBlue Mist Chalcedony damaged not tried unsafeBlue Topaz destroyed not tried unsafeCarnelian damaged not tried unsafeChrome Diopside not tried survived good betCitrine damaged not tried unsafeDenim Lapis survived survived iffyHematite not tried survived good betIolite destroyed not tried unsafe

Jadeite damaged not tried unsafeLapis LazuliDark damaged not tried iffyMalachite destroyed not tried unsafeMexican Fire Opal not tried damaged unsafeMoonstone survived survived good betPeridot survived survived good betPyrope Garnet survived survived good betRhodochrosite damaged not tried unsafeRose Quartz destroyed not tried unsafeTsavorite Garnet not tried survived good betTigers Eye darkened not ried unsafeTourmaline survived damaged iffyTurquoise destroyed not tried unsafe

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Doris King

Spriral Treasure

Shell Ring

Fine silver, 14k gold, shell, hessonie garne


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Many books and videos describe he basicools used wih meal clay, so I won repeaha inormaion here. I you are jus geting sar-ed, urn o any o hose books or an inroduciono meal clay echniques. Wha migh no be a-miliar, even o experienced meal clay ariss, are

he ools and maerials o radiional jewelrymak-ing. Since hese will come up in he ollowingpages, i makes sense o describe hem here.

Par o he un o working wih PMC is dis-covering (and accumulaing) new ools. Everyime I look hrough a jewelry supply caalog,somehing else caches my eye. And has no omenion a sroll hrough a hardware sore or a oyshop. In addiion o ools we buy, many ariss en-

joy creaing ools, or modiying ools o make

hem especially useul or he ask a hand.

Bench ools A jewelers sawframewih assored blades is a

useul ool o cu wire, rim away excess, cleanup seams, and cu sizing plugs.

An awl is handy or making sarer holes ordrilling, and or flaring ube rives.

An automatic center punch creaes a sarerpoin or drilling holes.

ools and Maerials

Steel punchescan be used along wih a ham-mer o move a hick bezel, or insance whenseting a sone ino a hick-walled bezel afer hepiece has been fired.

Burnishers have several uncions in sonese-ing. A rocking moion wih a curved burnisher

will push a bezel over a sone. Burnishers comein many shapes and sizesuse he one mosappropriae or he area being worked.

A rulerwih meric and inch measuremens is amus.

A machinists square(also called a ry square) isgrea, especially i you are working wih squaresones or making boxes wih square corners.

Dividers are useul or comparing disancesand reaining measuremens.

A sliding caliperis a as way o measure sones,burs, bis, and meals. A simple version showssize wih a mark on a ruler. More sophisicaed

versions have eiher a digial readou or a dialha shows he reading.

Abench plateorbench blockis nohing morehan a piece o seel ha is used as an anvil a he

jewelers bench. Commercial versions are hard-ened and polished (which is nice) bu in acany block wih fla suraces will do.

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Gemstone and graphic arts templates are han-dy or iniial design work and or laying ou helocaions o sones.

Tweezersweezers come in an array o syles and sizes, romlong, o shor, curved o angled, and sharp o

blun. Mos are made o sainless seel, and some

have oher maerials on he ips or handles orspecific asks.

Popular handools menioned on previous page. Clockwise, fom upper le: sawfame, bench block, graphic emplaes, awl,sliding calipers, auomaic cenerpunch, ruler, dividers, burnisher, machiniss square, samping punches.

I recommend hese weezers o fill ou a compleeool ki: multi-purpose ne point and medium

poin sraigh weezers. ne point and medium curved tweezers. straight and curved cross-locking tweezers

wih a fiber handle or soldering. curved copper tongs for pickling.

grooved tweezers for handling stones.

Hammers and MallesFor cold connecion soneseting mehods, hereare hree basic ypes o shaping hammers hacome in handy. A rive hammer is a delicae ool wih one fla

ace and one wedge-shaped cross-peen. Be-sides orming rives, his is useul or lighplanishing and creaing exures.

Cross-lock, sraigh,and curved weezersall have heir own eeland uses.

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A ball-peen hammer (also called a machinisshammer) has one fla ace and one roundpeen. I is used or shaping rives and exuringhe PMC.

A chasing hammer is designed specifically orapping small punches. I has a broad ace, a ligh

weigh, and a handle ha lends isel o hours ocomorable use. I is also handy or making riv-es, or exuring, and or ligh shaping.

Malles are used o move meal wihoumarking i. Te mos common variey is made o acoil o rawhide, hough oher versions are made oplasic, rubber, or wood. You probably won needmore han one, and he choice is simply one opersonal preerence.

