Wet Forming Around A Stone?

[picknlocks]

Hey Folks,

I could experiment and figure this out on my own in time... but I don't have a lot of time on my hands right now and wondering if any experienced artisans could give me a few simple steps and info as to how to make something like what's in the pictures.

Much appreciated.

[LilyLionLabyrinth]

I can't tell you exactly how that artisan set their stones, but I have been practicing with my own method of setting cabochons in leather lately:

I haven't done any kind of wet forming in the setting process. I am using softer leathers, rather than tooling leather, so it forms to shapes nicely already. (That necklace is about a 2-3 oz piece).

Basically, I take the cabochon I want to set, and make a pattern on paper to the shape I want it, giving a few extra mm than the cab. I make the top piece of leather the same size as the backing. I then cut out a shape in the center of the top piece of leather. I don't usually measure, but you might want to. Using a leather like this, it has some stretch to it, so you have to be sure to make the hole a fair bit smaller than the actual size of the cabochon. I basically use that tension to hold the stone in place.

I use a leather cement for the setting, that works on contact. So I coat the backing piece of the leather in it, and glue the cabochon to the leather. I don't think this would work as a long time thing, but I find letting it dry a little there helps keep the cabochon from shrinking while you try to stretch the leather over it. Then I put glue on the edges of the top piece, and stretch it over the cab, and using my fingers and clips to hold the two pieces of leather together. It can be a real challenge!

Depending on what your cabochon is made of and your brand of cement, you can clean up excess glue that gets on it while it is still wet, or scrape it gently off once it's dry.

It took me some trial and error to get the hang of it! I think if your leather is thicker and you still want to try it via wet molding, you could follow the steps above, stretch the leather over the cab while it's wet, and dry it in that shape before gluing it. But I haven't tried that.

[leatheroo]

I use a slightly different method. I complete wet the top layer and mold it around the stone using fingers and bone folder. (I am using kangaroo for the top). After it is dry, i use contact cement, completely covering top and bottom pieces and glue together again using bone folder and fingers. I always make the top and bottom much bigger than i need and trim with a head knife to correct size later. After it is dry, i use a scalpel to cut out the middle section to reveal the stone. I find the polished stones don't get marked from the scalpel and this way the hole doesn't get stretched and glue is right up to the edge. I then trim and burnish edges.

cheer

caroline

[DavidL]

try getting a wide piece of tape to cover the entire stone. try the best to draw the oval while the tape is on the stone, take the tape off place on leather and cut the hole.