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)