PliersPliers are useul or bending and shaping meal, as

well as or assembling jewelry componens, orinsance when adding jump rings o necklaces or

braceles, or puting earrings ono earwires. Temos commonly used syles are chain-nose,round-nose, and fla-nose pliers. Tere are alsoseveral kinds o specialy pliers designed specifi-cally or soneseting. Some are used o openprongs in order o remove a sone, some are used

o close prongs over he sone. Te ones I findmos useul or meal clay work are picured here,bu o course youll need o experimen o deer-mine which work bes or you.

Here are some o he mos common hammers and malles.From he op: rawhide, plasic, chasing , ball-peen, and rive.

Te shapes show he cross secions o he mos popular pliers:chain-nose, fla, round-nose, and ring orming.

Wire Cuters

Wire cuters, also called snips, are used o cuprongs and bezel wire o size. Tere are manykinds and syles o cuters, and mos come in sev-eral sizes. I preer he 5 inch side cuters ormeal clay work.

Wire cuters are commonly available in hreeblade ypes, each making a differen cu. Super-flush cuters creae a fla cu ha re-

quires he leas amoun o filing, sanding, andfinishing. Tere will be only a very smallraised poin a he end o he wire.

Flush cuters give a nice cu, bu he raisedpoin will be more pronounced. Tese aremore durable han he super-flush cuters.

Bevel cuters are he sronges and leas ex-pensive o he hree ypes. Tey leave a no-iceable poin a he end o he wire ha re-quires a bi o finishing.

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FilesFiles come in many sizes and shapes, and likeweezers, i is helpul o have a ull selecion ahand. Larger files are described by he lengh ohe oohed secion, while smaller files, calledneedle files, are described by heir oal lengh.

Files are available in several grades o coarse-ness, he mos common being #0 (he roughes),

#2, and #4. Diamond files come in gris rangingrom 140 o 400. Needle files, miniaure needle files, and micro

needle files range in overall lengh rom 4" o8", wih cuting suraces rom 1" o 4" inlengh. Tese files are usually sold in ses owelve various shapes, bu hey can also bepurchased individually.

Riffler files have shaped ends ha are usuallycurved which makes hem handy or hard-o-

reach areas. Tey are ypically abou 6" longand have a cuting surace o an inch or less. Escapemen files are basically miniaure nee-

dle files, which makes hem useul or reallyigh, deail areas. Because o heir fine cu,hey can creae a delicae finish ha resemblesa sandpaper surace.

I have wo ses o files o various sizes andshapes, one se dedicaed or use on PMC beorefiring, and one se o be used on PMC afer i has

been fired. A siff brass brush (he kind ound ahe local hardware sore) is good or cleaning hefiles when hey fill wih PMC dus.

Needle files, rifflers, and escapemen files are useul or delicaeshapes and surace adjusmens.

Te shape a he le is called a wire cuter, side cuter, or snip.Tey are sold in many sizes, and should mach he scale owork you do. Te ool on he righ is called an end cuter.

Tis skech shows he hree kinds o cuting suraces you willfind in snips. Te firs is he mos common, he cheapes, andhe one ha leaves he roughes end. Te oher wo are s yles oflush cuters, which means hey leave one end o he cu wih asquare or nearly square ip.

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Deb Fitz

Fine silver, carnelian, agate

1" diameter


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Soldering ToolsTe ools and equipmen or soldering PMC aremuch he same as hose used or convenionalmeal soldering.

orches range rom small handheld modelslike a buane pencil orch or Bernz-o-Maic ona sand, o larger and more powerul oxygen/aceylene or oxygen/propane models. Formeal clay soneseting work, he handheld

buane orch will handle mos jobs, bu a pro-pane orch migh also be useul.

Seting ToolsBezel and prong pushers, as heir names indicae,are used o push meal bezels and prongs over asone o hold i snugly in place. Tese pushers can

be fla o press bezels and prongs, or grooved opress prongs.

A bezel roller is a ool wih a curved edge hais used wih a rocking moion o push he bezelono he sone. Tese have larger handles han be-zel pushers and hereore provide more leverage.

Te curved end o an old oohbrush handleworks well as a bezel pusher, especially when se-ing sof sones ha migh be scrached i he oolslips.

A bezel pusher is a simple and effec-

ive ool wih a squa handle and aseel or bronze rod wih eiher a flaor noched ace.

Specialy burs are very helpul when setingsones ino dry meal clay or afer firing. Te ypeo seting and personal preerence come ino playhere, bu ypical would be seting burs, Har burs,invered cone burs, and cylinder burs.

A oohbrush handleand a radiional seel

bezel roller are oherools used o press a be-zel over a sone.

Tese are he mos common burs used in soneseting. Fromle o righ: seting , Har, invered cone, and cylinder.

