030
14 May 2024
This week is all about the collet and it is quite the lengthy process. First you mark the centre lines with a circle grid template or tool, then you saw a groove into the lines, followed by filing with a triangle needle file and using a fissure bur that will fit the width of the wire.
Afterwards, you can saw off the middle section, but only halfway through so the top and the bottom of the collet are still attached. Then use hard solder to solder 2 wires on, and only then do you saw off the rest of the middle section off. File and smooth out the middle section, and finally solder the 2 remaining wires. At last, the form of the ring setting is coming together.
When you roll out the swage band and hammer it on the ring mandrel, the size of the ring increased quite a bit. So I cut and resized the ring once more.
This week’s wrap up:
• Used Erin’s handheld circle grid pattern tool that I can’t seem to find online
• Pleasantly surprised that the soldering process went smoothly and nothing fell out or melted as I progressed