FLUSH SETTING

Accuracy is key with flush setting, but as long as you take it slowly, strive to perform each step

perfectly - not forgetting to check with your jeweller’s loupe, you’ll have this setting style down

in no time at all. Be patient - you’ve got this!

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LAYING OUT THE STONES

Place the selected stones carefully on your piece using tweezers. You don’t want to scratch your work here, so do be careful. As a beginner, you’ll want to make sure your stones are at least 1.5 mm away from any other stones, but as you become more experienced, you can set them closer. Also be aware of the border soldered around the back. Ideally we don’t want any drill holes piercing that, just because it won’t look particularly pretty on the back of the pendant.

At this stage the pendant should be sanded all over to 1200 grit and preferably polished already, so all that is left to do after the stones are set is give the piece a super quick final polish. We definitely don’t want to be doing any sanding once our stones are set! Our piece isn’t polished here, otherwise the reflections will confuse our cameras!

There are as many ways to lay out stones as there are ways to bake cookies. Everyone has their own little “secret ingredients” and the methods that they find work best. I’m just going to show you a super simple way to do it for randomly placed stones.

Use a fine tipped permanent marker, such as a sharpie to nudge the stones out of the way as you make a dot directly underneath the culet of the stone. Trust your eyes here, you’ll be surprised at just how accurate they are. You’ll want to start with the stones at the top of your design here, so you don’t accidentally nudge the others as you do this.

If you find you made a mistake, a great way to wipe off the sharpie without destroying all your other marks is to use a small piece of cotton wool attached to a tooth pick and dipped in acetone to remove the ink.

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Rather than using a steel point and a chasing hammer to make indentations to guide my drill bit for drilling, I’m going to use a 1mm ball bur. The reason we do this is because we soldered a border behind our design. If we put a lot of pressure on our pendant using a hammer and punch, we will deform it.

Using the ball bur will take a little practice to get full control, but simply hold the handpiece as if it were a pen, but with your middle finger placed behind the shank of the bur - don’t worry even if the bur does touch your finger, it doesn’t hurt! Then simply set the bur rotating at a medium speed and bring it down to touch the metal for a second and make a small indentation. Your bur will want to pull backwards, your middle finger’s job is to stop it from doing that. Take a look at how I’m holding the handpiece here for full control.

USING A BALL BUR TO CREATE SMALL INDENTATIONS

THESE WILL HELP GUIDE OUR DRILL BIT LATER

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Drill Bit Ball Bur Bud Bur Setting Bur

DRILLS AND BURS

BEFORE SETTING THE STONE

Ensure that all work is complete and no further soldering is to be done. Most stones can’t withstand the heat needed for soldering and

therefore setting the stones should generally be the last process. You’ll also need to make sure that all pre-polishing work (sanding work and other abrasive based work) is complete - you don’t want

to be sanding near the stones after they are set, they could easily be scratched.

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SETTING A 1.5MM STONE

1.0mm drill bit + 1.5 - 2.0mm bud bur + 1.5mm setting bur

SETTING A 2.0MM STONE

1.0mm drill bit + 1.3mm & 1.5mm ball bur +

2.0 - 3.0mm bud bur + 2.0mm setting bur

SETTING A 2.5MM STONE

1.0mm drill bit + 1.3mm, 1.5mm & 2.0mm ball bur +

2.5 - 3.5mm bud bur + 2.5mm setting bur

SETTING A 3.0MM STONE

1.0mm drill bit + 1.3mm, 1.7mm & 2.3mm ball bur +

3.0 - 4.0mm bud bur + 3.0mm setting bur

SETTING A 4.0MM STONE

1.0mm drill bit + 1.3mm, 1.5mm, 2.0mm, 2.5 mm & 3.0mm ball bur +

4.0 - 5.0mm bud bur + 4.0mm setting bur

WHAT SIZE BURS SHOULD I USE?

