Bands for finger rings are all made, practically, in the same way. But
there is a great difference in the way stones are set in these bands.
Perhaps the three ways most generally used are: setting by means of a
bezel, or small band; prong setting, and setting the stone down in a
cavity cut in the metal, just large enough to hold the stone.
_Finger ring, stone set with a bezel:_
_Material:_ One piece of silver, 2-3/8 × 1/2 ins., No. 20, for ring.
One piece of silver, 1/8 × 1-1/2 ins., No. 28, for bezel. Stone. Silver
solder. Borax.
_Tools:_ Ring mandrel (you can make one yourself), small wood mallet,
drill press and 1/16 in. drill, saw frame and saw, centre-punch, small
Swiss files.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
_Directions--Pattern:_ To make a ring of this kind first cut a piece
of paper 1/4 in. wide and long enough to go around the finger which
the ring is to fit. Straighten this piece of paper out. This gives the
length of the piece of silver needed for a ring. Cut another piece of
paper 1/2 in. wide to this length. Draw with ink the pattern of the
ring on this second paper.
Cut the design out and paste it on the piece of silver. With the
centre-punch mark the centre of each spot. Drill holes into each one.
Saw out the design. With a pair of shears cut off the surplus metal. Be
careful to save all the scraps. They can all be returned and exchanged
for silver plate. File close to the design. You now have the band ready
for bending.
[Illustration]
_To bend the ring:_ A ring mandrel is needed. This is merely a tapering
rod. One can buy steel mandrels which are graduated for all sizes of
rings. A small tapered square punch which you can make yourself, will
be found helpful. Take a piece of 3/16-in. round or square steel. File
the end, tapering to a square point, 1 in. long. Harden it the same as
you did the half moon punch used to make the hat pin. This punch is
used for design work. Round holes can be squared by driving the square
punch into the hole to any depth. This saves filing.
Place the ring mandrel in the vise. Using a wooden mallet, bend the
ring in a circular shape over this mandrel till the two ends meet. Try
the ring on the finger. Snip off the ends so that the ring fits rather
tightly. This will allow for stretching the ring after it is soldered.
_To put on the bezel:_ Bend a piece of No. 28 silver, 1/8 × 1-1/2 ins.,
around the stone. This can be done with the thumb and finger. Make the
silver fit around the largest part of the stone. Snip off the ends.
Bind the two ends with binding wire, wash with borax, put a little
piece of silver on the inside and heat over the bunsen burner; which is
hot enough for this kind of work. Cool off in water, remove the binding
wire. Each end of this bezel must be filed to fit the circle of the
ring.
[Illustration: Bezel for ring]
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
When this is done bind the bezel on, and at the same time bind the
lower part of the ring so that the open ends fit tightly together.
Solder the bezel and the open part of the ring at the same time. Wash
all the joints. Place silver solder on the inside of the bezel, say
one half-dozen pieces (small), round on the inside, and also one or two
small pieces on the joint of the ring itself. Place the whole ring in
the bunsen flame. It will all heat up about the same time. Watch the
solder carefully. See that it runs all around between the bezel and the
body of the ring. Cool off. Take off all the binding wire. File the
inside and outside of the bottom part of the ring.
Place the ring on the mandrel and go over it gently with a steel
hammer, shaping it around and making it to fit the finger. File the
edges around smoothly. Go over it all with a small square file and file
out all imperfections in the slots. Place a piece of fine emery cloth
on a tapered round wood peg. By revolving it around this you polish
and trim up the inside of the ring. Using the same emery cloth twisted
around a flat stake or file, go over the outside until the ring is free
from scratches.
_Stone:_ If the bezel has been carefully made the stone should drop
right into place. If by chance some of the solder should have filled up
the bezel space and made it smaller, take a sharp tool like a pocket
knife blade and scrape the inside of the bezel till the stone fits.
Place the stone. With a smooth piece of steel or very hard wood press
the bezel against the stone. The bezel is thin enough to yield to this
pressing process. It will cling to the sides of the stone and prevent
its falling out. Polish the ring by rubbing it with pumice stone and a
piece of cloth. This finishes the work.
_Finger rings, silver cut away to set stone in:_
_Material:_ For this class of work we require much heavier silver than
for the other rings.
[Illustration]
One piece of silver, No. 10, 1/2 × 2-3/8 ins. Solder. Borax.
_Tools:_ Same as were used for the bezel setting. In addition we shall
need one or two small chisels, which you can make yourself. Chasing
tool.
_Directions:_ Make the pattern of your ring as you did before. Paste
it on the silver piece, and cut out. Bend the silver around the ring
mandrel so that it will fit the finger it is intended for, and solder.
Place the stone in its proper position and mark the outline of it on
the silver. Now you will need a small chisel to chip away the silver
and make the space for the stone.
