A bezel setting with clean lines, broken by a small extravagance of gold balls, this project requires some delicate soldering situations -- unless you'd rather skip the gold balls for an easier, clean-lined piece.

All metal lengths are approximate. I generally use a #04 tip on my torch and hard solder for most all of my soldering, allowing the option of using solder with a lower-melting point later on, if needed. Remember, your metals are recyclable, never a “loss.”

For more safety information, I recommend A Jewelry Workshop Safety Report: Safety and Substitutes, text of a lecture on safety given at the Society of North American Goldsmiths Conference in March 1998. It is available through Brain Press and can be seen on the company's Web site at www.ganoksin.com/borisat/tree.cgi. Editor's note: To learn more about this artist and her work, see “A Light Touch,” page 32 in the print issue of December 1998 Lapidary Journal.

•Torch, oxy/acetylene or equivalent •Flexible-shaft machine •Half-round needle file •Flat hand file •Pickle •Lightweight hammer (2 to 3 oz.) •Modified nail tapping tool •Flux •12-gauge sterling square wire, approx. 10cm or long enough to circle pearls/chain •Flat/round-nose combination and chain-nose pliers •Sanding sticks (240-, 400-, and 600-grit) •Borise acid with denatured alcohol •Quality stamps and/or hallmark •1-1/4" to 1-1/2" dowel	•Shellac •Bent-nose tweezers •1-1/4" square of 24-gauge sterling sheet •18K yellow sheet, 24-gauge 4mm x 60mm long •2 pieces 18-gauge 18K yellow round wire each approx. 15mm. long •18K yellow hard or medium solder •Sterling hard, medium, and easy solder •Sterling or 18K chain or pearl strand •Stone of similar shape (I used palm wood) •Pear-shaped pearl, half-drilled •Narrow-point diamond bits •Epoxy 330 •Buffs and/or brush wheels with tripoli and rouge •Flat graver and/or burnisher
For information on supplies, please see the Annual Buyers' Directory.

STEP 1.
Anneal all metals. If it helps, notch the corners as you go and bend the 18K bezel strip around the stone so that the fit is close. Don't force the fit. File the seam until flush, being sure the ends meet completely and evenly. I always dip metals to be soldered into a boric acid/denatured alcohol solution. Apply your torch flame, making sure nothing is above the flame (such as a lamp). This helps the flux flow smoothly and lays down a soon-to-be glassy coating that protects the metal from fire scale. With your preferred form of flux (I use the yellow liquid stuff), paint the area to be soldered. Using a snippet of 18K hard solder, solder the ends together. Quench in pickle.

STEP 2.
Apply your sterling stamp and/or hallmark to the silver sheet. Gently sand or file the bottom of the bezel until flat so that it sits on the flat sterling sheet without gaps. After any alterations, always check the stone fit before proceeding. Dip, flux, and solder the bezel to the silver sheet, using several snippets of sterling hard solder. Quench in pickle. Saw off the excess edge of the silver and file all edges until smooth, then sand with sanding sticks. Finish to a polish using tripoli, then rouge, washing the piece in between to prevent contaminating the buffs.

STEP 3. File a notch at the midpoint of the square wire strip to enable you to make a sharp bend. Bend the square wire to the shape of the outside of the bezel. Maintain a smooth line, free of sharp bends that keep the wire from meeting the stone all the way around. This makes soldering easier. File the inside edge if the wire is dinged. Wrapping your pliers with tape helps. Tap the wire with the hammer on a metal or wood block to flatten, then check the fit. Leave plenty of wire on the top 2 ends to allow for the balls and the loop that will act as the bail (take into account the thickness of the metal, which reduces length when bent).

STEP 4. Dip, flux (including exposed wire ends), and solder the wire to the bezel, using sterling hard solder. Run the torch over the whole piece, especially on the heavier square wire. I use a solder pik. This requires good temperature control of all metal parts, and you will have to prevent the piece from moving. Before quenching, use tweezers to pick up the piece (exposed wires facing down) and hold the tip of the flame over the end of the wire, balling it up. Do not try for too large of a ball, or it may fall off. Repeat on other end. Quench in pickle. Bend the wires to form the hooks that will hold the chain or pearls. File the edges until smooth and use the half-round file for the area inside the loops, if needed.

STEP 5. You may want to skip the gold balls, depending on your soldering skills and nerve. If you don't want to add the gold balls, go to STEP 1 of Part II. If you do, figure out where you want to place them. Cut a few small pieces of 1, 2, and 3mm lengths of the 18K strip. Place on your solder pad and use your torch to ball them up. Quench in water and place back on the pad, flat side down. Arrange the balls in the order that you will solder them. Very tiny snippets of sterling medium solder should be on your pad, as should the necklace, secured from movement and fluxed. Practice picking up these tiny little balls with the tweezers before you are under fire. They can be hard to grip. It may take some practice coordinating holding the ball, picking up solder, watching the color of metal as it gets close to temperature, and then placing the ball on the piece. Think of where you might be able to rest your arm. I use a GRS Benchmate and hook my little finger on one of the third hand arms as I hold the tweezers containing the ball to be soldered.

Next month, we will add the gold balls and set the stone.

Deborah Hamm is a metal artist working in platinum, 18K golds, and sterling and 18K combinations, utilizing various stones and gems. She exhibits at Show of Hands (Denver, CO), Langman Gallery (Willow Grove, PA), and other galleries around the country. Her web site address is www.silverhawk.com/ex98/hammd.html. A 1998 Niche Award finalist and receiver of an honorable mention, Ms. Hamm is a member of the Women's Jewelry Association and the Society of North American Goldsmiths.