Learning, learning, learning.
What did I learn this time?
-I can probably decide the bezel height according to the lowest facet edge, rather than the curve of the stone.
-Have patience- let the liver of sulphur do it's thing.
-When soldering a bezel to a large backplate, you need to heat the shit out of the backplate and go easy on the bezel in order to evenly heat so the solder will flow.
It took me something like six tries to get the bezel soldered onto the backplate. It's amazing I didn't melt anything. Getting bezels soldered onto their backplates is where I really struggle. I can't seem to get everything heated evenly and keep the solder in place long enough to melt into the right spot.
It seems it's a matter of practice and developing muscle memory and multi-tasking abilities with the torch and the pick. It reminds me of when I was a horseback rider... all the bits of my body had a role to play in getting the 1000-lb animal to do exactly what I wanted. Eventually some of those roles became muscle memory so my brain could concentrate on more complicated maneuvers, or navigating the route, the obstacle, etc.
So I have to take a deep breath and remember that it's a learning process. I felt like I wanted to have a temper tantrum after the third try, but took a break instead. Eventually I got it a soldered together. It wasn't pretty by any means, but it came together enough to hold the stone.
This was also my first time leaving a bit of a border around the bezel rather than filing and sanding the backplate flush. I wanted to oxidize it to black for a cool contrast with the pretty pink stone and the gold-toned brass bezel.
I also decided to go with a rough hammered thick band for the shank and oxidized it, sanding off the high parts to get a cool texture. Maybe not the best design decision but I was really in experiment mode since I wasn't sure the bezel would hold all that well anyway.
I didn't wait long enough for the oxidization as I am impatient and liver of sulphur stinks to high heaven so I was eager to get it cleaned up. As a result, the bits that are supposed to be nice and black are kind-of a half-assed brown-black. I may end up re-doing it.
This was also my first time setting a stone with facets. They're big, chunky facets (I love them, it's why I bought these stones- there are two more of these) and I don't think I gave quite enough thought to how exactly was the best way to set.
You can see in the photo that there are some wee wrinkles in the bezel where the faceting meant I had to push it quite far. I'm not sure, but I think I could have made the bezel much shorter, going by the lowest edge of the lowest facet... maybe? I have a couple more of these stones so I will try this theory and report back.
In any case this ring looks neat, and it was certainly a learning experience. After all that and despite it's many many flaws, it still looks pretty cool on the hand!
If you've made it this far into this post, thanks for sticking around! There's plenty more where this came from as I'm working and learning this stuff every day now so check back often!
Peace & Love
Caitycat
