Pictorial: How To Make a Custom Mother's Pendant - Part 1

To keep my mind off a toothache, I present to you: How to Make A Custom Mother's Pendant - Part 1 - Making the Bezel Settings.

Step One: Choose your pretties.

This custom pendant will use 8mm round moonstone, citrine, and simulated sapphire cabochons.

Step Two: Snip, snip, snip your bezel wire to the correct height.

My strip was way too wide for these stones, so I trimmed it.

Step Three: Mark the length of bezel strip you need for each stone.

Step Four: Cut to length.

Flush cutters save on cleanup time.

Step Five: File the edges to make a perfect seam to solder.

Step Six: Seeee?? (No gap)

Step Seven: Flux and solder.

(click photo for solder tips)

Step Eight: Pickle.

Step Nine: Round and enlarge bezel if neccesary.

Should just fit over stone, but not too tightly.

Step Ten: Cleanup.

I like to do a little bezel cleanup at this stage.

Step Eleven: Sand bezel to correct height.

Figure-8 motion helps keep the height uniform.

Step Twelve: Repeat previous steps for additional bezels.

(Picture taken PRE-sanding)

Stay tuned for part two, to be completed after I get a dentist's appointment :)