Turning Rings Jewelry

[rwells]

Does anyone have any experience turning rings for jewelry uses? Or maybe someone could point me to a reference. I would like to know about the types of mandrels or jigs to hold them in a lathe. I need to work both inside and outside. The ID will be different so the setups need some adjustment. ID can range from .490 to .530. Thanks in advance for any help.


Rick Wells

 

[shred]

Pop on over to www.cartertools.com -- the proprietor of that site, dedicated to the Taig lathe and milling machine also does jewelry.

Here's one article from the site: http://www.cartertools.com/mandrel1.html

 

[tmuir]

Thanks for that link.
Besides giving me a tool to make for my silversmithing it was informative for me with the lathe too.

 

[Tin Falcon]

Interesting link that could be a handy tool to have in the shop.
Tin

 

[Powder keg]

I made a thumb ring out of stainless for my wife. She said "I didn't know you could make that kind of stuff". I told her "Baby, I can make damn near anything:O).

Thanks for the link. There's some handy stuff there.

Wes

 

[Kactiguy]

I don't know anything about making rings, but I stumbled across a few that look like they were made by machinist type folks. I thought they were neat so I thought I'd share. Might give somebody an idea.

http://www.kileygranberg.com/id67.html

http://www.fitzsu.com/contura-platinum-10mm-p-5530.html

http://www.supermarkethq.com/designer/86/products

http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2007/02/pipe_ring.html

 

[Powder keg]

Thanks Guy, I really like the nut and bolt rings:O)

Wes

 

[motormaker]

Is it just me or is that zip tie ring put together the wrong way? I like the nut and bolt rings. Kinda dirty in a anatomical sorta way.

 

[gilessim]

This is a bad picture and a bad example but I made some of these some time ago from old coins, drilling a hole and spinning them on the lathe on a tapered mandrel ,hopefully you can get the idea! , I can explain more if anyone is interested, it was an idea for a gift for someone with their year of birth visible inside, then everyone wanted one!

 

[rwells]

I have been reading some on spinning and would like to read or see more of how you did this ring. Thanks

Rick

 

[gilessim]

Hi Rick, I'm away from home right now, when I get back I'll post some pics, but it's quite simple , I use 2 tapered mandrels, 1 stepped and 1 smooth, I drill a 3/8 hole in the coin and put it on the stepped mandrel, tapping it in to place with a small hammer,shave a little off the right hand side at about 5 ° , then with a round ended polished hss spinning tool, between 2 pegs on the tool post, you can push it over about 60°, tap it off with the hammer, turn it round and with a similar tool clamped in the tool post this time , go in with the cross slide, at a slow speed(with some oil) , and you should be able to get it to go flat, now put it onto the smooth mandrel(this should be lightly grooved with finger sizes), trim a little from the "hole" side, a few taps with a small hammer ,turning it round often ,to get the right size, then a little work with a fine file to get the shape, emery cloth ,polish etc. and you're done, I hope you get the general idea here, as I said before, I'll post some pics!....Giles

P.S. I know there are a few things that may not be clear here , just ask!

 

[AllThumbs]

You will have to post a video. It's as simple as that.

 

[lathe nut]

Rwells, I made these from some stainless, drilled 1/2 hole in the solid stock, used a boring bar to get the Id, made the outside cuts then cut off the parting tool, she loved them, that is what counts, Lathe Nut

 

[rwells]

These are nice looking rings. Thanks for sharing the pic.
Rick

 

[alanganes]

Hi all,
just a lurker here, but I have turned a couple of rings on my old sheldon lathe.
I have only done this a few time, so I don't think that counts as "experience", but it shows that even a hack like me can do it. Here is a photo:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v479/alanganes/rings.jpg

They are made of 14K white gold. they are wedding bands for my oldest daughter and her husband. While they are not great art, they sure liked them!

-AL

 

[gilessim]

Hi Al , they sure look like some nice work to me!, did you manage to save the chips?, I have some gold wire and a couple of flat strips that I was given and I want to make some rings, but I'm scared about the waste! I've had this stuff for years, maybe I should just get on and make something!, you've just given me some inspiration ,I even have some gold solder!

welcome to the forum by the way, this is a cool place to share ideas!........Giles

 

[alanganes]

Thanks, Giles. I did collect all of the chips, I used some magnets to stick paper towels all over my lathe to catch the chips. At some point I am going to send them off to a refiner. I know what you mean about being scared of the waste. I have done a fair bit of similar work in silver, but working in gold has a pretty high "intimidation factor" to it. I kept envisioning my nice work suddenly melting into a blob during some final soldering operation! But as someone on a jewelers board told me, if you melt it, it's still gold!

Thanks too, for the "welcome aboard". This IS a great board, I've been reading here for a while. I love all of the plans that have been posted here. Enough to keep me busy pretty much for ever.

-AL