Saturday, October 9, 2010

Hand Crafated 14K Baby Ring


A grandfather requested this ring be hand crafted for his highly anticipated grandaughter.

I do not know names, but I do know the importance of grandbabies and the joy they bring when they arrive. I am so delighted to be in on this little suprise.

 
This is an almost step by step look at how it was made. 

1) Measure out the metal. The ring was to be a size 3. 




 2) I wanted to put a texture on it that would last without showing great wear in the future. The completed ring fit my pinky finger. Hopefully she will be able to wear this her whole life and smile at the memories that will come with it over the years.


3) Once the hammering is done, the metal is a bit out of shape.

 Thank God for Parallel Pliers. They straighten the metal so nicely.
4)The hammering stretches the metal slightly, so it has to be remeasured.

5) Once I cut the metal to approximately the right size, I began to bend the metal into a semi round state.
Remember, I did say semi-round.



6) You manipulate the metal to meet perfectly for soldering puposes.
 














7) You coat the ring with boric acid to protect the metal from the fire. You also add flux to where you want the solder to flow to.


8) Once the ring is clean, you shape the ring in to a round shape. You do this by placing the ring on a  mandrel and and hitting it  with a leather mallet on all sides.


Nice and round!




9) Emery both sides of the ring to get any major scratches off that were made during the fabrication process.

10) Once it is shaped properly, and the first metal clean up is done, you hammer the ring where the solder joint is. The will normally strech the ring to the right size.

11) Tripoli will normally remove the remaining scratches on the ring.
 
12) Rouge makes the metal come alive! It dances with the light and shimmers only as true gold can.


Finished! Now it is ready to be shipped to the
Houston area immediately!


Congratulations on your wonderful gift of a precious grandchild!
Thank you for allowing me to make this to be treasured keepsake, that she will have her whole life. What an honor, you have given me.

3 comments:

  1. Such a cool step by step! I had no idea what the ring making process was. Beautiful result

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  2. Thank you for such a detailed, interesting look into your work process. Found you on the etsy forum, come visit my blog;

    http://charmeddesign1012.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  3. Very neat. I had no idea how rings like this were made. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete