Ever wondered how jewelry is made? This is a quick run through of how I make the alphabet rings I sell in my shop, for those who are interested.
First I cut out a piece of copper into the shape of an oval (or sometimes I buy the blanks already cut out from a supplier) and then I stamp them randomly with letter stamps to form the jumbled letter pattern. I then drill two small holes in each side of the blank.
Next, I take sterling silver wire and ball the ends. After this is done I insert the balled wire into the blank and cut the wires and ball them on the other side. I am left with something that looks like this.
This is the next stage. I have formed the ring shank and soldered it but haven't formed it into a ring yet. Also here you can see the balled wire a bit better.
The shank is ready to be formed as is the blank.
After that, I take the ring shank and form it into a rounded shape. Then I take the copper blank and give that a nice curve with a bit of a wave where the silver balls are on the blank.
Once that has been finished you can put them together and solder them. This is what the look like at that stage, just after having been soldered together, before cleaning off the fire scale.
This is the final product. After cleaning off the firescale I brish the whole ring with a steel brush under running warm water with soap. Then I apply a patina to darken the copper. After that I use a fine grit sandpaper to sand off the higher areas, making the ring look a bit distressed, while keeping the patina in the deeper areas, creating a contrast. Finally, I apply a sealant lacquer so that the copper won't change colors or interact with your skin.
Once this ring is finished and lacquered it is shipped out to it's new owner.
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial on how this ring is made!
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