Introduction: How to Make a Wood & Hammered Silver Ring

By Zebrano Wood Craft
About: I specialise in creating wooden rings and jewellery for customers all over the world as a professional Etsy seller. I also make videos sometimes, come check out my shop at: www.ZebranoWoodcraft.etsy.com Fin…

In this DIY jewelry tutorial I will show you the process I used to make a ring with ancient bog oak and sterling silver.

This week I asked you guys on Instagram what I should use for my next project. The options were a bottle opener, acrylic off-cuts or a chunk of Bog Oak (don't snigger).

I can report that the majority of you voted for the bog oak so I decided to do what I do best and show you how I made this wood & hammered silver ring.

The piece of ancient oak was found preserved in a peat bog in the black forest area of Germany and is estimated to be at least 10,000 years old! To contrast the wood inside, the outside of the ring is sterling silver with a hammered texture and a patina from liver of sulphur.

I enjoyed this project and I hope it inspires you to make something too. The video will show you how to make a wooden ring, how to make a silver ring and how to combine them to make something truly unique!

Step 1: Tools & Materials

've included Ebay links to materials and equipment in the description of this video and if you use one of my links and purchase any item on Ebay within 24 hours then I receive a small reward. This does not effect the price you pay in any way and is just a way that you can support me to keep on making free videos “for you … the people”.

Bog Oak:
Ebay USA: http://ebay.to/2kle9pw

Ebay UK: http://ebay.to/2lyvHne

Sheet Silver

Ebay USA: http://ebay.to/2lyvHne

Ebay UK: http://ebay.to/2lyvHne

Liver of Sulphur

Ebay USA: http://ebay.to/2lyvHne

Ebay UK: http://ebay.to/2lyvHne

Bench bandsaw

Ebay USA: http://ebay.to/2is9jqH

Ebay UK: http://ebay.to/2ihfe5G

Wood lathe

Ebay USA: http://ebay.to/2i3zkA8

Ebay UK: http://ebay.to/2ikzGOa

Drill Press

Ebay USA: http://ebay.to/2j54bKe

Ebay UK: http://ebay.to/2jnVQAT

Jewellers Hand Tool Kit

Ebay USA: http://ebay.to/2kgLkyQ

Ebay UK: http://ebay.to/2kIhyzw

Digital Caliper

Ebay USA: http://ebay.to/2jKMT4w

Ebay UK: http://ebay.to/2kCaS6K

Ring Mandrel & ring sizers

Ebay USA: http://ebay.to/2jG4xIY

Ebay UK: http://ebay.to/2kBXmjo

Soldering Torch

Ebay USA: http://ebay.to/2k6mcIs

Ebay UK: http://ebay.to/2kHJkQQ

Jewellery saw

Ebay USA: http://ebay.to/2jstNz5

Ebay UK: http://ebay.to/2k6vXX1

Half round pliers

Ebay USA: http://ebay.to/2k6k17E

Ebay UK: http://ebay.to/2jL6cui

Bench Pin

Ebay USA: http://ebay.to/2kXc1q3

Ebay UK: http://ebay.to/2l8uTEQ

Jewellery Hammers

Ebay USA: http://ebay.to/2kHKZoc

Ebay UK: http://ebay.to/2kh78uU

Step 2: Cutting & Drilling the Bog Oak

The first task was to cut a 10mm slice of the bog oak. This stuff is mega dense but my bandsaw is a beast and handled the task with no problem – I just had to take my time.

Secondly I drilled a hole through the wood using a drill bit slightly smaller than my ring size.

Step 3: Shaping the Wooden Ring

I used my caliper to mark a circle on the wood that was 2mm wider than the hole.

With my line marked out I roughly cut the ring to shape on my bandsaw.

I continued shaping by using a sanding disk on my lathe.

When the piece of wood resembled a ring shape I mounted it on a spindle on my lathe and smashed it with a 120 grit sandpaper to make it perfectly round.

And that's basically how you make a wooden ring! I needed to get the bog oak nice and thin and I think I did a pretty good job using this method.

Now it's time to make the silver ring component.

Step 4: Cutting a Strip of Silver

I mounted my trusty bench peg on to the edge of my table and used a jewellery saw to cut a strip of silver.

To make the silver strip soft enough to work with I annealed it with my soldering torch and left it to cool.

Step 5: Preparing the Silver Ring for Soldering

I used a half round nose pliers to bend the silver into a rough ring shape and made sure the edges were touching.

I quickly cleaned the edges with a file and to ensure they'd fit together perfectly I ran my saw blade between the join of the ring. This gave me a perfect seam for soldering!

For some reason I forgot to film the part where I put the silver into a pickling solution … but I did that before soldering to clean off any oxidization!

Step 6: Soldering the Silver Ring

Soldering was the fun part … dangerous but fun part.

I brushed some soldering flux onto the seam of the ring and placed a few tiny pieces of silver solder on top.

Then I heated the ring gently and evenly before focusing the flame onto the seam of the ring to make the solder run.

I probably went a bit over the top with the heat … but hey, it worked so I don't care haha.

Step 7: Hammering the Silver Ring

After another bath in the pickle I used a raw hide mallet and a steel mandrel to hammer the ring to shape.

I kept stopping to check the inside diameter of the silver ring to ensure it would fit perfectly over the wooden ring. This took some patience and accuracy.

Step 8: Finishing and Texturing

When the silver ring was close to fitting around the wooden ring I mounted it on my lathe and cleaned up the soldering join with a file and a few grits of emery paper. This gave me a smooth and even finish to work with.

Back on my steel mandrel I used a ball pein hammer to put a texture on the ring and this process actually increased the size of the ring slightly so it was the perfect fit for the wood!

To achieve a dark patina on the silver ring I dunked it into a liver of sulphur solution for about 1 minute. It's pretty cool watching silver oxidise before you eyes!

Step 9: The Glue Up

By far the most nerve wracking part of the process was gluing the silver and wood rings together.

I found a wood off cut, wrapped some electrical tape around it (in case it got glued to the ring) and mounted the wooden ring on to it.

Then I applied an even coat of thick viscosity super glue and just pressed both parts together. I wiped away any ooze and my ring was nearly complete.

Step 10: Final Shaping & Sanding

I flattened off the edges of the ring on the disk sander and then and sanded the inside with a few grits of fine sandpaper.

The bog oak was easy to sand and finished up smooth as butter!

I used a few grits of fine emery paper to clean up the edges and outside of the silver ring. After hand sanding the details from the hammered texture really came to life.

The ancient oak had lain in a bog for millenia so I saw no point in applying a complicated finish, it's clearly pretty resistant to the elements haha.

A quick application of jojoba oil was enough to make the dark grain pop, and enhance the smooth feel of the ring.

That is how I made a hammered silver ring with an ancient bog oak liner … and I'm keeping it for myself!

Step 11: Wear It With Pride

So that's the end of the project and I am super pleased with how the ring turned out.

It's the perfect size and feels so comfortable due to the feel of the wood against my skin, that hammered texture makes it very manly looking!

I learned some stuff during this project and I hope you feel inspired to make something cool too!

You might also like the time I made a glow in the dark ring & silver ring inspired by Star Wars, or my last video where I made a Spinning fidget toy (which also glows in the dark....)

Star Wars Glow Ring

Glow In The Dark Fidget Spinner

As always thank you for watching, check out the gear in the Ebay links on the "Tools & Materials" step and subscribe to my Youtube channel if you want to see more!

High five … see you in the next one!

Valentine's Day Challenge 2017

Grand Prize in the
Valentine's Day Challenge 2017