A 3 wire ring (tutorial)

[skystone]

There was some discussion on ring making. So I made this tut to show how I make a 3 wire ring.
For this type of ring (flat top) it helps to have a ring mandrel that is made for that. There is a groove down one side that the flat backing of the stone can set on. The mandrel is sized to the right shank length. First you can take a narrow piece of paper to wrap around the mandrel to get get the shank pieces length. I then cut it to length & lay it on another piece of paper. Mark the end to end length on the paper. Cut 3 pieces of wire a little longer than actual length about 1/4" (in this case 14 1/2 round & 18ga twisted). Find & mark the center, figgure what you want for the solid center section (about 1/2-3/4") mark the 2 outside pieces & bend a little at that point. Now you have 3 pieces with 2 bent.

(scotch tape to hold for pic.)


Lay side by side & solder the center section.

sory for the blurry pic LOL!
Now you can form over the mandrel. Cut the ends of the wires to length using the groove as a guide like you did with the paper. Centering the shank on the size you want. Adjust the outer wire ends so they are nice & evenly spaced. File the ends so the top sets on them evenly. I assume that you know how to make the stone setting itself. Just like making a pendant only no bail.


Place the shank on the setting (upside down) & solder. I reccomend pre-heating the setting before placing the shank on the back. The setting is more mass & needs to be heated more to get to soldering temp. But the wires don't need much heat & it's very easy to melt the wires if you don't pre-heat.


Now all that's left is to clean up, check size & buff.  If you plan on doing rings. You''l certainly want one of these ring buffers for the inside. They'er pretty cheap & can be had from any of the jewelry suppliers like IJS or Thunderbird etc. Fits right on the tapered buffer spindels.

All done & ready to wear.


Fit the wife just fine LOL
Thanks for looking
Hope this is of some help to ya'll any questions?
Mike
(sorry I forgot to down size the pix LOL)

[ScarlettoSara]

excellent ring and wonderful tutorial. Thank you so much for doing this. Makes me feel optimistic about making a ring after Xmas:)
Of course all the great artists always make it look easy:)

[hulagrub]

Mike, thank you so much for taking time out to show us how to do this!

[Charlotte]

Thank you so much.....This forum is just wonderful.

[Allen]

Thanks for the help Mike.

Some like me need more encouragement than most to experiment with silver but you do make it look achievable.

A New year resolution, make a ring!

[Taogem]

Yes, thanks so much for sharing this !

[will100]

Very nice silver work.

Thank for sharing.

Will

[Hogmema]

Very good tutorial!!!

[cre84u]

Mike I missed this thread, Too busy over Xmas. Very good especially the tip on pre-heating the bezel base. I had never thought of that.
Thanks

[skystone]

Thanks Cal yes I like to pass on those tips that I learned the hard way LOL
Mike

[HelenStark]

Wow... I need to learn silverwork, this looks easy and fun!!