ok, so this has been nagging at my mind for longer than i can remember, how would i go about embeding a jewel in the pommel of a sword?

You generally need to work with a malleable material, and make a cup, then peen the edge over the gem gently, or glue it in (not my choice)

Agreed. Also, to make things easier, you can draw out the gem settings as you're making the cup. For example...

Note how the diamond is being held to the ring in this image. See how those "arms" are folded over the outermost lip of the diamond? These "arms are first created straight. Then when the diamond is placed in the setting, the "arms" are folded over. It would actually be easier to set gemstones in a sword pommel, as you have a lot more metal to work with.

My two cents...


Copyrighted photo removed and a link put into the text.

and generally the setting is going to be from a more maleiable material (silver,gold ect) i done a little of this for some daggers .. i had a silver pommel cast with a depression cast in for thhe gemstone ... traded with a jeweler to have him set the stone (you can break it if your not careful) good luck!

If you gonna make hollow or semi hollow disc pommel,then fitting the stone can be much easier.In the past pommels with cavities were sort of reliquaries,with piece of shroud or wood behind stone,mostly crystal.This was the ,,A" side of weapon,more visible to onlookers.How to make such pommel is story longer than any thread,so get your hands on books of late genius Ewart Oakeshott,good luck.

geeze...just solder on a bezel and set the stone...it's not that hard people.....a bezel is a very thinn piece of sheet metal..usualy copper, silver or gold and you roll it over the edge of the stone...usually the stone is backed by sawdust and that covered by foil to give a reflective surface so the stone isn't too "dark" in appearence...

JPH

Hey Guys,

Here is a link for setting gems, and shows how to make a bezel, etc.

[Ganoksin] Jewelry Making - Stone Settings - Theory and Practice of Goldsmithing -

It doesn't look like it would be that difficult for most of the people on this forum.

I personally am not ready for this yet, but I am years behind most of you.

Hope this helps,

kevin

You could create prongs on a sturdy base, solder or preferably fusion weld the unit onto the butt of the pommel, then set the gem and fuse a small security ring (L shaped in cross section) onto the area of the prongs near the apex of the bend on the arm itself to hold the gem's girdle....in effect, this is a basket mount. A fancier method of securing the basket would be to create prongs that a re long enough to meet in the middle and turn up..., file them so the ceosssection of each is wedge shaped, clench them together, thread with a tap and die tool, then set a drilled metal ball of softer alloy onto the "screw" and use it as a nut....both methods were actually used on ceremonial blades...rarely were "gems" set into functional blades except on the hilt or sides of the quillions and even then, usually glass gems...ancient Gallic slashing long Blades show this, e.g..

The other thing that you could do is to melt crushed glass into a hole in the steel. Use a punch to make the hole so that it will be tapered fill with coloured glass and work it with a rosebud tip.