The first piece of solder constructed jewellery I made was a simple sterling silver band ring in college.
Raised hearts linked by love surround a pair of spinning 14kt gold plated bands in our ‘Heart to Heart’ ring. How big of a flame will you need? Sterling silver wide band rings for women plain Using a flat hand file, file the edge down to the score mark image
It is also the first project I give to my beginner students. It touches on most of the basics of solder constructed jewellery making: shaping, filing, sawing, fitting joints, soldering and finishing.
Making a band ring will also introduce beginner students to basic tools and their use. Although there are few steps, go slow and be patient with them; eventually you will get it.
My advice to students is always do your best and don’t lower your standards, but be kind to yourself; you are learning and to expect perfection is unrealistic.
If you do something enough times, with care and the intention of improving, you will eventually get very good at it; finish one piece then move on to the next that is how you get better.
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A band ring can be made with sheet or wire. The benefit of using wire is it gives instant shape, for example: half round wire or square wire. The benefit of using sheet is it is much easer to work with than wire.
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If this is your first band ring, I would recommend using 18 gauge 1 mm or 16 gauge 1. I have noticed over the years that anything over 10 mm wide, will frustrate most beginners.
For the purpose of this Tutorial, I am using 18 gauge sterling silver sheet which is 7 mm wide. Using a slide gauge or dividers score a cut line image 1.
A Guillotine or Long arm metal shear, can speed up the process of cutting the ring blank off of the larger sheet; however if you don’t have one, a jewellers hand saw will do the job and give you a chance to improve your sawing skills.
At this point, don’t worry if the cut job is not perfectly straight or parallel, it can be easily fixed at a later point in the construction process.
To learn more about how to use measuring tools click here to read Nanz Aalunds Tutorial “Measure Twice” or turn to page 42 in the July, issue of Creating Linus Jewellery.
When bending a flat piece of metal into a circle, the inside and outside surfaces will stretch and compact at different rates for different gauges. right hand ring designs with round diamond stone Whether you are looking for that special something for yourself or for a friend, say it with a hand-crafted piece from our range of Personalised Necklaces.
Creating Linus Jewellery is a free online magazine packed full of jewellery making tutorials, interviews and articles. The down side of using a long arm metal shear is it will always put a curve in the ring blank which will need to be straitened out image 2.
The plus side of using a jewellers hand saw, is the metal will remain flat and the next step can be skipped. Anneal the sterling silver. A steel block and a rawhide hammer image 3 will be needed.
However anytime a steel tool is used, stop and ask the question “what could I damage”. Steel is harder than sterling silver and can damage it very easily.
As my teacher used to say “if you don’t want to take it out, don’t put it in”. Any dents in the steel will transfer into the sterling silver, use a piece of stiff cardboard in between the steel and sterling silver to prevent this image 4.
: silver rings
Straitening a piece of metal can be tricky, too much force will actually cause it to curl, so be observant; if the sterling silver does not move, then hit harder, but if it curls hit lighter.
I call this the “Goldilocks Syndrome”, not too light, not too hard, just right image 5 To learn more about how to anneal sterling silver click here to read my tutorial or turn to page 46 in the July, issue.
One of the most important tools a goldsmith has is the “V” board. The “V” board is designed to help support you while you work. Modifying the “V” board with groves can offer further support.
29.01.2020 – Dimensions: The initial measures approximately 7mm x 7mm and the band is 2mm wide x 1. Anne Sportun’s diamond ring is a glittering tribute to the night sky, with stardust texturing rendered in 14kt gold surrounding an off-kilter queue of super sparkly gemstones. Raised hearts linked by love surround a pair of spinning 14kt gold plated bands in our ‘Heart to Heart’ ring. Use emery sticks to emery the outside of the ring.
The first thing I do with a new “V” board is put a deep grove in the left hand side “prong”; this is most helpful to hold sheet metal while filing.
Since the ring blank is longer than needed, one end will be cut off and the other will become part of the joint. File one end 90 degrees to the long edge.
There are many ways to hold a piece against the “V” board, my preferred method is illustrated in image 6. Using a hand file, file one of the short ends 90 degrees to one of the long ends.
This will be one edge of the joint. To learn more about files and filing turn to page 66 in the September, issue of Creating Linus Jewellery.
There are many ways to accurately measure a ring blank.
I am using a ring blank chart found in Author Bruce G. Place the filed end at the “start” point. Notice the ring blank guide has more than one chart.
When bending a flat piece of metal into a circle, the inside and outside surfaces will stretch and compact at different rates for different gauges.
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To make a ring the same size with 12 gauge 2 mm thick as with 18 gauge 1 mm thick a longer ring blank in 12 gauge is required then in 18 gauge.
