Introduction: The Soldering Tin Wire Ring

By Much more DIY projects I made
About: I love designing cool gadgets... I'm also Founder at Lumi Industries where we design awesome 3D Printers and Holographic displays!

Ever wanted to create a piece of jewellery with materials around house?

I'm sure you have seen that it is possible, but what if we want a metal ring with a gemstone on it?

We can, using soldering tin wire and a gemstone that has an excellent look and costs just about 2-3 couples of coffee.

Except the gemstone, we will use only materials and tools that almost everybody has already around house, that is always a good thing, beacuse trying to do something using only things that you already have leads to more Efficient use of resources, less waste and this is a good steep toward a greener planet... and also cut down costs ;)

Not to mention you don't have to out to buy materials and tools...

DISCLAIMER:
1) Use Lead Free Tin Only.
2)This instructable is for entertainment in making a piece of jewellery.
It is not supposed that you make a ring that you will wear for the rest of your life.
Instead it should be an item that you place on some cushion and say "I made it", or for your girlfriend to say "my boyfriend made it for me" when friends will come to your home

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Step 1: Materials

Here are the materials you will need.

-Soldering tin wire

-A 3v battery, or 2 AA batteries, it doesent matter as long as it gives enough power to the

-Small electric motor (Usually requires 3v) to spin with enough power.

-Soldering station

-A metal bottle cap and a small metallic object with a cilindrical shape
(Later we will discuss about it)

-The gemstone

-Extra: some electric wires, small pieces of PVC or similar material, paper and pen, a solid cutter and some grinding paper.

Step 2: The Gemstone

For this design I have choosen to use a Peridot gemstone.

You can of course use any kind of gemstone you want, or re-use one from a broken pisece of jewelery, or grow one yourself... I'll leave this to you.

I didn't have any gemstones around, so I Have serached for a nice gemstone with a very low cost, and ended up with this one, ordered from an ebay seller for about 2-3 Euros (3-4dollars).

It has a diameter of 6mm, 2,57 Karat, and is very clear with very little inclusions.

This was the only part I had to buy, and i am still impressed how these ultra cheap gemstones are nice and shiny and cool ;)

Step 3: Design the Ring

Now before we start we ahev to decide the size of the ring.

Decide who will wear it.

With a ring template (you can find as many as you want making a Google search of "Printable Ring Size"), measure which ring size he/she has.

The image below is from "How to Determine your Ring Size", By XaGeJa, eHow Member.

Once you have done it, here's the little difficult part: find a small, cylindric metal object around your house, that has exactly the same size of the finger's diameter.

(You will find it, I can assure you, it is easier than you may think ;)

Step 4: The Mold

Put the metallic cylinder inside the bottle cap. You should have a gap of about 3-4mm around the cylinder.

Step 5: Prepare the Wire

Cut some tin wire, you have to make 3-4 pieces about 40 - 50 cm long, then shape them as "8".

Step 6: Prepare the Casting

Bend the tin "8" you have made, and put them in the gap inside the mold. Try to fit the space.

Step 7: Tin Melting

Holding the cylinder firmly in place, melt the tin with you solder, waiting until all the tin is melt.

You can then add some more 8-shaped tin pieces and melt again until you have a solid ring about 5-6 mm tall.

Remove the cap and the cylinder and you should get...

Step 8: The (raw) Ring

You have now a very raw ring. Just look if it is a uniform piece of metal, if it is not, then go back to the melting step.

Step 9: The Homemade Milling Machine

A basic milling machine will be used to give the ring it's right profile.

The machine is made by cutting 3 rectangular pieces of PVC 3mm (or similar material).
One will be the base, the other 2 will keep the motor in place.

The motor should be connected th its battery with a switch.

A circle of PVC is cut, with a hole in the middle so it can be put on the axis of the motor.
The tin ring will pe pressed around this adaptor so it should be the same size of the inner diameter of the ring.

By rotating the Tin Ring, and working with a cutter and grinding paper as is spins, you can give the Tin Ring its right profile.

Step 10: Refining the Ring (1)

Refining with the milling machine.

Step 11: Preparing the Gemstone Socket

Solder the disc to the ring as in Picture 1.

Finally, Solder 4 balls of tin on the side of the tin disc.

Carve the inside of the disc making the gemsotne socket. Put the gem in it, look if it is deep and cetered enough, repeat until it is done. (Picture 3)

Step 12: Shaping the Gemstone Holders.

Put the gemstone in.

Solder another 4 balls of tin over the previous 4, put closer to che center of the disc, so they will hold the gemstone in place.

Repeat with another 4.

Step 13: Final Refining

With the cutter you can give shape to the 4 gemstone holders, sculpting them cutting tiny parts of tin at a time.

Finally, with very fine grinding paper, finish the ring removing all the imperfections and making it shiny and smooth.

Very well done ;) Now you have a ring that you can give to your girlfiriend with pride ;)

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