Lentil Pendant with recessed bezel set cabochon

I wanted a pendant to match the lentil shaped earrings I had made.  I had this lovely trillion shaped larimar cabochon from Heart of Stone Studio , one of my favorite sources for gemstone cabs, and thought it would work perfectly.

 

 

 

Materials:
25 gm PMC3
PMC 3 paste
PMC3 Syringe
28 gauge 1/8" x .013" fine silver bezel wire
10 to 14mm trillion cabochon
23.5 or 24 karat gold foil for Keum Boo

Tools and Supplies:
olive oil
shaping tools: roller, cards, tissue blade, paint brushes, needle tool or craft knife, texture sheet or rubber stamp
circle drafting template
marking pen
flush cutters
round file
small paintbrush
emery boards or sanding sponges
hot plate for Keum Boo
Klyr Fire
long tweezers
deckle scissors
finishing tools: soft brass brush, burnishers or tumbler
Stone setting tools - stone pusher and curved or agate burnisher
vermiculite
fiber blanket
kiln shelf
kiln

 

  

 

 

  

First we'll make the bezel for our cabochon:

Wrap the bezel wire around the cabochon and mark at the spot where wire overlaps and clip with flush cutters.  Trim the wire a small bit at a time with the flush cutters until the bezel has a slightly loose fit around the stone.  Match the ends of the bezel wire by gently pushing the ends of the wire over and under each other until the ends square up and are held together by the tension formed in the process.  Place a small amount of PMC3 paste over the joint in the bezel and fire at 1650 degrees for 20 minutes and allow to cool.

 

 

Next let's start making the layers of our pendant:

Using the shape of the bezel as a guide, make a template for the top layer of the pendant.  Roll the PMC3 out 3 cards thick and apply texture with a lightly oiled texture sheet or rubber stamp.  Using the bezel as a cutter remove a triangular  section from the center of the piece.  Set the triangular piece on a curved surface and dry to a leather hard.  A light bulb set into a small glass works perfectly for this.  Rub a small amount of olive oil on the bulb first to keep the clay from sticking.  When the clay is dry, refine the edges with an emery board or sanding sponges and use a file to increase the size of the hole until it is approximately 12% larger than the size of the bezel. 

 


 

 Next roll and texture another piece of clay 4 cards thick and cut out a 1 3/8" circle.  Repeat for a second circle and place them on oiled light bulbs to dry.

 

 We need to flatten a spot on one of the two circles to act as a base for our bezel.  Using the triangular piece as a guide, use a pencil to mark the place where the bezel will be attached.  Use a file to flatten the curve of the lentil at this spot.

 

 Next let's put together our lentil:

Use a sanding sponge to flatten and thin the edges of the lentil halves.  Attach the halves by placing a bead of PMC3 paste to one half and running a bead of water along the edge of the other half.  Invert one half over the other and press together gently.  Allow to dry.  Fill any gap between the two halves with some PMC3 syringe.  Smooth with a damp finger and allow to dry.  Sand smooth with a sanding sponge.

 

 Now we'll attach the triangular piece and the bezel:

Run a bead of PMC3 paste around the back of the triangular piece and place some water on the area of the lentil that was filed smooth.  Invert the triangular piece over the lentil and press down gently.  Dip the edges of the bezel into PMC3 paste and center in the triangle.  Use a damp paintbrush to remove any excess paste.  Allow to dry.  Use a PMC3 syringe to fill any gap between the triangular piece and the lentil, smooth with a damp finger and allow to dry.

 

 Next we need to make a hole in our lentil for the chain to go through:

Using a pencil, make a line across the lentil about 1/3 of the way from the top.  Using a small drill bit, make a small hole at the point where the line intersects the edge of the lentil.  Use a round file to increase the size of the hole and then use the side of the file to cut small scallops out of the edge of the lentil.  Allow the lentil to dry to bone dry stage.

 

 Now it's time to fire; so let's talk about gravity....

If you were to fire your lentil laying flat on the kiln shelf, the bottom would flatten out and the top would slump.  The best way to fire a lentil is up on it's edge, with the least surface area available for gravity to act on.  I have made an enclosure for some vermiculite out of fiber blanket (there is a better picture of this on the recessed bezel earrings tutorial).  Nestle the lentil down into the vermiculite and fire at 1650 degrees for 2 hours.

 

 Now we need to check the fit of our stone in the bezel:

Lay a piece of dental floss over the bezel and insert the stone over the floss (the floss will allow you to remove the stone - you don't want it to get stuck in the bezel at this point!).  Use the floss to remove the stone and adjust the height of the bezel with a file if necessary.

 

 Next we'll add some gold Keum Boo accents:

Turn the hot plate on high and allow to preheat.  Cut the gold foil to the desired shape using deckle scissors to give an interesting rough edge to the gold. Put a small amount Klyr- Fire on the silver with a small paintbrush and position the gold foil.  Press the foil gently into the texture pattern and bend the foil down over the edges of the lentil and up onto the bezel.  Place the piece onto the hot plate and let it heat for about five minutes.  Stabilize the piece on the hot plate with a pair of long tweezers as shown. While wearing protective leather gloves, touch a burnisher to the center of the gold foil.  If the piece is hot enough the gold will immediately begin to bond to the surface of the silver. When bonding begins, burnish the foil onto the silver, working from the center out. Remove the pendant  from the hot plate and allow to cool.  

 

 

 Brush the piece with a with a wet, soapy soft brass brush.  Burnish by hand or tumble for 1 hour.  Before tumbling place a piece of thick yarn or pipe cleaners through the holes so pieces of tumbling shot do not get inside the lentil. 
Now let's set our stone:

Starting at the points of the triangle  use the bezel pusher to push the bezel wire up against and over the stone.  Keep going around the stone, pushing gently to maintain the shape.  Use a curved or agate burnisher to flatten and smooth the edge of the bezel wire against the stone.

 

Sit back and admire your work.