The Anatomy of a Ring Step by Step Basic Ring Construction. Elizabeth M. Huffman

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Hillary Jemima Hunter
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1 The Anatomy of a Ring Step by Step Basic Ring Construction Elizabeth M. Huffman

2 Outline My history Step by step Materials Tools Procedures Final product Acknowledgements Samples of my work

3 My History Had interest in Arts & Crafts, starting out with sketching and painting Moved onto woodworking and leather Made objects from scrap wire Learned simple soldering techniques at 14 Honed my skills by hours of practice sprinkled with metal working workshops and 3 semesters smithing in college Have been doing silversmithing for over 40 years Its become a hobby that pays for itself Shows Galleries Custom orders

4 Ring Recipe: Ingredients Cabochon to mount 22 gauge silver sheet 8 gauge half round wire 20 gauge round wire 28 gauge, 1/8 wide fine silver bezel Hard (1365F) & easy (1240F) solder sheet or wire

5 Vocabulary Bezel-fine silver strip (99%) used to secure stone to base plate Cabochon cab -a stone cut and polished in a convex shape Pickle-used to remove excess flux and fire scale (Sparex is a mild solution of sulfuric acid, 5% diluted in water) Snippet-small pieces of solder Piercing=sawing Flux-solution containing boric acid to prep surface for soldering

6 Australian Boulder Opal Cab

7 Silver and Stone

8 Basic Tools

9 Acetylene Torch

10 Flux, Sparex Pickle, Water

11 Wrap bezel around stone

12 Marking bezel to cut to size

13 Snip bezel to marked length

14 Check bezel fit

15 Line up ends for butt joint

16 Check butt joint fit

17 Dipping solder pick into flux

18 Apply flux to bezel

19 Position solder snippet on joint

20 Before soldering joint closed

21 Soldering bezel joint

22 Dip soldered bezel into pickle

23 Removing bezel from pickle

24 Check stone fit after soldering

25 Check fit from bottom

26 Place stone on plate, mark cutting lines, allowing for wire twist accent

27 Snip silver base plate

28 Rubber mallet to flatten plate

29 Dip plate into flux

30 Flux bezel for soldering to plate

31 Position bezel to attach to base plate

32 Soldering bezel to base plate

33 Prepare wire for twisting

34 Hook loop end onto drill fixture (High-tech, bent finishing nail)

35 Insert opposite end in vise and twist

36 Twist Detail

37 Form twist around setting

38 Mark the cut

39 Cut twist to size

40 Lining up twist butt joint

41 Using solder pick to place solder ball onto joint

42 Closer view

43 Soldering joint on twist

44 Check twist for fit around bezel

45 Soldering twist to base plate

46 Feeding solder around twist

47 Press down twist on plate to insure complete contact around base

48 Remove excess silver

49 Close up of piercing

50 Lift silver scrap

51 Finished removing excess silver

52 Putting on leather finger cots for better grip and heat protection

53 Leather finger cots

54 Grind edge of setting to remove saw marks

55 Measure ring size on gauge

56 Cutting ring shank to length

57 Begin shaping shank on mandrel

58 Shaping ring shank on mandrel

59 File ring shank flats

60 Shank flats ready to attach to setting

61 Apply tripoli to buff

62 Pre-polish setting before soldering on shank

63 Making solder snippets

64 Flux the setting

65 Position shank on setting for soldering

66 Place solder snippets inside where shank rests on setting

67 Soldering shank to setting

68 Soldered joint

69 Polishing ring with white diamond tripoli on linen buff

70 Polishing backside of ring

71 Felt inside-ring buff

72 Polishing inside rink shank

73 Checking finish on ring

74 Finished buffing

75 Add sawdust to cushion and adjust height of stone

76 Place stone into setting

77 Check fit and level stone

78 Positioning stone for setting

79 Form bezel around stone with bezel pusher

80 Final go-around

81 Using chamois stick to buff

82 Red rouge polishing cloth to remove tripoli residue

83 Final clean up and tarnish retardant

84 Engrave logo on back

85 My logo,.925, & 04

86 Pretty nice!

87 Ready for the Customer!

88 What my bench really looks like!

89 Acknowledgements: Paul Hlava, for his digital photography and suggestions Greg Poulter, for reducing the photo resolution to a manageable size You, for your interest! Thanks!

90 Chinese Turquoise Pendant

91 Deschutes Picture Jasper Bolo

92 Pyrite in Slate Pin, Pendant Combo

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