The below is a guide in terms of ball burs and bud burs (we can be a little flexible here with experience). However the setting bur should ALWAYS be exactly the same size or slightly smaller than the stone. Under no circumstances should the setting bur be larger than your stone’s diameter - 1/10 of a mm larger and you’re done for! We’ll be demonstrating with a 2.5mm stone for the handout, but the same techniques apply to all sizes. Flush setting is possible with stones above 4mm, however it’s rarely done.

The aim of the game with the ball burs is to create a hole all the way through the metal that is 3/4 to 4/5 of the stone’s diameter, you’ll generally do this using ball burs in 0.5mm increments - if you try to do it in larger increments, you will most likely encounter what’s called chatter and find it very difficult to get a smooth cut. With the bud burs, you’ll notice there is a size range and not a specific size. This is because with bud burs we only drill as far as necessary, so you’ll need a bud bur that’s the same size or slightly larger than your stone.

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TABLE

GIRDLE

PAVILLION

CULET

CROWN

The round brilliant cut is by far the most often utilised cutting style for diamonds and is also highly popular with coloured stones. The standard round brilliant cut has 57 or 58 facets (depending on

whether a culet facet is present).

ANATOMY OF A ROUND BRILLIANT

DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

Culets of stones are not particularly comfortable. No matter what the fortune teller might say, you really don’t want them touching your skin! Because of the nature of flush setting, this can be hard to avoid, so thought has to be given to the design to make sure this doesn’t happen. A few solutions:

We chose to run with number 3 for our example, but as long as the culet of the stone is not touching the wearer’s skin, there are no definitive right or wrong ways to do this.

1. Use thick enough metal to ensure the stones don’t poke through the back. 2. Solder on elements to set stones in.3. Solder a border or gallery underneath.4. Dome the metal slightly.

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MEASURING THE STONESIt’s imperative to know exactly what size stones we are working with,

and for that reason I recommend purchasing a set of high quality calipers as soon as you can afford them. Never trust the size written

on the packaging, always measure yourself!

I use a pair of Mitutoyo calipers - they cost over $100 but are still working great after over 12 years. I use these to measure everything, but for now we are

going to use them to measure 2 very important dimensions of or stones.

The stone’s girdle diameter

And the stone’s depth

2.50mm

1.50mm

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HOW TO MEASURE BURSPrecision is key in most forms of stone setting, but especially so

with flush setting. For that reason we have to know the exact size of the burs we are using, so we’ll be using a pair of digital calipers to

measure the burs too.

When we are measuring our burs, its important to rotate the bur between the jaws of the caliper to get an accurate reading. Rotating the bur when it’s between the jaws of our calipers ensures we are measuring from tip to tip of the cutting edges. If we measure in between the cutting edges, we will get a reading smaller than the true measurement.

It’s exceptionally important to measure from the tip of the cutting edge to the opposite tip

Do not measure from between the cutting edges - this measurement is not accurate

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HOLDING THE DRILL

When drilling or using burs, we need to hold our flex shaft handpiece for maximum control. I prefer to use a quick change

handpiece wherever possible, as they’re lighter and more comfortable to hold, as well as being much faster to work with. The

method above will definitely take a little getting used to, but I find for me, it works best.

Hold the handpiece between your thumb and forefinger with your middle finger extended

The handpiece should be perfectly perpendicular to the metal, and not tilting sideways, forwards or backwards

The middle finger should be in contact with the work at all times - it’s basically a human drill press

Your forefinger and thumb should be bent not straight

This will not feel natural to start with, you’re using muscles you haven’t used before. You will have to fight to keep the handpiece perpendicular to the metal

To set stones successfully, a pendant motor (British) / flex shaft (American) or a micromotor is recommended. A dremel or hand

drill will struggle to provide the finesse or control needed.

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HOLDING THE WORKAlrighty lets get straight to it! We’ll demo with a 2.5mm stone, if

this is your first time flush setting, you’ll probably want to use a 2.5 or a 3mm stone. Grab yourself a piece of 1mm copper and let’s do this! Yes that’s right, grab some copper - we need to practice this before we go ahead and set our pendant! Copper also takes nicer

photographs too!!!For practicing, we are going to use 18 gauge (1mm thick) copper. You can set this directly on your bench pin if you like. I personally however, find this the most awkward way to hold work for setting.

