Laser Welded Lapis Pendant Fabricationby Steve Satow
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1. After talking with the owner of the lapis, I organized the parts necessary to make her pendant: 14 gauge 14K yellow gold wire, 16 gauge 950 Palladium wire, 14K white gold 3.5 mm straight bezel , a .15 ct rd diamond, and 1.2x.75 mm flat 14K yellow gold stock. I decided to make this with the laser because I wanted to weld the components closed tight on the lapis. |
| I traced out the profile of the lapis with a blue sharpie on an index card covered with two strips of 2 in. wide packing tape. The tape allows you to wipe off the ideas the customer doesn’t like with an alcohol wipe until they are happy with the to-scale drawing. You can also lay the stone on a color copier or scanner to make a more high tech scale model. Then cover it in clear tape to draw the proposed bails on. | |
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2. To save having to remove tool marks use nylon jawed pliers to bend your wire to fit the profile on the drawing. This will then be cut in half to form the two parts of the bail that go through the stone.
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3. The stone has tight straight wall holes. To make the bail fit, two straight sections need to be cut to go through the holes and then joined to the two curved pieces. I made these from 950 palladium to make them wear longer as they rub against the stone. Use a regular wire cutter to leave a beveled cut of approximately 45 degrees on both sides of the end of the wire. This joint can be welded from both sides, so the double beveled joints are perfect here. Weld one end at a 90 degree angle. Slip it into the hole in the stone and check the angle. |
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4. Weld the loop closed to look like this. |
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5. The welded loop is now placed through the hole and marked with a sharpie to cut to length. Leave it about 1 mm below the stone. |
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6. Place the trimmed loops through the holes and cut a piece of the flat stock and weld the back of each closed (similar to picture 9, assembly of the upper bail). Cut the pieces slightly long and file the ends to a single 45 degree angle because all the welding will be from the outside of these joints, as the back side isn’t exposed. |
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7. Use a 5 mm bur to check that the top bail will accommodate a 4 mm snake chain as you curve them around. Again use nylon jaw pliers to save clean up time. Make two matching pieces. |
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8. To make the upper bail look less bulky, file the ends to fit closer as pictured. After you’re happy with the fit remember to make extra bevels to get full laser penetration from the front and back welds. After welding make any slight adjustments to the angles you want. |
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9. Now cap off the back with flat bar stock as pictured. |
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10. The finished upper bail is now ready to have the set diamond attached. |
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11. Select a 3.5 mm loose diamond and set in a straight sided 14K white gold bezel. Polish the bezel and clean it in the ultrasonic. |
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12. Line up the head under the center of the upper bail and tack it into place. Check the position to make sure it’s straight, and then finish welding the bezel to the upper bail. |
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13. Clean up the weld seams with a knife edge pumice wheel. Polish and clean in the ultrasonic. |
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14. Align the two sides of the bottom bail to be even and centered and then place clear tape on the bottom to freeze their position. Position the upper bail in the center and press onto the tape. Once it’s all aligned straight tack it with the laser through the tape. Once it’s all tacked straight remove the tape and finish the weld. Polish with a medium stiffness ¾ inch bristle brush wheel on your flex shaft. Then final polish on the polishing machine and clean with a toothbrush with a mild detergent. DO NOT place the Lapis in the ultrasonic. Lapis is often treated with colored wax which can leach out leaving the stone looking different. Rinse and towel dry. |
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15. The finished pendant is mounted on a 14K yellow gold 4 mm snake chain and is ready to deliver to the customer. |
This article first appeared in Bench Magazine http://www.BenchMagazine.com
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