Making a ring
Materials
Sterling silver 2mm round wire x 300mm
How to make a ring
1. Find out what size you want your ring do be, you can do this by using a ring sizer. If there isn't a ring sizer to hand, you can also use a strip of paper or string to measure the circumference of the finger.
2. Having found the size you wish to make the ring, then take the 2mm round silver wire and measure out the necessary amount needed. Cut the wire with the saw and anneal.
(Remembering that the shape and thickness of the wire will have an effect on the size of the ring.)
( When annealing the silver be careful not to over heat and melt it. Cover the silver with borax to protect it from fire stain then heat it slowly. As soon as the silver turns a slight red colour take the flame away. Wait for the silver to air cool to black then quench and pickle )
3. Using two ring pliers/ half round pliers carefully bend the wire round so the two ends meet. Make sure that the round part of the pliers are always on the inside of the ring.
(Be careful not to mark or scratch the metal when bending it round. If it starts to get hard to bend then anneal the wire again. )
4. Once you have two ends meeting, use the saw blade to cut carefully cut any excess wire from the ends. Keep doing this till the two ends meet cleanly.
(Keep cheeking the size of the ring with the sizing mandrel. If the ring is to big go back and using the saw cut a small section away, re-bend and check the size again )
5. Carefully solder the two ends together. Borax the whole ring and place a small piece of hard solder on top of the joining ends. Heat the ring slowly heating the back up first then moving the flame to the join and solder. Leave to air cool to black then quench and pickle.
( The silver solder has a similar melting point to the silver wire, therefore it is easy to damage or melt the ring while trying to solder it together. Keep a close eye on the solder, as soon as it runs take the flame away to prevent this from happening)
6. Place the ring onto a mandrel , take your leather hammer and hit it round.
( while Hammering the ring round on the mandrel remember to keep turning the ring to keep it even. Also making sure not to stretch the ring by hammering it down, this will make the thickness uneven and change the size of the ring. )
7. Check the size of the ring and then polish.
Tube Setting
Materials
Silver 6mm outside diameter tube x 10mm
Standard silver sheet 1mm x 10mm x 20 mm
5mm CZ
How to make a tube setting
1. Take the 1 mm x 10 mm x 20 mm Silver sheet take your scribes and set them to a little over 2.5 mm to make a 5.5 mm circle. Make sure you so this carefully because you dont want to scratch the silver.
2 . Cut the circle out and file the edges smooth. Cutting a little outside the line so that you can have room to file the edges.
3. Anneal the circle and then dome to make a hemisphere.
(Make sure the circle is placed in the middle of the doming block so that its evenly domed, this will make it easier to fit with the tube. Check it against the tube to see how it fits, the more you dome the circle the higher it will sit on the ring. )
4. Once domed file the edges of the hemisphere so it fits neatly with the tube.
( if these a slight overhang with the hemisphere you can carefully file/buff it away once soldered together. )
5. Cover both the tube and the hemisphere with borax and solder the two pieces together. Quench , pickle and then polish.
( Making the borax slightly more watery then normal , it then wont bubble up so much and move the solder and the hemisphere when heated. )
( Place lots of very small pieces of solder along the edge the rim of the tube, carefully place the hemisphere on top of the solder. )
(While soldering the two pieces together make sure to heat the whole setting , if the borax starts to bubble up quickly move the flame away for a second then continue. What the solder carefully and it will be hard to see if it as run, and you might over heat and melt the setting. If your unsure remove the flame and see. )
6. On the end of the tube that you've just attracted the hemisphere , file a small grove using a small round file . Making sure that it is in the center . This is were the the ring and the setting meet and the grove will allow the setting to sit neatly on top of the ring.
( its important to get the grove in the center as this is where the ring will sit, having it off will make the setting wonky. Draw a line before you start filing to check that it central.)