For practicing, I prefer to cut a strip approxi-mately 7mm wide, which I will then superglue to a piece of wood, so that I can hold it securely in my GRS Benchmate or my GRS Micro Ball vice, or a regular ring clamp. To remove - just soak it in acetone.

You can also use shellac or thermo plastic on a wooden dowel to hold your work, but you’ll also want to modify your bench pin for stone setting to help with holding this.

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Using a 1.3mm ball bur, drill all the way through the metal. Repeat the process with a 1.5mm and a 2mm ball bur - drilling all the way through with each. We are aiming to have a hole, passing all the way through the metal, that is 3/4 to 4/5 the of the stone’s girdle diameter. ALWAYS USE LUBRICATION. To avoid getting uneccessary burs on the back of our work, use a very small amount of pressure when cutting through the metal with the last ball bur. If you do find you are still getting burs at the back of your holes after using the ball burs, you’ll need to turn over the piece and remove the burs before setting the stones. I generally use a ball bur about twice the size of the hole and simply twist it by hand in the back of the setting until the burs are removed.

Using a 1mm drill bit (placed in the indentation created earlier with your ball bur), drill a hole all the way through the metal - don’t forget to use lubrication!

TOP TIPIf you happen to be setting stones smaller than 2mm, then a good general rule is to use a drill half the size of the stone.

SETTING 2.5 MM STONECREATING THE PILOT HOLE

Remember to hold the drill perfectly perpendicular to the metal - unless you like broken drill bits......

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There are two reasons why we don’t just go straight to a 2mm ball bur, but instead enlarge the hole in small increments:

The 2mm ball bur simply can’t cut that much metal in one go, we have to make the hole larger in small steps. Generally I’ll do this in 0.5mm increments (except from where I use a 1.3mm ball bur after my drill bit).

By opening up the hole in small steps, we can move the hole slightly if necessary, if it wasn’t quite drilled in the perfect spot to begin with.

1.

2.

TAPERING THE PILOT HOLE

Use a 2.5 - 3.5mm bud bur to open up the hole so the stone’s girdle sits just on the surface of the metal. The key here is to drill a little and then check, drill a little and check. There is no quick solution to this, just a lot of patience. It’s imperative that you do not make the opening larger than the stone and DO NOT DRILL ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE METAL If you do make the opening too large, scrap it and move onto the next one. The only way to save this is to use a larger stone.

Do not make the opening of the tapered hole larger than the stone’s girdle diameter

There is no quick fix - drill a little with your bud bur and check by placing the stone on the opening

Be sure to keep your bur perpendicular to the metal at all times

TOP TIPTo check the fit, use a tiny piece of bees wax to pick up the tiny stones. The red wax around edam cheese also works great for this - and it’s a great excuse for some cheese!

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The setting should look like this once you have used your bud bur. The girdle of the stone is perfectly level with the top of the tapered hole.

CUTTING THE SEAT

As we are setting a 2.5mm stone, you’ll want to use a 2.5mm setting bur to cut the seat for the stone. The depth of the seat should be such that the stone’s table (the big facet on the top of the stone) is flush with the surface of the metal. When selecting a setting bur, if you can’t find the perfect size, you can use a smaller bur, but under no circumstances select a larger bur. As with using the bud bur, there is no quick solution here, simply keep cutting a little and checking.

With wider girdles such as this CZ, the stone can sit with ANY part of the girdle level with stone - there is a tiny bit of wiggle room here

Keep the bur perfectly perpendicular to the metal - this is super important if you want your stone to sit straight in the setting!

The table of the stone should be flush with, or just slightly above the surface of the metal. It should not sit below the surface.

The small shelf where the stone rests, we will call the seat.

The parallel sides of the setting are called the setting wall.

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As the stones get larger, the table of the stone will start to sit above the surface of the metal. This is because the same amount of metal is needed above the girdle of the stone to set it securely regardless of the size of the stone. You should always be able to see a little of the setting wall above the girdle of the stone - regardless of its size.