For convenience and low cos, is hard o bea a compac bu-ane orch. For larger or exended work, he aceylene/airorch shown lying down here is a popular choice.

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Wheher seel or brass, lubricae he burnishing acion wihsoap and waer.

Tere are many kinds o suraces ha can beused or soldering, including Solderie boards,charcoal blocks, ceramic pads (some wihhoneycomb surace), and cordierie board(some wih grooves, some wih rubber ee).

A ripod wih firing screens is useul o raisehe work in order o hea i rom underneah.

Soldering picks are nohing more han a wirein a wooden handle. Some are seel (a coahanger will do) bu oher versions come wihungsen or ianium ips. ungsen can wih-sand higher emperaures han he ianiumips, which is useul in working wih plainum.For meal clay work, ianium picks work well.I preer a ool wih a wood handle because iremains cool during use.

A properly equipped soldering saion will

also include a sriker, flux, flux brushes, andsome o he weezers menioned earlier. Fordeails o hese maerials, consul a meal-smihing ex.

Te PMC firing saion will include a spaulaor removing work rom he kiln, work gloveso proec your hands, and suppor mediasuch as firing iles, vermiculie, alumina hy-drae, or reracory wool.

Finishing ToolsAbrasives are used o shape meal clay beore fir-ing, and hen o refine edges and suraces afer fir-ing. Abrasives are available in a dizzying range omedia, shapes, and syles. Te mos popular aresilicon carbide sandpaper, sanding sponges, sand-ing sicks, and polishing papers. In recen years,meal clay ariss have ound new uses or mani-cure boards. I wonder i he manuacurer knows

why sales are up? Maybe, like me, youve had he

hrill o going ino a beauy supply sore and wan-ing o explain our peculiar use o heir SalonBoards. Tese come in a variey o gris and can beused o refine and finish meal clay afer i has beenfired. A sof brisle wire brush, eiher brass or seel,makes shor work o polishing deailed PMCpieces o a sain or brushed finish. Te brass brushcan be used under running waer along wih aouch o polishing compound such as pumice ordishwashing liquid.

Tree ime-esed soldering suraces are a charcoal block, a sofirebrick, and a seel ripod, usually used wih a screen on op.

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A umbler is a machine wih an elecric mo-or ha auomaes he burnishing process. o gehe bes resuls rom your roary umbler, fill he

barrel a leas hal ull wih umbling medium (de-ails below), add he meal clay pieces, fill he bar-rel wih jus enough burnishing liquid o cover heconens. Seal he barrel ighly wih is lid, henumble or abou wo hours. Te barrel shouldnever be more han hree-quarers ull wih every-hing in i. Te ime will vary depending on hedesign o he umbler, he size o he load, and heeffec you wan o achieve. Check requenly ocach i a he righ sage. umbling media are available in many mae-rials, shapes, and degrees o coarseness. Mosmeal clay ariss use he umbler o duplicaehand burnishing, and his is bes accomplished

wih seel or sainless seel sho. Sainless seel shois preerred because i is easier o mainain. I you

Power ToolsTe flexible shaf machine (flex-shaf or shor)is a valuable moorized ool or any mealworkingsudio. I doesn ake long o hand finish PMC,

bu here are imes when he efficiency o he flex-shaf comes in handy. Brisle polishing disks andseel and brass brushes work well on fired mealclay. Tey also work quickly, so ake care no o

wear he design away. Always use proecive gog-gles and a dus mask

when using he flex-shaf machine. Oheruses or he flex-shafinclude drilling holesand cuting nochesino prongs.

op or he less expensive carbon seel sho, jus becareul o preven i rom rusing. I properly caredor, he resuls o he wo are idenical. Mos peo-ple use a mixure o sho wih a variey o shapes.

When he umbling process is complee, rinse hesho horoughly wih clean waer. I you will usehe umbler again soon, cover carbon sho wih

waer o preven exposure o air and he rus hawill orm. For longer sorage, spill he sho ono aowel and dry i wih a hairdryer. Porcelain ceramic sho, used along wih a

burnishing soluion, will produce a beauiul sainsheen. For bes resuls, i should be seasoned byumbling i or abou 12 hours beore using wihfinished meal clay pieces. All umbling should be done wih a liquidmedia. In a pinch, use waer wih one o wo dropso dishwashing liquid (he kind wih he leasamoun o added ragrances and chemicals), buproprieary soluions deliver more consisenlyclean resuls. Tese are usually sold as concen-

raes ha are mixed wih waer as needed.

A basic bu very workable roary umbler.

A flex-sha is used ordrilling, grinding, andpolishing.

Setting Stones in Metal Clay

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