Question about bling on wooden rings

[Steve Paxman]

The other day, I made this:

http://scontent-b.cdninstagram.com/h...50821612_n.jpg

It's done in the bentwood style (with wrapped veneer), maple on the inside, mahogany on the outside.

Now I'm thinking it might be nice to add a couple of cubic zirconia stones to it. I got a small handful of them from ebay for just a couple of dollars, round ones, about 3mm in diameter.

So, how should I mount them? Just drill a couple of indentations and glue them in? How deep should they sit in the wood? And what glue should I use? CA glue, or 5 minute epoxy?

And of course, any idea how to get those suckers lined up in a hole so they sit even, and not crooked? They are tiny, and I don't have jeweler's tweezers.

Thanks for any help you can give! I love this place.

[Scott Lux]

It's a great ring, sure doesn't need bling. But if you're going to add some, definitely go with the epoxy.

Keep them as close to flush with the surface of the wood as possible. Rings take a lot of abuse, and the stones will get knocked out otherwise.

The easiest way to set them may be to put the stone face down on the table and roll the ring (with a tiny dab of epoxy in the hole) over it. Hold for a moment to let the glue grab, then stand it upright and let it cure. You can only do one at a time this way, but it should work.

Now the bad news. Stones like cz get dark when the bottom is covered. That's why most jewelry has the stones mounted up higher with prongs to keep them in. You'll still get some flash, but it won't be as dramatic as a higher setting.

[Steve Paxman]

Very good point about the covered bottom of the stone making it less flashy. Maybe I'll try it in some scrap piece first and see how it looks. It turns out that small cz are very cheap on ebay!

[John Keeton]

Nice work on the ring. Haven't tried this before, but one might use a prong setting. Here is a link to some sterling settings - http://www.halsteadbead.com/Shopping...untings/Prong/

You could easily remove the chain loop from them and set the stones. Then glue them in the ring in holes sized for the setting. Just a thought.