If you find the setting is too narrow for your stone, it can be enlarged by applying outward pressure with your setting bur as you move it in a circular motion around the inside of the setting. When doing this, it’s imperative to keep your bur perpendicular to the metal and cut little by little, constantly checking your progress. It can be a little confusing to begin with, knowing whether the stone isn’t sitting in the seat because the seat isn’t deep enough, or because the opening of the setting isn’t wide enough. It’s important to keep checking your progress through your loupe to see exactly what is going on in there. The simple way to know is through practice - lots and lots of practice.

For this style of setting, it is absolutely neccessary to have the stone fit very tightly into the seat. If it’s not a tight fit, you will struggle to set the stone. I have my students here in Kuala Lumpur focus first on cutting the perfect seat before even thinking about setting the stone. It works well, so if you can, try not to focus on setting the stone yet - simply cut 10 perfect seats.

Try not to get too focused on setting the stone to begin with. Spend a little time practicing cutting the perfect seat. Having the perfect seat means

that 99% of your job is done.

The parallel sides of the setting are called the setting wall.

The small shelf where the stone rests, we will call the seat.

You should be able to see a little of the setting wall above the girdle of the stone.

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Once the seat is cut to the correct depth, use a brass pusher to push directly down on the table of the stone, making sure the stone is level, sitting on it’s little seat, and fitting tightly in the setting. Here I’ll generally use my thumb nail first to see if it looks like the stone will push into place before pushing down on the brass pusher. Pushing with my thumb nail saves my sanity regularly, especially if I have my piece mounted in thermoplastic for setting - if the stone gets wedged in, but it isn’t quite right, it can be such a drama to get it out again without taking your piece out of the thermoplastic.

SETTING THE STONE

To set the stone, you are going to need a needle burnisher or a parallel sided burnisher. I generally have both of these burnishers in tool steel (to use with harder stones) and stainless steel (to use with softer stones). You can check out the Resources Section to see how to make these.

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Place the needle burnisher between the vertical setting wall and the stone. Run it around the edge of the stone, putting a little pressure in an outwards motion (not downwards!). Be careful with this part, it is easy to slip and put a nasty scratch on the metal - which isn’t so easy to get it out again!

SETTING THE STONE WITH A NEEDLE BURNISHER

Before going ahead and setting the stone, it’s a solid idea to pray a little to whichever deity you subscribe to

Hold your needle burnisher perpendicular to the surface of the metal and run it around the inside edge of the setting wall - apply outwards, not downwards pressure

By pushing outwards with our burnisher, we are moving the metal, but where are we moving it to? As with most things in life, metal will take the path of least resistance, in this case, because there is so much metal offering resistance to the side of the stone, the metal will bulge out into the tiny space between the tip of the burnisher and the stone.

Because of the shape of the burnisher, the metal just below the tip of the burnisher will bulge over the stone, securely setting it in place

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If the stone is tight in the setting, you will be able to keep your burnisher perpendicular to the metal as you set it. However, if your stone isn’t as tight as it could be, you may have to tilt your burnisher outwards slightly as you rotate it around the stone. Note in the image how my thumb on my left hand is supporting the needle burnisher - this really helps.

Keep rotating your burnisher around the edge of your stone until the stone is secure. You will notice a bright shiny rim of metal appear around your stone - if everything is done well, this is a good indication the stone is set. You can give the setting a final test however by giving it a good solid poke from the back with a brass rod.

If you have to tilt your burnisher slightly, remember to keep the tip of the burnisher always pointing towards the center of the stone - if I’m doing this, I’ll generally only burnish the area between 3 and 6 o’clock and then rotate the work.

If your stone is too loose in the setting however, you will not be able to set it. Accuracy is key for this setting.

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3

Note how the thumb on my left hand is supporting the needle burnisher - this really helps avoid slipping

Burnishing only between 3 and 6 o’clock really helps with control

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The parallel sided burnisher works in the same way as a needle burnisher - so give both a try and see which you prefer!

The stone should be seated as normal and should be tight in the setting. Hold the parallel sided burnisher with the curved tip resting on the wall of the setting .

