Make Rainbow Ring With Changeable Beads or Gems

I do like to test different projects in my little workshop and it really brings joy in my life. I’m mostly into woodworking but this time I would like to share some ring making.

A colorful ring, a rainbow ring with changeable beads or gems to brighten up your day. One base, a homemade silver ring with a pin on top and many-colored beads or gems to vary with.

It was so much fun to make. I am not professional but just someone with some tools for jewelry making. I once took a class for some hours but otherwise I recently learned from the fantastic creative community out on the internet. I have to give a compliment to Andrew Berry on YouTube. He has been my favorite teacher!!! Look him up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_UjkGvht_4

Please look closely to the pictures if you feel insecure about the description. English is not my native language and with that said let’s start and have fun.

Tools and materials

Most of the materials and tools are available online. For exempel here:

https://www.riogrande.com/?srsltid=AfmBOopWRSYI0Jqq2e6_H9yqPpDhhHDdcgTNOy_dwzRn7HuIZWuFAAs4

or here:

https://atthebench.store/

or here:

https://www.amazon.com/

This is what i used:

1. 925 Sterling Silver wire/sheet/broken ring, broken jewelry or copper or other metal. I used 2mm thick and 3,5 mm wide silver and you can make it in the metal of your choice but not too soft metal
2. Silver solder (hard and medium, )
3. Flux and pensel
4. Jeweler's torch
5. Soldering block or firebrick
6. Tweezers, Cross-lock tweezers (and soldering pick optional)
7. Pickle solution, I made a non-toxic household solution see step 3
8. Jewelry saw
9. Steel dorn, stick mandrel
10. Safety glasses
11. Files and sandpapper
12. Rubber Hammer, steel hammer or hammer for jewelry making
13. Anvil or steel block if you're making the rod/pin by yourself
14. Wet sandpaper 400 grid up to 2000 grid (optional)
15. A towel to dry your hands and ring
16. Ring Blank Sizing Chart (optional) www.riogrande.com/globalassets/ringblanksizingguidepdf.pdf?srsltid=AfmBOoojVv04OLvG1HR5LEANI5Dr8pUi5W-V9EXZwTJKIJQpDSf6J_k3
17. Colourful beads. I used 11 mm and 14 mm diameter for exempel https://www.pandahall.com/p-3750444-50pcs-opaque-acrylic-beads-glow-in-the-dark-round.html?paLb=Rec_Detail_Related&likeType=0&pagePosition=200&_gl=1*58x4ys*_up*MQ..*_gs*MQ..&gclid=Cj0KCQjw3K7RBhDJARIsAKRtP5Tdk1TIVZ8gSalitqaSeHUwJSCBY-WDPUxDQGaU0Q4TbrO_wwZt3dIaAkd8EALw_wcB&gbraid=0AAAAAD8vQuQwf3m4jahbAfcLz6tBNzVNf
18. Super glue
19. Thin double sided tape or reusable putty
20. Rotery tool such as a Dremel
21. Felt polishing wheel and polishing compound, red and blue

OPTIONAL (See step 10)

1. Pebbles, beach stones or gems.
2. Marker pen
3. A rotary tool such as a Dremel
4. Diamond Bits (2mm depending on the size of your rod/pin
5. Shallow water and plastic food container
6. Piece of wood or rubber to rest your material on as you drill
7. Wear safety glasses

Re-use a ring

Take a broken ring and cut the unwanted access off (if there is one) with a jewelry saw, and there it is, the base for the rainbow ring. But what if you don’t have a broken ring? No worries, I show you how to make one from scratch.

Make your ring (band) from scratch

For the right measurements of the material you need for the ring (blank): Find the desired inner circumference of the ring you’re making. Add the material thickness and cut slightly oversize.

OR use this link. It's a global guide for ring blanks sizing.

www.riogrande.com/globalassets/ringblanksizingguidepdf.pdf?srsltid=AfmBOoojVv04OLvG1HR5LEANI5Dr8pUi5W-V9EXZwTJKIJQpDSf6J_k3

Let’s start:

1. Cut a strip of your desired length with a jewelry saw. In the pictures I use 2mm thick and 3,5 mm width. Cut the ends square and flatten with a file tool.

1. Shape the ring round before soldering. I used my half round&flat nose pliers, but you can also wrap tape around round pliers and use those. The tape is to prevent scratches. Don’t bother if it’s not perfectly round as that will be fixed later. Work gradually from one end to the other and avoid making any sharp bends. The metal should resemble a "C" shape at both ends. Make the ring round until both ends meet.

1. Saw the seam so that the ends fit perfectly and close tightly. The two ends of the ring must fit together very closely. Any gap makes soldering difficult and weakens the joint.

Important safety notes before soldering

1. Work in a well-ventilated area.
2. Wear eye protection.
3. Keep flammable materials away from the torch.
4. Be careful with hot metal—it can look cool while still being hot enough to burn.

1. Brush a small amount of flux onto the joint area. Flux helps to prevent oxidation and allows the solder to flow properly.

