The Technique's History
Several years ago, GRS Tools president, D.J. Glaser, was at a jewelry trade show trying to set a stone as a favor for a visitor. “I didn’t have the right burs and tools for the stone size and shape,” said Glaser, “but decided to try it anyway using a different approach.”
Glaser recalls that, “...it failed miserably, but in the process something unexpected happened to the metal. It rose up and out of the surface in an interesting way.”
Later back home when he was setting a stone in thin metal, wishing the metal was thicker, D.J. says he remembered what had happened during that failed attempt and decided to use it to “thicken” the metal where he wanted to set a stone.
Now, Glaser uses this technique at times for two purposes: to thicken metal for structural reasons and for the aesthetic difference it creates. The following is a quick tutorial Glaser wrote while making a bracelet for his wife. The metal is sheet copper and the stones are orange sapphires, about 3mm.
Tools & Materials Used
- GraverMax with Magnum handpiece
- GRS MicroBlock
- Thermo-Loc (Workholding Plastic)
- E-Max NSK Micromotor System for drilling, bur work and some polishing
- GRS-Meiji zoom stereo microscope
- Various modified gravers and burs
The Design & Layout
The layout of the stones is based on the star constellation, Cassiopeia, the “W” in the night sky. Glaser chose the “Volcano” technique for this to ensure the points of the stones would not stick through the bracelet and to add visual prominence to the stones since their color is very close to the copper color.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1.
The first step is to center punch before drilling. A hard steel point is used in the GraverMax handpiece to do this with impact power.
Step 2.
A small hole, about 0.8mm, is drilled through the bracelet. It’s important to not drill too large a hole or there may not be enough metal left to form the “volcano” shape desired.
Step 3.
The drilled hole is enlarged using a tapered point (in this example the same tool used as a center punch in the first step) using impact power and some slight hand orbiting motion.
This not only enlarges the drilled hole, it begins displacing metal to the outside and in an upward direction. A close look shows this area adjacent to the tapered tool.
Step 4.
Next, using a highly modified #39 flat graver and the impact power of the Magnum handpiece, the inner metal is displaced to the outside.
To do this, this “displacing” tool is positioned inside the hole below the metal surface. Then handpiece power is applied which displaces metal upward and outward at the same time.
The workpiece is rotated and the next portion of the hole is driven outward.
This operation continues until the hole is uniformly enlarged. It’s also better to work in small increments to keep the results uniform and controllable.
Step 5.
The enlarged hole will now accept a “splitting” wedge-shaped tool made from a 3/32” square GlenSteel blank. Its function is to split the metal below the surface making further metal displacement outward much easier and more effective.
The tool is driven a little outward using impact power. Then, the work is rotated a little and this is repeated until the entire circumference is split uniformly below the surface.
Avoid driving the wedge too far; it’s better for uniform appearance to do a lot of small splits than fewer, larger ones.
This step is especially important for larger stones and/or working in harder or tougher metals. In softer metals or when setting smaller stones, this step can be skipped.
Step 6.
After the subsurface “splitting” operation, the metal is displaced further outward using a modified #43 flat graver in a similar fashion to the step above done with the smaller #39 modified flat graver.
The larger graver makes rounding the seat much more uniform than using the smaller tool. However, the larger tool takes more impact power because it’s moving more metal at once.
Step 7.
Here is a close up of the work to this point. Note that the top of the raised material is quite jagged and somewhat thin.
Step 8.
A hammer tip is used to hammer the top rim of the metal down to thicken and level it. In some situations where I have a lot of metal raised, I’ll use a file or hard rubber wheel to remove the top metal instead of hammering it down.
Step 9.
The proper size setting bur is a good gauge to check when you have sufficiently enlarged the hole and displaced the right amount of metal outward.
If the hole is too small, use the larger “displacing” tool to enlarge it sufficiently. Once this is done, use standard burs (bud burs, setting burs, etc.) to prepare the seat for the stone.
Step 11.
A hammer tip is used to set the stone by hammering the metal over it in a bezel set fashion. To avoid tipping the stone out of level, hammer a little on opposite sides in several steps and check the stone for level before it’s fully tight.
Final Notes from D.J. Glaser
For most jobs, I recommend polishing the metal before starting to set the stones — much more than I did in this example. In this tutorial, a brightly polished bracelet would have really complicated the photography, so I did not polish it. However, polishing around the "volcanos" is more difficult, so do as much as you can before forming them.
For many years after my dad gave instructional demos, he used to say two things: First, he would tell the audience that this is how he does it today, but since he’s always looking for a better way, it’s likely he will change some of the tools or techniques in the future. And second, he would say, “do it like I just showed you — only better” and invite the audience to let him know if they find a better way.
Those comments seem entirely appropriate for me to continue. I welcome any pertinent suggestions and discoveries from you hand artisans world-wide.
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