Vince:
Although I don't have a lot of experience setting stones in enamel, I do have a lot of experience setting disparate materials in metal that cannot be soldered.
The best way to do what you want to do is to make a mechanical holding for the bezel or
... moreVince:
Although I don't have a lot of experience setting stones in enamel, I do have a lot of experience setting disparate materials in metal that cannot be soldered.
The best way to do what you want to do is to make a mechanical holding for the bezel or prong. The easiest ways are to use either rivets or screws.
Since enamels are repeatedly fired, any finding (prong or bezel) needs to have no solder on it. You need to either make or buy findings that fit this requirement. You would also need to have a bottom on the finding to be able to drill through it and either rivet or screw it to the enameled piece. You would probably want to do this before you start enameling, since you run the risk of cracking the enamel if you did it after.
I bought a miniature tap and die set to make my own screws, and using this process requires soldering either the male or female side to bezel, so it would only be appropriate to use after you are done enameling.
Some people use IT solder, I just never had good luck with it; under repeated firings mine flowed. There are examples here https://picasaweb.google.com/deborahkirkpatrick56/CreatingTheMadonna# of using a split rivet and a threaded screw to hold an enameled piece to stone and gemstones to an enameled frame.
I have scoured jewelry books for construction techniques to solve the kind of problems that you're inquiring about without a lot of luck. The only solutions that I've found are these type of mechanical joins. That's why I put the "Making of the Madonna" on my picasa page, to maybe help other people.
Debbie Kirkpatrick
less