Metalwork: Ring Making

 I decided to use copper for my ring, because I like the pinky-gold colour. First, to make the basic ring shape, I used wire to bend around my finger, then straightened it out and cut a strip of copper the same length. I used two pairs of ring pliers (which have one curved part and one flat part) to bend the strip round so that the ends met. The most important thing was to get the ends exactly in line and flat, so they can be soldered, rather than getting the ring perfectly round, as it can be shaped later.


I used silver solder to join the ends. I heated the ring a bit, then painted on some flux on the join. this is to clean the metal, and ensure the solder sticks, and because I heated the ring a bit first, the water evaporated as the flux touched the ring, so it wouldn't drip off. I then heated the ring again, this time to get it red-hot, and when it was hot enough I touched the solder to the end of the join, and it flowed through to the other end. Because of the extreme heat, the copper had built up a layer of oxide on the surface, so I pickled it in acid for a few minutes to remove it.



I used a file to remove the excess solder, and to smooth the surface of the ring. I used a mallet to shape the ring on a ring stake, which both made it circular, and slightly bigger. I filed the surface of the ring, inside and outside, then used wet and dry paper to smooth out the file marks, this left the ring with a satin finish.

I then used the buffing and polishing machine to make the ring shiny, but found that after this, there were still marks visible, so I used some more wet and dry paper to try to remove these before repeating the buffing and polishing.

This gave a smooth shiny finish to the ring. I think ring making is one of the most important processes in metalwork, because it is so versatile and can be used for rings, bangles, stone setting, chains and attaching small items together.