Wire Prongs with Gallery

Lesson: Wire Prongs with Gallery- good for cabochons, faceted stones, stones you want lifted off the surface and set with prongs rather than a bezel, but the bottom part protected like a bezel.    

• Create a seat for the stone to sit on top of- just like the inside part of a seated bezel. The stone should sit evenly on top of the seat and the outer edge of the seat should be even with the outer edge of the stone.
• Mark where you want the prongs to go on the seat.
• Use your round needle file, flexshaft, or graver to carve a shallow channel up your seat. This will help anchor the wire while soldering
• Cut wire and form into a U shape.
• Fit U over the seat so that the 2 arms of the U form the prongs.
• Solder wire into place
• Clip off excess wire, file, sand.
• Do any additional soldering at this point.

To set:

• For a cabochon, clip off prongs to appropriate height. Use a cup bur to round off the ends. Push into place with a prong pusher.
• For a faceted stone, mark where the prongs touch the girdle. Clip off the prongs to correct height and use a cup bur to round off the ends. Using a hart bur, cut a groove about 20-30% of the way through each prong where your mark is.
• Use prong pusher or nylon-jaw pliers to push tips of prongs over stone.