I am trying to track down what the technique used in the following photo is.  It would seem to be some type of melted metal (assume silver) and I would like to use it to set some of my finer stones since wrapping would hide much of their beauty.

Please help and apologies, if this is posted in the wrong area.

oooh, a pool of silver melted around a stone, that sounds nice. there are no photos... 

 Hmm, there's a pic in my message - you can't see it?

Here's the direct link:

http://www.mandarava.com/a4grph/wgph/w_graphics/wan107.JPG

Sounds nice, but still can't see it - the link just comes up 'can't be found'

 Looks like they moved the link.  How's this?

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h311/scalawaggirl/Sacred%20Soul%20Designs/Miscellaneous/wan107.jpg

 Also found out it's silver plate over some other metal but no clue as which one or how it's done.  Thanks, everyone!

 just a guess - electroplate?

 Hi,

I think, or I'm really sure, that the metal piece is made in injection molding. The stones are glued in later.

Edmund

www.emailkunst.de 

 I should have said electroform - see if anything comes up with Google.

I'm just guessing here, but it looks like the sort of soft solder used in stained glass. You know, the kind you use a soldering iron with?

That could probably be melted around the stones (which that looks like), and then textured like in your photo. Then plated to make it shiny? I'm not sure, but it's fun to guess. 

Let us know if you ever decipher the code! 

~Addie~ 

Addie, you're right on!  I finally tracked it down and it IS lead-free solder in a silver finish that can be polished for a higher gleam. :)  No electroplate necessary.  Voila!

Thanks for everyone's assistance.  Guess what I'm going to be doing in a few weeks?  Learning how to use a soldering iron.  LOL

You could most likely  do the same thing with lost wax casting. Start with a wax model and make a setting area for each of the stones and have several small prongs for later holding the cabochons in place. The long prongs that are shown in the picture holding the big crystals would be slightly spread out before casting. After casting in gold or silver the prongs would all be bent in to hold the stones and crystal in place. This would be an indirect method of casting the stones in metal.

 That was a good guess, Addie!!!

TIX and STA-BRITE are tin based solders with a small amount of silver in the alloy that can be used to make items like this. They are both low temperature "soft solders" that can be used with a soldering rgun or iron.

Many rock shops,  jewelry supply places and some big-box hardware stores sell one or the other of these solders. We carry STA-BRITE at RIngs & Things but you can usually find it locally. The material is very similar to lead -free pewter.

 Galadriel,

 Why not just ask us?  Ok, ok it took quite a number of tries to perfect the technique, so WizardSteve isn't going to disclose it that easily.  However, just a word of warning--if you're going to use a soldering iron, remember that overheating your amethyst will turn it brown.  And if you are going to try solder (and I'm not saying that's the secret), do make sure it doesn't have any lead in it!

Also--we really appreciate that you did not hot-link to our wand photo--we have a real problem with that, since it uses up our website bandwidth.  But don't ever be afraid to ask us for permission to use our copy-written photos.  We usually do give permission, as long as it's not being used against us by a competitor.

 And if you need tumbled stones or cabochons for your creations, just contact us at Mandarava.com.  We have thousands of pounds of raw cutting material, tumbled stones, cabochons, etc., mostly "old stock" from my retired parents lapidary supply store. 

 Thanks.

Padme at Mandarava.com