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Sticky Wax Snake to Hold Stones While Setting

A tip from @knotandsplice on pressing a rolled snake of sticky wax over a stone to keep it straight during prong or flush setting.

Posted about 4 years ago • 1,582 likes • 36 comments
Here is a stonesetting tip from @knotandsplice - โ€œSetting snake: an easy way to keep stones in place, especially on heavier settings or when working with faceted stones.

1) Start out with a bit of wax. You can use bees wax, but I used Kate Wolfโ€™s Wicked Sticky wax. It is really sticky and will hold in place. You can also use it for grabbing stones while you work. Bees wax works fine, too.

2) Pinch off a piece of wax and roll it into a โ€œsnakeโ€

3) straighten your stone in the setting and lay it over top the stone and setting. Press down on the wax snake to really hold the stone in place.

4) stones often will try to shift a bit when doing prong settings or even larger flush settings. This will help hold your stone in place for hammer setting especially. It really helps me save some time and just focus on the setting part without having to readjust my stone too much. Once the stone is secure and the setting is holding it better, you can remove the wax and keep tightening your setting.

I hope that helped someone! ๐Ÿ’›โ€ Thank you so much Nicole this is a fantastic tip!! ๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿ™Œ Nicole sent this tip to me over at tips@metalsmithsociety.com Iโ€™d love to feature your tip so please email me! #stonesetting #goldsmith #stonesettingtips #jeweler #jewellerytips