Wax bonding is often synonymous with problems for beginners.

Your stones may have come off during work, you want to improve your technique, or you are simply curious to learn.

This article should interest you; it describes the important points to follow for a strong and durable bond.

Advantages of the method

Bonding is fast, and work can start immediately.

Removing the stone from the dop takes only a few seconds.

This method is inexpensive: lapidary wax sells for a few euros per kg.

For recutting, repolishing, or other work, the wax allows adjustment of the stone's centering.

Disadvantages of the method

Technique is difficult to master at first.

Hot wax can burn your fingers.

If all bonding steps are not followed, the stone may come off during cutting (wax breakage).

Risks of "shifts" exist (stone moving on the dop, loss of symmetry): stone heating during polishing, dop transfer poorly controlled.

Using high-temperature wax is preferable: higher melting point, therefore less risk of shift.

When bonding with wax, do not forget to warm the stone, otherwise it will not adhere properly to the dop → beware of heat-sensitive stones.

The amount of wax between the stone and the dop should not be too thick. The stone would then be too far from the dop, making the bond fragile.

The finger pressure applied by the lapidary should be on the stone and not on the dop.

Of course, combining these three factors is like an explosive cocktail.

Here is a schematic explaining finger pressure during cutting:

When heating the dop, we work by transferring heat from the dop to the wax.

To better control heating temperature, it is preferable to tilt the dop so that heat dissipates opposite to the direction of the stone. Explanatory diagram:

The diagram exaggerates the tilt of the dop: if it is too tilted, the heat will reach your fingers faster than the wax, so adjust carefully. A few trials, and the gesture will be quickly acquired.

Reminder: the gem to be bonded must also be warmed before being placed in wax to prevent it from dissipating too much heat: otherwise it will not adhere to the wax.

The last point to cover in this article is the setting of the gem in the wax.

Once the stone is bonded, it is preferable to push the wax that has flowed along the dop upwards to form a nice regular cushion around your rough or stone to be recut.

When you feel the wax is in place, it will be necessary to heat it again so that the parts folded over the stone adhere well to it.

This way, you will have a strong bond that allows safe work.

Example of a well-bonded stone:

In this article, you have probably understood that wax bonding involves some important steps not to be neglected.

It requires practice to master all the parameters: controlling heat (without burning yourself), ensuring proper setting, heating the stone (but not too much) so that it adheres to the wax, centering the stone, etc.

Note that I have not addressed the concept of "dop transfer" to wax, which could be the subject of another article.

I hope your bonding will be easier in the future, and I wish you beautiful cuts behind your workbenches.