7. Cover both the ring and tube setting in borax. Set up the ring and the tube setting ready for soldering, use a third hand tool and reverse tweezers to hold the ring and rest it on top of the tube setting.
8. Place a small piece of silver solder resting on the join where the ring and tube setting meet. Heat carefully, heating the ring up first then moving the flame down over the setting and back over the ring.
9. Once soldered leave to air cool to black, quench, pickle and then polish.
Marquise Setting
Materials
Standard silver sheet 1mm x 10mm x 20 mm
8mm Marquise CZ
How to make a Marquise Setting
1. Take the 1 mm x 10 mm x 20 mm Silver sheet take your scribes and draw a 10 mm circle. Make sure you so this carefully because you don't want to scratch the silver.
2 . Cut the circle out and file the edges smooth. Cutting a little outside the line so that you can have room to file the edges.
3. Anneal the circle and then lightly dome. Keep checking the domed circle against the Marquise CZ Make sure the circle is in the middle of the doming block and only hit the metal lightly, as its easy to over dome the silver.
( the Marquise CZ should be able to sit side ways in the domed metal, with the tips of the CZ just half way between the rim on the metal. and the curve of the inside dome following the curve of the Marquise CZ. )
4. Once you have the shape you need file the edge then take the saw and cut the domed circle in half , making sure not to scratch the silver while cutting.
( make sure you cut right down the middle of the circle, if you cut it off the setting will look off and might not fit the gem )
5. Cover both pieces with borax, place the filed edges together and place a small bit of hard solder in between them.
( place two small pieces of solder on each point of the setting. Use slightly more watery borax so it wont bubble up and move the pieces or solder as much)
6. heat the whole of the setting moving the flame slowly over the pieces and then the joining line. Once it reaches the right trumpeter the solder should run up the join. Quench , pickle and polish.
7. Check that the Marquise CZ fits inside the setting , the girdle should rest on the edge of the metal.
8. File a small grove across the Marquise setting using a small round file . Making sure that it is in the center of the setting allowing the ring to rest neatly in the grove.
( its important to get the grove in the center as this is where the ring will sit, having it off will make the setting wonky. Draw a line before you start filing to check that it central.)
9. Cover both the ring and Marquise setting in borax. Set up the ring and the setting ready for soldering, use a third hand tool and reverse tweezers to hold the ring resting on top of the Marquise setting.
10. Place a small piece of silver solder resting on the join where the ring and setting meet. Heat carefully, heating the ring up first then moving the flame down over the setting and back over the ring.
11. Once soldered leave to air cool to black, quench, pickle and then polish.
Claw Setting
Materials
Sterling silver 1.2 mm round wire x 15 cm
How to make a claw Setting
1. Take the Sterling silver 1.2 mm round wire x 15 cm and anneal it, after annealing the wire make two small jump rings.
( these jump ring must be big enough to hold the gem but not to big to be seen once the gem is set. )
2. Cut the two rings out and solder the ends of each one together. Pickle and polish.
(careful not to melt the jump rings when soldering them, because they are so small they'll heat quickly )
3 . Make 4 small groves out of each jump ring, first using a square file then a round file.
( make sure these groves are opposite each other as this is were the frame wire of the claw setting will sit. Having it slightly off will mean that the wire will be bent)
4 Take the rest of the wire and make two U shapes out of it. Have the wire just big enough to hold the jump rings in place while they are being soldered.
5. Solder one U shaped wire to the smallest jump ring first, placing a small piece of hard solder on join were the jump ring and wire meet. repeat this till you have both wire and jump rings soldered.
( be careful when soldering the second jump ring as it might undo any of the previous solders. Keep an eye on all the joins and dont overheat any part of the setting.)
6 Having soldered the jump rings to the wire cut off the exsses wire using the hand saw, leaving a little bit of wire at the top to hold the gem , file and polish.
Cup Setting
Materials
Standard silver sheet 1mm x 10mm x 20 mm
how to make a cup setting
Crown Setting
Materials