_To make chisel:_ Take two pieces of 3/16-in. round steel 5 ins. long.
One piece is to make a flat chisel and the other for an oval chisel.
File the ends to a chisel shape.
[Illustration]
This steel must be tempered before it can be used. To do this place the
ends just filed into the fire. Heat about 1 in. of the end red hot.
Cool 1/2 in. of this hot end in the water till quite cold. Take it out
and rub the end with a piece of emery cloth till it shines.
The colour will begin to flow toward the end. When the blue colour
reaches the end plunge the whole piece into water. The oval chisel
is used for outlining the depression. The flat chisel is used for
levelling the bed to receive the stone. With this chisel cut away the
material inside the marked outline, keeping a little inside the border
line. Cut away the silver to about the depth of 1/32 in. You will find
the opening a little smaller than the stone. With your chasing tool
drive around the inside of the oval, undercutting until the stone
fits in. This undercutting drives up a little silver rim, which does
the work of a bezel on the stone. When this rim is forced against the
stone, the stone is held in place. The ring is now ready for the
stone, but the thickness of silver makes it large and clumsy. Before
putting the stone in, the ring should be filed down to the proper
dimensions. This requires a great deal of filing. Use a rough file at
first and finish with a fine one. When the ring is shaped as you wish
polish up the inside and outside.
_To place the stone:_ With the ring mandrel on the vise, put the stone
in place and put the ring on the mandrel. Tap gently on the silver rim,
driving it against the stone. Do not drive it too hard or else you may
crack the stone. Finish up and polish as explained before.
_Finger ring, stone set with prongs:_
_Material:_ One piece of silver, No. 14, width and length the same as
the others. Stone--in the design, square.
[Illustration]
_Tools:_ Same as used in making the other rings.
_Directions:_ Draw design, cut pattern, place it on the silver, and
cut out as before. Bend the ring to fit the finger, and solder. After
the silver band has been cooled off and the wire has been removed, put
the band back on the mandrel. With the planishing hammer strike down,
flattening the top. This reduces the thickness of the ring and gives
us a flat surface, to which the prongs are soldered.
_To make the prongs:_ Place the stone on a No. 24 piece of silver. Draw
the outline of the stone on it. The square piece of silver should be
1/8 in. larger all round than the size of the stone. A stone may be set
with 4 prongs, or 6 or 8, according to one's taste. In this setting we
have the 4 prongs. Mark the outline of the prongs on the square piece
of silver according to this picture.
[Illustration: Drawings showing prongs, unfinished, and soldered on
ring at point marked by arrow.]
Saw out on the dotted lines. Cut a piece of copper the exact size of
the stone. Place the copper on the silver and bend up the prongs at
right angles to the silver plate. Take away the copper, and file the
under part of the silver piece flat, and prepare the upper part of
the ring in the same way. Bind the flat part of the prong piece to
the flattened part of the ring, and solder. If the flattening in the
first place has made the ring too large for the finger, cut a piece out
along the soldered joint. Fit it to the finger and resolder. File all
joints perfectly smooth. The prongs should be filed carefully and made
perfectly even and of the exact size and shape. Place the stone in and
push the prongs against it. Rub each separate prong down until it fits
close against the stone. This prevents their catching on anything like
cloth, etc. Polish and finish as explained before.
_Finger ring, made of twisted silver wire:_
[Illustration]
_Material:_ No. 30 fine silver wire; length depends upon the design of
the ring.
_Tools:_ Same as those used in making the other rings described.
[Illustration]
_Directions:_ Cut off a piece of No. 30 wire about 6 ins. long. Bend
it in the middle, place the two ends in the vise and, with a pair of
pliers, grasp the other end. Twist the wire into an even twist. Select
the stone. The round stones are best for this wire setting. In making
this wire ring it is best to make the setting for the stone first. Cut
a piece of wood the exact shape of the largest part of the stone. Bend
a piece of No. 30 silver 1/8 in. wide around the wood peg, till the
two ends just meet. Coil around this the twisted wire, one strand upon
the other, until you have about three coils. Wash with a little borax;
place a little silver solder upon the under side of this coil. Heat and
solder the strands together; at the same time solder the band on the
inside. Place it on the ring mandrel, and curve it to fit the shape of
the finger. Either press it with your fingers or use a mallet.
_The setting is now ready for the ring:_ The ring can be made either by
twisting a piece of wire to fit the finger or by using just the plain
wire itself for the ring band. In either case, the piece of silver used
for the band, plus the size of the setting, must equal the size of
the finger. Solder the two ends of the ring band to the sides of the
setting. File the inside opening of the setting to a level; place the
stone in as you did the others. Clean and polish up as usual.