SETTING THE STONE WITH A PARALLEL SIDED BURNISHER

Your parallel burnisher should look something like this, the sides should be parallel and the tip curved and brightly polished. This one is held in a GRS quick change handpiece, but it works just as well in a regular wooden handle

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Rotate the setting whilst adding outward pressure with the burnisher. It’s much easier here to move the setting itself rather than the burnisher. You’ll need to rotate the stone approximately 3 - 6 times whilst applying pressure with your burnisher to ensure the stone is set securely.

Give both tools a try and see which works best for you! Personally I like to use a tool steel needle burnisher on harder stones, and a stainess steel parallel sided burnisher on softer stones that might get scratched with a needle burnisher.

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CHECKING THE STONE IS SECURELY SET

Of course we can give our piece a good solid poke from the back to check if it’s set, or have a competition launching sample settings across the room to see how many stones stay put. However there are some visual clues to establish whether or not your stone is set. You’ll need to be using your loupe for this!

A round brilliant cut stone should have 8 bezel facets. When a round brilliant cut stone isn’t set, you should be able to see the bezel facets on the crown of the stone come to a point where they meet the girdle of the stone.

Bezel facets

Here you can see the facet finishes in a point where it meets the girdle

When the stone is set, because we are moving metal over the stone, the bottom of our bezel facets should be under the metal, and therefore we no longer see them come to a point. This is a good indication the stone is set.

Instead of seeing a point here, you just see a flat spot. This is where the metal has covered the point of the bezel facet

CAN YOU SEE THE POINTS ON THE STAR FACETS?

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CAN YOU SEE ANY OF THE ORIGINAL SETTING WALL?

Before the stone is set, the wall of the set-ting is still clearly visible above the stones girdle.

Once the stone is set, ABSOLUTELY NONE of the original wall is visible. Only a bright burnished surface running around the stone. If you see any of your original wall, it is likely that your stone is not securely set, and will pop out later causing you to swear a lot!

Here you can see the wall of the setting is clearly visible

Once the stone is set, you shouldn’t be able to see any of the original wall, not even a teeny bit

Dont forget to use your loupe for this!

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And believe me, to get the hang of it, flush setting does require a lot of practice. Without me being there in person to check your work every step of the way, I don’t imagine you’ll have success with the first 10 stones..... That’s no drama at all. Get yourself some copper, and practice.

But how we practice is really bloody important, there is zero point in going around in circles repeating the same mistake over and over and expecting different results.

The first thing we need to do is try….. we need to give the task our best shot, working mindfully with 100% focus through each step. And if it doesn’t work, try again, and if that doesn’t work, try again. But with each try we need to consider what we may or may not be doing wrong and make slight changes to our technique - rather than simply repeating the same steps as before and hoping things will magically work.

Flush setting is definitely one of those techniques that we don’t get the first time, especially when learning online. So what we need to do here is set one stone completely at a time. So don’t drill 5 holes and bur 5 holes and then try to set 5 stones – if you weren’t drilling the holes correctly to start with and did exactly the same thing on the following 5, then you’re pretty much in for nothing but an emotional meltdown.

One regular issue is that stones are loose in the seat and you can’t get it to set with the needle burnisher. So if you find this problem, next time try cutting a little less deep with your bud bur before continuing onto the setting bur, try this a few times and see if this helps. In another case, maybe you need to try drilling your seat a little deeper or shallower – again give it a few tries and see what happens. Only by testing these slight variations will we find what works perfectly, and not run round and round in emotionally draining circles of perpetual frustration.

Whether flush setting, saw piercing or soldering, whatever we are working on needs to be broken down into steps. We need to focus on each step, on getting that one process 100% perfect if the next step is to have a chance at success. When you’re drilling, drill a hole like it’s the only thing you have to do - to win a million pounds you only have to drill one single perfectly straight hole. When cutting a seat, view this single step exactly the same way - like it’s the only one. Strive to make each step as awesome as you possibly can. Progress may seem slower this way, but believe me it’s much better in the long run to do it the right way, rather than the fast way.

Don’t practice until you set it right, keep practicing until you don’t set it wrong!

It really is all about practice!