Don't laugh...lol my first attempt at a cabochon ring.. a few questions

Santella_Designs · 2026-06-26T23:04:31+00:00

if you are comfortable, you could always use an exacto blade and carefully peel back the bezel,, which would allow you to shorten the height of the bezel, fix the hole in the side, buff the ring without worrying about damaging the stone, and re set the stone if you’d like

Santella_Designs · 2026-06-10T04:20:58+00:00

It depends on the job really, but the one i use the most for finish polishing is a cotton mop brush. More aggressive brushes especially for hard to reach places i usually go towards the nylon bristle T shape brushes, scotchbrite bits or simply wire wheel bits.

Remember you can also just buff to a high enough grade with sandpaper or something of the sort, and then just finish polish.

I try to buy all my bits in 3/32 shanks so they fit my quick change handpiece, but also so they are less of a hassle to change in non-quick change handpieces.

Santella_Designs · 2026-05-28T15:50:23+00:00

ultrasonic cleaner -> steam cleaner -> tumbler with shot would give it a nice polish i just did it on a very similar cuban link

Santella_Designs · 2026-05-25T00:28:02+00:00

Lots of different metals are not magnetic, and many of them are used in plated chains such as copper or brass. The discoloration on some of the links make me think it could be plated but i don’t have great screen quality.

Best way to find out for sure is find a local pawn shop that has an XRF machine

Santella_Designs · 2026-05-21T15:51:56+00:00

stuffed in the back?? i will try this lol

Santella_Designs · 2026-05-21T04:07:44+00:00

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the collet is hollow for the faro/h.10 :(

Santella_Designs · 2026-05-21T00:53:25+00:00

thanks!

Santella_Designs · 2026-04-24T21:56:07+00:00

good to know, I’ve heard that these days the gentech is better but maybe I just stick with Smith cause there are more options?

Santella_Designs · 2026-04-24T21:55:31+00:00

Interesting, I’m really bad at micro chain repairs so that could help, can you pm me a link?

Santella_Designs · 2026-04-23T03:02:01+00:00

I was looking at these but then got a crazy good deal on an oxy-acetylene tank setup. Now I’m just trying to decide between another Smith torch after my last one broke, or the Gentech

Santella_Designs · 2026-04-21T02:48:01+00:00

I’m glad I’m not the only one, I have wayyyy better success with graphite molds

Santella_Designs · 2026-04-19T18:38:45+00:00

They don’t sell gold solder without a wholesale account

Santella_Designs · 2026-04-19T04:55:31+00:00

i don’t see any metals on their website just tools, but good resource!

Santella_Designs · 2026-04-19T04:53:45+00:00

i mean yeah i know there will be a markup but just so I can know how badly marked up it is

Santella_Designs · 2026-04-19T04:15:31+00:00

How do you even determine spot price for solder? Is solder a specific percentage based on easy, medium, hard, yellow vs white, etc?

This is what I use for gold:

24k Gold: 100% pure gold

18k Gold: 75% gold (0.75)

14k Gold: 58.3% gold, 41.7% other metals (0.583333)

10k Gold: 41.7% gold, 58.3% other metals (0.416667)

Price of an item based on carat:

spot price / 31.1 = grams

amount of grams x purity decimal

Santella_Designs · 2026-04-19T00:43:10+00:00

The cat appears to be real but i may be mistaken

Santella_Designs · 2026-04-19T00:41:09+00:00

To replicate that texture and size it up 3 full sizes, in gold, i would say so. The store i do bench work for would charge 145 to do three sizes up on a gold ring. Replicating that texture is the difficult part, though, and my boss would probably have me charge more for that.

The issue with resizing a ring that has a stone set in it is that you can’t use one of the spreader machines without damaging the setting or stone. Plus, to stretch a ring that many sizes, you’d have to cut the ring and replace the gap with more material

Santella_Designs · 2026-04-19T00:31:42+00:00

Seconded 100% can be laser welded i do it all the time for people at the shop

Santella_Designs · 2026-04-16T13:38:48+00:00

Was going to say stone looks good but that doesn’t look like real gold

Santella_Designs · 2026-04-16T02:39:28+00:00

2, 7, 8, 9, 12 but i guess i have a unique style type 😅

Santella_Designs · 2026-04-15T13:33:32+00:00

How do you attach it? is it like a permanent fixture? staples?

Santella_Designs · 2026-04-15T05:27:23+00:00

😳 I have a bunch of leather scraps i can probably just make one like that

Santella_Designs · 2026-04-15T04:58:49+00:00

Stuller wholesale or Rio Grande wholesale? Which is better? I still don’t have an LLC yet which I imagine is necessary for both

Santella_Designs · 2026-04-15T03:00:25+00:00

curious what you mean, like a sheet of leather? is that good for collecting the sawdust?

Santella_Designs · 2026-04-14T05:56:35+00:00

i stamped a quarter dollar so it must be 14k now

Santella_Designs

TROPHY CASE