I am using 18 gauge Sterling Silver so I am using the 18 gauge ring guide. Mark the metal with a sharpie felt marker at the appropriate ring size image 7.
Use a jewellers hand saw to cut the ring blank down to the size required image 8. Repeat step 4.
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Both sides of the joint should now be filed at a 90 degree angle to the long edges and the ring blank should be the correct length as indicated by the ring blank chart image 9.
When bending and shaping metal the first tools I reach for are my hands. Hands unlike pliers will not leave dent marks. Using hands bend the ring blank into first a wide “U” image 10 then into a wide “teardrop” shape image If your hands are not strong enough use soft tipped pliers.
Using a Rawhide or soft hammer and a steal block don’t forget the cardboard hammer straight down on the ring blank image 12 until it resembles the shape of a Hershey’s kisses chocolate image If the joints pull apart, tilt the ring blank slightly forward and using the edge of the rawhide hammer bring the two joints back together image 14 – work one side then the other.
Continue hitting straight down on the joint image 15 until both ends of the joint are laying flat with little or no gap between image 16 is not quite flat enough, image 17 is what you are looking for.
During this process the metal might “behave” or not. If the metal behaves, it will do everything as described. Most likely the metal will shift and twist and not do as it’s told.
It is easier to go back and add in solder than to try and remove solder once it has flooded into detailed areas. Two lanes of inlaid coral encircle our handcrafted sterling silver ‘Roadrunner’ band ring with the fiery hue of a desert sunset. Sterling silver wide band rings for women plain In this infinite love ring by Jes MaHarry, five scattered diamonds in varying sizes illuminate joyous symbols from the artist’s natural surroundings just as stars spark the sky.
When learning something new, one starts to build a “library” of information. Hit the metal and see what it does, hit it again and continue to observe, this is how you will learn.
There is very little you can do at this point that is not fixable, so don’t be afraid to try things. The best way to advance quickly is to do something and see what happens.
At the very least you will learn what does not work, which is just as important as learning what does. Use the hammer, your fingers and if needed soft tipped pliers to align the two joints.
If the metal starts to get work hardened and you find it difficult to move it, re-anneal the metal and continue.
This method of lining up a ring joint is a very good technique to learn. For thin gauged metals using pliers and simply bending the two joints until they line up will work, but with heavy gauge metal pliers will not be enough to move the metal.
Once you have mastered this technique you will find it has many applications, not just rings. Unless you are an alien, chances are there will be a gap between the joint image There will be points where the edges touch and points where they do not.
Bad practice is “filling” joints with solder. Solder when it melts liquefies, imagine trying to fill a gap with water.
If you do manage to fill the gap with solder, once the ring starts to tarnish the solder seam will change a completely different colour than the rest of the ring.
This is because solder is not Sterling Silver.
A Simple Sterling Silver Band Ring : 19 Steps (with Pictures) – Instructables
Solder starts its life as pure silver, other metals such as: Copper, Zinc and Cadmium are added to lower the melting temperature.
The major differences between them are the melting temperatures. Hard Solder has the least of these other metals so has the highest melting temperature and the best not perfect colour match to Sterling Silver; where as Extra Easy Solder has the most and therefore the lowest melting temperature and the worst colour match.
The purpose of the different melting temperatures is to allow for multiple joints; when soldering more than one joint there is always a risk of opening the previous joints.
Some strategy is required when many solder joints are necessary; the first joint should be made with hard solder, successive joints with lower melting ones.
There are many methods to improve a Joint. My preferred method is using a jewellers hand saw to cut down the middle of the joint. Placement on the “V” board is very important.
Make sure the back side of the ring is past the end of the cut out on the “V” board image 19 ; if not image 20 once through the seam, the saw will hit the ring instead of the “V” board, resulting in a nick.
Hold the ring firmly so as not to allow movement if your fingers do not hurt, you are not holding hard enough. Hold the saw frame at a slight angle not straight up and down and cut through the seam image Do not aim for one side or the other, cut right down the middle, removing a little material from both sides.
This will take practice. It may require more than one pass to remove enough material to close the gap images 22 and As in all things, it may get worse before it gets better.
If you cut on an angle a wedge will be cut out resulting in a bigger gap, if this happens the two joint edges will need to be moved back together before attempting to cut through with the saw again.
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It may take once or 20 times to get this right. The more times you go through the seam the smaller the ring will become; don’t worry about this, we will be hammer texturing the ring which will stretch it back up to the correct size.
It is best to end up with a ring too small but with no gap. This is your first ring and it will take a few tries to perfect it. Be patient and you will succeed.
I like to think of solder as a living breathing creature with things he likes and things he does not.
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