Hi everyone,
This newsletter features squares and marquise shapes.
I love the look and shapes of coloured gemstones.
Making a setting for a square cornered stone presents a different challenge than a round stone.
The prime reason it that it is easier to drill a round hole than a square hole.
There are methods for drilling a square holes but none applicable for the jewelry industry, as far as I am aware.
So what I did with the new tutorials in which square cornered stones feature, is to break down the methodology into simple steps, perhaps a somewhat longer path, but with guaranteed results, that the gemstones sit all at the same height and parallel to each other.
The methodology is broken down in simplied steps. It's a somewhat longer path, but with guaranteed results.
Baguette Eternity Ring Tutorial - US$25
Working with exact angles in a square design, it is important that the gems sit at the same height and parallel to each other.
Square Gemstone Cross Ring Tutorial - US$30
To complete the tutorial list, I went the other way and made a flower pendant.
I like making this type of jewelry, because the end result gives so many options.
For instance, the piece can be worn by hanging it at is shown in the picture.
Or, during construction, the jump ring can be placed on one of the marquise tips, which changes the whole look.
Or two can be made and then worn as a set of earrings.
The choice, as they say, is yours.
The center prong is shared by all three marquise gemstones. The cluster pendant is a collet with gallery work and detail filed in the backing plate.
Marquise Flower Cluster Pendant Tutorial - US$27
One of our members sent in a request for a tutorial on how to make a Georgian collet.
Quite frankly, I had never heard of this collet before.
After some internet searching, a few failed attempts to make something coherent, and the Georgian collet tutorial was born.
Not very common and certainly a challenge to make.
You can follow the free step by step tutorial on making a Georgian collet or get the pdf.
One of the tools that I have been working of for the longest time is a titanium saw frame.
And slowly I am getting to the point where I believe I have a very unique and practical product.
I road tested this saw frame extensively.
A really big advantage is that the titanium saw is super rigid, strong and very light.
For those that do not like tightening saw blades by pressing the saw frame into the sternum, this saw frame has good news.
The titanium saw frame that I'm making has a tightening nut at the top to tension the saw blade making it super easy to use.
So all one has to do is to insert and tighten the blade and then tighten the top screw for the blade to be under tension.
Here is a picture of the evolutionary process of several years.
The top left are saws that used a different methods for tensioning the saw blade.
I also developed different handles with different materials, from Delrin to nylon.
Eventually wood won out, though.
I use recycled wood from old broken wooden products, giving a new life to something that would have been discarded.
Because the saw frame is made out of titanium, it is super rigid and strong and light, weighing in at about 3 ounces ( 90 grams).
Every piercing saw that I make is going to have a different handmade handle, because if you are going to have a superb tool, it figures that the handle must also be of comparable quality.
I'm aiming for a launch of the titanium saw frame in about a month's time.
As soon as I'm ready I will send all the details.
In the meantime keep up the good work and dedication.
All the best,
Hans
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