How to make rings. To make rings, you’ll need some tools like a hammer, drill, and sanding wheel. Rings never gets out of fashion & adored by men and women. So, we bring you a brief detail about the material and the process that will benefit you to make rings.
Size guide to make small to medium size rings
| Ring Size | Metric | Size in mm |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | 46.5 | 14.8 |
| 4.5 | 47.8 | 15.2 |
| 5 | 49.0 | 15.6 |
| 5.5 | 50.3 | 16.0 |
| 6 | 51.5 | 16.4 |
| 6.5 | 52.8 | 16.8 |
| 7 | 54.0 | 17.2 |
Size guide to make medium to large size rings
| Ring size | Metrics | Size in mm |
|---|---|---|
| 7.5 | 55.3 | 17.6 |
| 8 | 55.6 | 18.0 |
| 8.5 | 57.8 | 18.4 |
| 9 | 59.1 | 18.8 |
| 9.5 | 60.3 | 19.2 |
| 10 | 61.6 | 19.6 |
| 10.5 | 62.8 | 20.0 |
| 11 | 64.1 | 20.3 |
| 12 | 66.6 | 21.2 |
A guideline to ring sizes
Before we tell you how to make rings, you must understand a few factors like ring size, material, and the stones attached to it. Ring sizes of 6-9 sell well but the most popular ring size is size 7.
Rings with a size smaller than 6 are used as midi rings. Midi rings are preferred to wear on the front of the knuckle. Sizes larger than 9 are made on the customer’s special order. It is critical to make sure that you have the correct ring size.
If you take a look at the table above you will get an idea of the different ring sizes and metrics. With the basic knowledge of these measurements, you are ready to solder and shape your rings.
Measure your ring size
You need to have a handy gauge to measure the pre-made ring size. But if you don’t have a gauge then you can wrap a piece of string around your ring.
Now take this string which is depicting your ring size and place it around the mandrel.
If you don’t have a ring mandrel, then measure this piece of string with the help of a millimeter scale.
| Size of ring | Size of string in mm |
|---|---|
| Size 5 | 49 mm |
| Size 6 | 51.5mm |
| Size 7 | 54 mm |
| Size 8 | 56.5 mm |
| Size 9 | 59 mm |
| Size 10 | 61.5 mm |
Be cautious about the right ring material
Buying a ring material comes up with a lot of personal choices, but you must be cautious about your target audience. As women like to wear rings with thinner widths like 2-4mm range and men wear wider width rings with 4-8 mm rings.
You must plan everything to save your time and money. You must take into account the factors like
- How often your client will wear this ring?
- Will this shank eventually hold a stone?
- Will your stone require a wideband or a thin band to hold on?
Once you come up with the evaluation, move on to the next step which is choosing the right material for your ring.
Below are a few examples of materials used in making rings.
Sterling silver flat wire
It is a flat sterling silver wire and is used to make cuff bracelets, bangles, and ring blanks. Flat wire is sold by inches. Choose the width that works for you. Choose a smooth surface wire as it goes well for stamping and engraving.
Fancy patterned wire
These types of wires can be used for making wire wrappings, and sterling silver rings, in creating custom bracelets and jewelry fabrication projects. These wires are inspiring raw materials and you can shape them according to your client’s demand.
Sheet wire
This is one of the most fundamental raw materials used to create metalsmithing jewelry. You can get this metal in troy ounce or troy pound.
Coins to make rings
You can use any sort of coin but keep in mind that it should not be valuable. It doesn’t need to be a new one, any spare coin will work well. As in tier one, you need more practice. To make normal-sized ring quarter coins are best to start with.
Beaded rings
These are DIY rings and are great for everyday use. These rings are easy to make and are super cute. To create beaded rings, you will just need a plier, some beads, and a wire.
Summary
If you want to make a ring, you must keep into consideration the size guideline and material that you are using to create your ring. It will help you make a ring according to your client’s demand.
Now we will discuss 4 types of rings and how to make them.
Metal wire rings
Though we are making a sterling silver ring from this method, this procedure is applied to make rings from any other metal like gold, copper, or simple silver wire.
