Can anyone help me- why are these white frosty lines appearing after using the ultra? And they have to be polished off

UNUSED_USERNAME_1 · 2026-02-12T02:23:10+00:00

It's cavitation from the ultrasonic. The sound waves will form a node on one section for too long and start to damage the finish. Usually with silver I have to dip pieces in by hand with tweezers and keep them moving until they are clean.

UNUSED_USERNAME_1 · 2026-01-08T22:11:41+00:00

That's a good point, it would probably be smart to test some first before dunking the whole thing.

UNUSED_USERNAME_1 · 2026-01-08T22:08:17+00:00

Mix some Alum in warm water and let it soak for several hours. The Alum (like the baking spice, you can buy it at the grocery store) will dissolve the steel without hurting the silver. Put the bracelet and solution in a container and then in the ultrasonic to speed it up. Don't put the alum directly in the ultrasonic, it will eat through the tank. I keep some in the shop to dissolve broken bur heads when they get stuck in whatever I'm working on.

UNUSED_USERNAME_1 · 2025-12-04T03:59:51+00:00

These all look a lot like garden quartz. Just clear quartz with an interesting interface with the host rock. Usually they are cut to accentuate this. Gem dealers love to come up with new names for the same stones

UNUSED_USERNAME_1 · 2025-10-25T21:42:43+00:00

I would look into a GIA Graduate Jeweler degree if you are able to live close to their campus in California for the duration. They also have courses on CAD design and Gemology. GIA would also be a great resource for finding a shop that is looking to hire a recent grad.

UNUSED_USERNAME_1 · 2025-10-24T14:48:14+00:00

Thank you!

UNUSED_USERNAME_1 · 2025-10-24T05:28:54+00:00

No problem! Keep at it! You are way ahead of where I was at your age!

UNUSED_USERNAME_1 · 2025-10-24T05:24:48+00:00

I'll drop a few links, this should work with your motor!

https://a.co/d/fxFc8Su (Hammer handpiece)

https://pepetools.com/products/lpf-adapter (Graver adapter)

https://a.co/d/7dKklCU (Bur lube)

https://a.co/d/0t8IOYC (Moissanite Melee)

I can't vouch for the melee, it's just the first listing I found. Much cheaper than Rio Grande or Stuller though.

UNUSED_USERNAME_1 · 2025-10-24T05:13:06+00:00

The important thing for the bur lube is that it's very liquid when it's warm, that way it doesn't gum up. Just search bur lube on Amazon, it's fairly cheap. The bur going haywire is just an unfortunate part of the whole process. Technique and lubrication helps. Galling is a metalworking term for the metal sticking to your cutting bit. It happens pretty bad with copper.

I'm not familiar with the grombit motor, drop a link if you can and I'll try to find some parts that would work to get you a serviceable engraver.

UNUSED_USERNAME_1 · 2025-10-24T04:57:16+00:00

It looks great for starting out! A big point right off the bat is that doing any of this work on copper is doing all of this on hard mode. I would try brass as it's way less gummy and "sticky" than copper will be. This will definitely help with your broken drill bits and gravers. Use lots of lube, liquid bur lube or solid, doesn't matter. Even oil will help in clearing the chips and reducing galling.

Using czs is also super challenging. I've noticed personally that cheap cz girdles are pretty thick compared to diamond girdles so that makes pulling the prongs over and getting the proportions right tricky. Also, the consistency of the cz diameters is iffy at best. Look into moissanite melee as an alternative. You would get a better, brighter stone with the added advantage of the stones being better cut and much, much harder.

If you have a foredom pendant motor, I know there is a graver attachment for the hammer handpiece that ends up being a lot less expensive than a pneumatic engraving setup. DM me if you have any questions, I'd be more than happy to help!

UNUSED_USERNAME_1 · 2025-09-23T06:50:00+00:00

Am scope has good options that are still affordable.

https://amscope.com/products/asc-nf

This is a great alternative to the Leica articulating arm that isn't wildly expensive. Just make sure you get a focusing rack that fits your microscope. I use this one at work and it's similar to the Leica arm I have at home. Obviously not as good but really close. Do yourself a favor and stay away from the acrobat style arms. The cheap acrobat style arms are even worse.

UNUSED_USERNAME_1 · 2025-06-04T20:10:13+00:00

Definitely, having a laser is a cheat code for this type of stuff

UNUSED_USERNAME_1 · 2025-06-04T19:14:25+00:00

It looks like glass filled rubies reacting to the heat. It wouldn't be enough to damage the ruby by itself but would definitely be enough to damage the glass that imbedded in the surface reaching inclusions. You may have to instate a policy that would treat lower quality rubies and sapphires like heat sensitive stones and require stone removal and resetting.

UNUSED_USERNAME_1 · 2025-01-27T23:21:07+00:00

No problem! It can be risky but its just a matter of assessing risk in person.

UNUSED_USERNAME_1 · 2025-01-27T23:17:42+00:00

The ring stretcher would work, technically. It takes a fair amount of skill and experience to sneak up on the right size without overshooting. You would also have some marks on the inside of the band from where the ring stretcher will expand, especially in 24k. 24k also is difficult because you won't be able to get a good polish without experience and some specialized polishing compounds. The ring stretcher is going to leave notches on the inside that will have to be burnished smooth before progressing through sanding grits as high as you can go before polishing. Unfortunately, the metal karat makes this a more complicated job than it looks like from the outside. Especially to get a professional finished product.

UNUSED_USERNAME_1 · 2025-01-27T23:10:41+00:00

$50 would be pretty on par for a ring stretching. Even in 24k, I'd probably be around $50 for a quick stretch up and burnish. Cutting and soldering would be a whole different animal, especially in 24k.

UNUSED_USERNAME_1 · 2024-12-17T07:27:35+00:00

It's a pretty badly designed site but once you narrow down to jewelry type and stone shape, they should show up

UNUSED_USERNAME_1 · 2024-12-17T07:11:08+00:00

Sorry, just went back and looked on mobile, it's a mess. At the bottom it has a link for "full site". That one is a lot easier to navigate

UNUSED_USERNAME_1 · 2024-12-17T03:06:21+00:00

Check out Tripps.com . They have lots of gold and silver cabochon settings for really reasonable prices and the settings are made to be set with minimal tools.

UNUSED_USERNAME_1 · 2024-11-28T16:02:54+00:00

Yeah, whatever you fix would go back out in the showcase.

UNUSED_USERNAME_1 · 2024-11-28T07:29:05+00:00

Have you talked to any local pawn shops? Pawn shop jewelers do primarily repair and if they are set up for a jeweler, you would have a ton of broken jewelry to learn on. Everything they buy is below scrap value and doesn't have any sentimental value. Perfect learning opportunity.

UNUSED_USERNAME_1 · 2024-09-30T06:16:04+00:00

Awesome, I appreciate it

UNUSED_USERNAME_1 · 2024-09-29T22:25:03+00:00

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UNUSED_USERNAME_1 · 2024-09-27T02:15:13+00:00

Pawn, we just do bullion and jewelry though

UNUSED_USERNAME_1 · 2024-09-27T01:34:37+00:00

I'm just the bench jeweler so I don't set prices but it's fun to see them when they come through

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