Make an Orange Ring: the Easy Way or More Advanced

As a Dutchie I like orange and it was time to make an orange ring to my orange outfit.

I will show you how you can make a ring the easiest way with a few tools or more advanced with silver smitting involved. The easiest ring has a prepared base and a pearl with a predrilled hole. The second one is in silver and I will show you how to make the ring from scratch. They have a total different look and I like them both.

It was so much fun to make. I’m mostly into woodworking but this time I would like to share some ring making. 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.

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:

For the easiest ring:

1. a ring (base)
2. a bead (/I had some acryllic of an worn out necklace)
3. rod (I used a bit of a wornout drill but you can use other metalpins too)
4. drill
5. superglue
6. marker
7. saw
8. clamp and cloth
9. a hammar and an awl (optionall)

For the silver ring:

1. 925 Sterling Silver wire/sheet, 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. Orange gem
3. Silver solder (hard and medium, )
4. Flux and pensel
5. Jeweler's torch
6. Soldering block or firebrick
7. Tweezers, Cross-lock tweezers (and soldering pick optional)
8. Pickle solution, I made a non-toxic household solution see step 3
9. Jewelry saw
10. Steel dorn, stick mandrel
11. Safety glasses
12. Files and sandpapper
13. Rubber Hammer, steel hammer or hammer for jewelry making
14. Anvil or steel block if you're making the rod/pin by yourself
15. Wet sandpaper 400 grid up to 2000 grid (optional)
16. A towel to dry your hands and ring
17. Ring Blank Sizing Chart (optional) www.riogrande.com/globalassets/ringblanksizingguidepdf.pdf?srsltid=AfmBOoojVv04OLvG1HR5LEANI5Dr8pUi5W-V9EXZwTJKIJQpDSf6J_k3
18. Super glue
19. Rotery tool such as a Dremel
20. Felt polishing wheel and polishing compound, red and blue
21. Marker pen
22. Diamond Bits (2mm depending on the size of your rod/pin
23. Safety glasses
24. plastic container and water
25. plairs and tape

When I found a ring witch I never used in rose "Gold" I knew I had to transform it in an orange ring. I had a broken bracelet so I re-used an orange bead. But then the questions came:

1. Isn't the pearl to bulky? (18 mm/ 0.7 inch)

1. Wouldn't it be better with a smaller one of 10 mm/0.4 inch?

1. Schould I take a lighter or darker orange bead to cover the hole on top of the big bead?

1. Or maybe it's better to glue a silver ball on top?

It doesn't realy matter. The only important thing to me was the orange colour. So how is your ring gonna look? Maybe you found some beads at home or in the charity shop?

I chose to make two bulky rings. One with a big orange pearl and a silver ring with a beautiful orange gem. Lets see how it goes....

So the easiest ring will not take a long time to make. I found a ring (band) wich I never used and used it for the base of the ring.

You also need a bead and a metall rod in the same size of the hole in your bead. Or you may drill the hole of your bead bigger so it fits your rod. In that case it is easier to use an acryllic bead. (As I did)

I had a broken bracelet so I re-used a bead. How is your ring gonna look like? Maybe you found some beads at home or in the charity shop?

I like bulky rings so my gem and the pearl I used are big! The design is up to you.

To mount the rod I drilled an indentation in the ring.

1. Mark the ring with a marker

1. Clamp you ring and drill or:

1. Make first an light indentation with an awl and a hammer

1. Drill and use a drill bit in the same dimention of your rod

1. I drilled not thru the ring but almost, this will make it easier when you glue the rod. See picture.

1. Pace your bead on your rod and make a mark where you should cut/saw your rod in the right length

1. Cut with pliers or cut with a jewelry saw (I forgot to take pictures)

1. Secure your ring so that you have empty hands while glueing. Take a small amount of glue and place the rod in the hole. Let it dry. Take immediately away the glue if you spilled with a cloth

In my case the hole of the bead and the rod had the same dimmentions. This means that I only had to

1. screw the bead on the rod and it sits stuck some a mountain as we say here in Sweden. If I want I can change the bead

1. Otherwise, glue the bead to the rod with super glue.

1. I glued a silver bead op top of the bead to hide the hole and glued a dark orange bead on top of an other orange bulky bead to change with. Whitch do you like more?

1. To glue the little bead on the top: Lay the little bead on some putty on the table. The putty prevent the little bead to move.

1. Apply som glue in het hole of the bigger bead an put the bead directly on the little bead. Press firmly and remove the putty right away

AND YOUR RING IS DONE!

Measurements

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 5 mm width. Cut the ends square and flatten with a file tool.

1. Shape the ring round before soldering. You can 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.

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.

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 hole in your gem. I used a 2 mm drill bit.

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 and brush your ring with soap and an old toothbrush

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

For drilling the hole in the gem, 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.

1. 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.

If you don't want to use diffrent gems on your ring I suggest to glue it with super glue.

1. Take a small amount of glue and Take immediately away the glue if you spilled with a cloth. I dropped a little amount of glue in the detention for the rod

1. You can also wrap some thin double-sided tape on the pin and place the gem on the pin if the gem isn't to heavy. The tape secures the gem from falling av.

1. For lighter gems you can use reusable putty

Done with both rings. I like them and will wear them frequently. Thank you for reading this instructables. I hope you'll give it a try. Don't hestitate to ask questions if needed.