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ring sealing?
i like to make my own jewlery, and i like to make rings. but for the life of me i can never seal the gap between the metal to form a nice solid ring. doe anyone know a site with instructions? is it a term i dont know that as a key word would get me results? sorry for lack of grammer correction im typeing faster then normal and im strapped for time
thank you for any help
update, i should have said mostly use steel as a medium, silver and gold is a bit out of my price range, but do have silver solder lead free. the help so far has been great thank you all so much.
Comments
8 years ago
http://www.cooksongold.com - Read through their technical forum and knowledgebase
Answer 8 years ago
Silver soldering is the method most often used although it may depend o the materials you are using.
Riveting,
Welding
And making the rings open are the common ways
Read the Cookson site. you will enjoy it.
8 years ago
In general, jewelry rings are 'closed' as tightly as possible, then soldered or brazed with an appropriate solder (metal that once melted is willing to form a physical bond with the metal being joined, ideally the same colour and similar strength). Some metal rings can be welded, but its hard to get butt ends of a ring to weld.
The trick is to get the ends lined up as closely as possible - from my chainmaille work, I know it can be a real pain if the metal has any real springback. I like to close the ring with the ends offset so it forms a smaller diameter, then stretch the ring barely open enough to line up the ends, and then move the ends into place so the ring naturally wants to be closed, with its own internal stress holding the joint closed.
As for soldering/brazing it all comes down to picking the right solder. There are various mixes for working with gold, silver, tin, aluminum (braze), etc.