Five Cent Hoop Earrings

This is the sequel to my “Sweetheart Nickel Ring / Pendant”. It’s nearly the identical process. It just takes more time. In either case, you can use a nickel to make hoop earrings.

Tools:

Sliding square
Razor blade
Center punch
Small hammer
Large hammer
Mandrel (I used a pry bar)
Rotary tool
File
Drill press
Sockets
80 Grit sand paper
400 Grit sand paper
2000 Grit sand paper
Polishing Compound

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Step 1: Mark the center

Center the coin in the carpenters square. Using a razor blade score a line in the center. Rotate the coin 90 degrees and score another line. Where the lines cross is the center. Now use a punch to mark the center. This helps you in the next step.

Clamp the ring. Starting with a small drill bit, drill through the premarked center. Progressively drill a bigger hole until it will fit on the mandrel your using. I used a pry bar as the mandrel.

rhaubejoi says: Jan 8, 2012. 12:37 PM

I think this is an awesome instructable and I love all of your others too!
I do want to say to anyone who is not aware. A *lot* of women have nickel allergies and if you make something for your love and she can't wear it, don't think your efforts weren't appreciated. I am severely allergic to nickel and cannot wear it at all. It eats my skin up as if I had spilled acid on it where it comes into contact. It used to just give me infections on my ear lobes, but has gotten much worse over the years.

foxli says: Jun 9, 2011. 8:43 PM

Thank you for sharing this. Many, many years ago my husband's great-grandfather made his fiance a wedding ring out of a dime--long since lost in a flood. This may help us replicate it. :)

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Mrballeng (author) in reply to foxliJun 10, 2011. 12:34 AM

Happy to share. I bet the dime was a silver one and not nickel and copper like todays dime. You can still find them. I think they have to be minted before 1962. Thanks for the comment.

spiderham says: Jan 7, 2011. 5:22 PM

Great work. Instead of using sockets and fittings to chuck your pieces onto your drill you should try making a custom drum mandrel like the sanding drum on a dremmel. All you would need is a rubber bushing, a full thread bolt about an inch longer than the bushing, a nut to fit the bolt and two flat washers. Put the bolt through the bushing with a washer on each end and thread the nut on. As you tighten the nut, the bushing will expand onto your work piece. I've used this myself for many different projects for sanding and clamping with great success.

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Mrballeng (author) in reply to spiderhamJan 7, 2011. 5:54 PM

Thats an awesome idea. Good thinking. I remember something like that from the Army to seal bullet holes in gas tanks.

HEY YOU in reply to MrballengJan 13, 2011. 9:28 AM

Nice Job

My grandparents were amateur jewelers and used a "ring sizer" to get a ring to a particular size - it is basically a narrow steel cone that you place the ring on and smack it with a wooden mallet to size it and get it back into round if it is bent. I have no affiliation with this site, but they have a ring sizer for $3.50 - http://www.gossamerwingsdesigns.com/bracelet-sizer.htm..

If you used pieces of pipe increasing in size, you could shape a ring by hammering down rather than around.

To buff your ring, you could use a sanding drum mandrel like these from Lee Valley http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=42503&cat=1,42500,42501 but you can do the same thing with a small piece of rubber air hose, a bolt, a washer and two nuts (one to squeeze the hoe against the ring blank, and one to lock it in place)

Again, Very Nice work and good Luck

susanrm in reply to HEY YOUFeb 13, 2011. 8:41 AM

Unfortunately, looks like the mini sanding kit is no longer sold by Lee Valley.

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Mrballeng (author) in reply to HEY YOUJan 14, 2011. 11:49 AM

Thanks for all the great info. I'm checking out the sites right now.

sanewby says: Jan 15, 2011. 4:28 AM

very cool!

PeachyPete says: Jan 13, 2011. 7:03 AM

So is there never any annealing needed? (to stop it cracking and to make the hammering easier) Do you know exactly what kind of alloy the 5 and 10 cent pieces are made of? Is it nickel plus something else or just nickel? From what I see I guess it doesn't get work hardened then?

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Mrballeng (author) in reply to PeachyPeteJan 14, 2011. 12:04 PM

According to wikipedia a 5 cent US nickel is %75 Copper %25 Nickel. I have'nt used a dime yet but the same site says it's 91.67% Copper 8.33% Nickel.

I use the coin as is. You could anneal it if you want but I think it turns out fine for what it's used for.

Really, I've never tried anything other then just strait hammering but I'll give it a try and see how it goes.

I'm working on a two coin pendant. I'm hoping to have it posted before Valentines Day.

padawanspider in reply to PeachyPeteJan 13, 2011. 1:04 PM

According to Wikipedia, United States nickels are made from an alloy of 75% copper and 25% nickel, except for the "wartime nickels" (mid-1942 to 1945: 56% copper, 35% silver and 9% manganese.)

I know that Titanium is a very hard metal, yet is very, very slow to work-harden; this may also be true about the nickel coin alloy, since nickel is also a very hard metal. (Only a guess - I realize nickel and titanium probably have little in common other than both being corrosion-resistant).