1. Cut a tiny piece of hard soldier and place it directly onto or next to the seam.

1. Heat the ring with the torch. Heat the entire ring gradually rather than focusing only on the seam. Silver conducts heat very efficiently, so the whole ring needs to reach soldering temperature. Keep the flame moving and do not overheat (e.g. metal turning orange-red). When the correct temperature is reached, the solder will suddenly melt and flow into the joint. Remove the flame when the solder has flowed through the seam.

1. Allow the ring to cool briefly, then cool it in water.

1. Place the ring now in pickle solution to remove any oxidation and flux residue. When the ring has turned white, it is ready. I made my pickle solution at home: Mix 1 cup of white vinegar with 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon of salt in a glass container. Heat the mixture gently in the microwave nearly to boiling and place the container on a medium warm heating plate. For this I used an old coffeemaker. Then submerge your ring for cleaning which should take around 10 minutes.

1. Rinse and dry. File away any excess solder. Don’t worry if your ring seems too small. A few gentle taps on the mandrel brings it to the exact size while ensuring it is perfectly round.

Make Your Ring Round

1. Place the ring on the mandrel.

1. Tap gently with the mallet. Use a non-metal mallet whenever possible. A steel hammer will leave marks that require extra finishing. Rotate continuously. This restores perfect roundness. Warm up your silver ring briefly with the torch when it starts feeling stiff while shaping (called annealing). Sterling silver work hardens as you hammer it. Tapp lightly instead of heavy strokes. The ring will end up rounder and cleaner.

1. Before your ring is in the right size you have to decide whether you want your ring even or if you want to have a pattern. I choose a pattern and tapped gently with the flat side of a hammer. Beware that as a result your ring will increase in size. Depending on your design you can sand the sides of your ring with wet sandpaper. Starting 400 grid up to 2000 grid.

Make the Pin (to Hold the Beads)

1. Melt some scrap silver with your torch.

1. Use the hammer and steel block to straighten and flatten the pin.

1. Make the pin slightly bigger than your desired diameter.

1. Clamp the pin in a bench vise and shape it round with flat ends using a file.

1. The diameter of the pin will depend on how big you drill the holes in your beads. I used a 2 mm drill bit.

Soldier the Pin on the Ring

As you're attaching a vertical pin, it will easily fall over on the round surface of your ring. To prevent that I drilled a small detention to mount the pin before soldering.

1. Measure the diameter of your pin. Mark and drill the hole in your ring. I practiced first on a scrap piece of metal before I drilled in my ring.

1. Put the pin in the ring and place it upside down in the soldering block or firebrick. Apply flux to the attachment point on the ring and the end of the pin. Use a medium-temperature solder than was used previously to reduce the chance of reopening the first seam. A tiny amount of solder is enough.

1. Heat the ring first. Move the flame around the joint area. Avoid pointing the flame directly at the solder chip for too long. When the correct temperature is reached the solder will flash and flow into the joint. You will see a bright silver line appear around the base of the pin. Remove the flame immediately after the solder has flowed.

1. Allow the piece to cool briefly. Place it in water

1. Place in pickle solution to remove oxidation and flux residue.

1. Rinse thoroughly with water.

1. Polish your ring. I used my rotery tool and a felt polishing wheel and polishing compound. First the red and then the bleu one.

Chose your beads or gems

When my kids were little we did a lot of beading. I searched my attic and found some beautiful colored beats perfect for my ring. Measuring 10mm to 20mm in diameter. I chose 2 sizes for my rainbow ring: 15 and 12 mm diameter, but that’s up to you. Look what you have at home, buy some beautiful beads in the charity shop, on internet or in the bead shop.

The gems I bought in a little shop here in our local town and some I found on the beach.

1. Drill the holes in your beads bigger if they don't fit on the pin. I used a 2 mm drill bit and drilled with my rotary tool almost through the bead

1. Close the hole on the top of the beads with a little silver ball.

1. Look at the videos supplied in this step. Heat the end of a small silver rod and it will turn into a small ball that you can use. Alternatively, you can take some silver scrap, heat it and the silver become a little ball.

1. Clean these little balls and glue them on your bead with super glue. You may need some tweezers and be careful not to spill glue on the beats.

Secure the bead

So, what are you going to wear today? Which color matches your outfit?

1. To secure the bead or the gem I wrapped some thin double-sided tape on the pin and place the bead on the pin. The tape secures the bead from falling av.

Variations: one base, so many options.

I had a favorite stone for many many years lying around, and now I knew what to do with it. But one stone wasn’t enough, where does this ends?

1. For drilling the hole in the stone, I used adjustable pliers as a clamp and place the stone in a container with water. The water level should be just above the stone. Wrap masking tape around your pliers to protect your stone from being scratched.

1. Take your rotary tool and start drilling. This goes slowly and takes time so be patient. Start with a small drill and take a bigger size after that. Be careful and don’t drill too deep, control if the gem fits on your pin

Conclusion/reflection

Thank you for reading this instructables. I hope you'll give it a try. Don't hestitate to aske questions if needed.

If I make this ring again I would choose a wider sized ring say 5 to 8 mm wide, as the bigger stones/gems are quite heavy.

And it would be loveley with a screw thread pin så you can screw the beads instead of using double sided tape or reusable putty. A new challange ! Bye bye/Amaries.