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This is a short tutorial on how to make
a six claw traditional collet without any jig or plaster of
Paris and wax. In this one the photo's were taken on my bench
and are 'as is' :) In the 'old days' I used to make
collets only like this. Then along came the supply
companies, and the art has much disappeared This, then, is
also an indication of my age :).
First as always, you start off with
annealed wire, about .7 to 1mm in diameter, depending on the
stone size.
I cut three pieces about 30 to 40mm long and I mark the
center with a divider.
Then I file on the mark I made with a 3 corner file nearly
through. Never mind the swarf...
And I bend them so that the are
exactly the same as the divider was when I marked the
half of my wires. Remember: The circumference of a
circle is six times the radius of that circle. Once I have
all three of my wire bent equally, I solder each wire...
I put them so they are all equal and then--
solder them together. Notice that I have marked the "spider"
with my divider more or less at the black dots. This is to
get the exact bending mark, as the next picture will show.
Now, one thing. The distance from the centre of the spider to the black
spots is determined by two things.
The first is the size
of the stone the collet is being made for, and the second is
the height that the stone will be set. But as a rule of
thumb, the marks will be about one and a half to two times
the diameter of the stone. This becomes apparent
in the next few pictures.
I take a parallel jaw pliers and half bend the wires on the
'black' spots that I marked with my dividers in the previous
picture.
Then I bend them all the way with a set of flat nosed
pliers. Now is the time to get then all nicely equal and
parallel. So now you can see, if you exceed two times the
diameter of the stone the collet will be more shallow, and
thus will sit lower in the ring. This will all be determined
by the design of the ring.
Once the wires are all nice
and neat,they get soldered with hard solder.
And the top is cut off like this.
With a front end cutter. Sawing is not recommended, because
if the blade hooks, it will bend the claw out of line and
then the collet is ruined.
The stone should fit in at
about this heght.
Then I make a jump ring about the size in proportion to the
stone as in the picture. I polish it. Then I cut with a
setting burr (hart) a groove so that the jump ring "clicks"
in. This is not easy at first, because you have to get the
grooves level, otherwise your jump ring will not be level,
and at the right height, because otherwise your stone will
be to big or small for your collet. Also, unlike the picture
I also polish the 'open' collet and remove the swarf. Then I
click the jump ring in and solder it.
Like this. I will use a
conical frazer to burr out the jump ring, so that the stone
fits snugly.
To finish the bottom of the
collet I use a sanding disk or file to cut away the original
solder joint and then use a ball frazer to bur out the claws
as shown. Care must be taken the the ball frazer goes not
hook, because if it does, the claws will be bent and
the collet ruined. Unless, of course you like skew collets:)
A jump ring is made and
soldered in as shown. Note: first the swarf must be removed.
After soldering, the jump ring is re-drilled so that the
hole in the center is neat. The reason I am not to fussed
that the hole is not perfect, as in the picture, is because
often the solder will run wrong and screw it up anyway. Best
to fix it last.
This is then the collet, ready
for soldering into the shank. This shank was the customers,
as was the diamond.
The ring ready for setting.
Also follow the
Jewelry Tutorial on Wire Making
If you have any questions or wish to be notified of any new
tutorials that are posted, email me at hansmeevis.tutorials@gmail.com
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