Gypsy and Burnish

[jimzim75]

(If you would like to comment on this submission, you may do so by posting a reply in this thread. Thanks! Kaitlin)



Hi All,

Gypsy setting styles differ from setter to setter. What Sam Alfano and Blaine Lewis suggest is but one way
of doing the job. The method works fine as long as you have a good level of skill with a power graver.

There are also a couple of pit falls to this method. I should qualify this by saying I have used the method
but do not care for it.

When doing this type of setting, no matter what type of tool you use to burnish the stone in with.
Fit, is the prime consideration in trying to make it work. The diameter of the stone must match the hole
almost exactly. There can be no side to side movement in the seat.

How deep you cut the seat is also quite important. To deep and it become really hard to get the stone to tighten
up.

To shallow and there isn't enough to hold the stone in.

So, fit is important. You are trying to curl the edge down and over on the diamond by burnishing over.
The edge will act like a bezel wall on a very small scale. So if you think of it as very short and stiff bezel,
you will have a better idea of what your trying to do.

Why I don't like the GRS method in this case is this. A power hand piece works by sending air pulses in the
hand piece making a dent in the case of a punch. You can get stuck in that dent if your not careful.
This make an uneven job.

The other problem is the carbide punch is getting to close the hardness of the stone your trying to set.
If you get a little tired or distracted, you wind up with a chipped or slightly damage stone.

Lastly the size of the carbide punches I find a little to large in that they tend to block your view of whats
happening. You could be trying to tighten a stone that has already been turned into diamond dust.

I use shaped beaders to burnish set diamonds and coloured stones. This method is just as fast a using power,
but also has a couple of of advantages. Using the beaders tends not to have such large burnish rims that
are produce by power hand pieces. This is desirable.

The taper pressure of the beader is automatic as in push engraving. You will not see pulse marks as can
happen in power assist. You will not get stuck in a dent. Your hand should be strong enough to burnish
set without power, your not trying to push over 6 millimetres of metal.

Rim should only be a half millimetre, tops.

I hold a burnisher the way you hold a knife. I increase the angle until the stone tightens up.

This is a picture of the burnisher I use and style of handle.



I found beader handle a little short and I could get better leverage with a bottle shape handle.
I put a sanding barrel on the shank of the beader so I can choke up on the tip.



This what it looks like when I'm tightening the stone.



This is a just finished burish set ring.



There are quite a few different way of do this type of setting. Some setters use a burnisher and hold it
like a pencil. I would recommend that you learn both hand burnishing and power. That way your not stuck
with one look.

Setting is a craft where you match technique to the design. One system fits all, is rigid thinking.


Talk to ya later,
Jim