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Take a plier and cut 7.6 cm or 3 inches of wire from the coil. Measure roughly 3 inches from the wire, you can also cut a longer or a shorter piece as per your requirements. Now trim the edges of the wire.
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Selecting the width of the wire is all up to you, but we will suggest you go for a thinner wire. Thin wires are easy to bend and design.
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You should use a small coil of artistic wire to make your jewelry.
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Once cut, flatten it out and straighten it to start the work.
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If you are about to create a textured ring, take pliers and make as many dents in that wire as your design requires. The spacing between the dents could be super closed or even as per your design.
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To create a unique and stylish ring, hold this wire steady in one hand and use your dominant hand to add creativity with the help of a round nose pliers.
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If you want to create a wavy pattern in your ring, then don’t make dents in the wire. Instead grab the wire in one hand and plier in the other hand. Now start bending your wire in a downward direction first (or upward, it depends on you).
Then with the plier, switch back and forth between upward and downward directions to create a wave.
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Now take a few beads of choice, and add them to the wire. Make sure that those beads have a hole large enough for the wire to pass through them. When your beads are added, bend the wire from both sides for the beads to stay in place.
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If you want your ring to be completely beaded, go for tiny beads so that they can be strung along the entire wire.
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If you don’t have a mandrel to wrap the wire around, you can also go for a nail paint bottle cap. Once you are done with designing wrap that wire along that bottle cap to give it a shape according to your finger.
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Mark the wire you need to cut it. Now place the wire around your finger to check if it fits perfectly. Mark the ends of the wire.
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Now with pliers, cut the ring to its exact size. Twist the ends of the wire. Use acetone to remove markings from the wire.
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Grab a nail file to sand the edges of the wire. This will make your ring safe to wear. Now your ring is ready to flaunt!
Quarter Coin rings
As we stated above, it is best to make this type of ring with quarter coins, which are neither valuable nor new.
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First, choose a flat surface hard enough to be used as a base for hammering the coin. This surface could be a concrete floor, an iron bench, or any flat heavy piece of metal. Make sure that you won’t damage that surface while hammering the coin.
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You need to be careful that your fingers are not in the way while hammering the coin. Hold your coin in one hand, one end of the coin is straight up and the other end is touching the hard base. Now start hammering the coin.
Keep rotating the coin while you hammer it. Continue hammering until the coin gets a thickness equivalent to that of a ring i.e., around 0.5 cm.
Try to be patient, as hammering too hard will distort the shape of the coin.
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Now it’s time to drill the coin. Place your hammered coin on a flat, thick piece of wood. Place the coin in the center of that wood. Hold that coin with the help of a wrench to keep it steady. Do not hold the coin with your hand, as drilling may injure your fingers.
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Starting with a smaller gauge, drill a larger hole in the coin. Switch the drill to a larger size and start drilling through the coin again. The coin should have a thickness of 0.5 cm around the inches when you are finished drilling.
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Attach s sanding wheel to the drill and to even out the center of the coin. With the help of the sanding wheel thin the middle of the coin to your desired width.
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Now affix a polishing wheel or a clean cloth to your drill. Add a small portion of the polishing compound, this will get you the best shine. Rub this shining compound inside out of your ring to give it an extra finish.
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Your coin ring is ready to wear.
Stone rings
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It is easy to create a prong stone sterling silver ring using shanks and settings. You can fuse the prong setting onto your ring base. If you don’t have fusing equipment, simply buy sterling silver ring blanks. These rings have empty settings attached to them and you can easily set your stone in that prong.
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The tools you need to make this type of ring include a bezel roller and a ring mandrel. If you are about to make a calibrated stone ring, then prefer using a bezel ring set over a prong ring setting.
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Take a bezel strip wire for a custom stone setting. Wrap this string strongly around your stone. Now intersect the ends of the wire by 2-3 mm. Mark the endings with the help of a marker. Intersect their ends together to give it a finishing touch.
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Affix the stone into the bezel. If you are using a prong setting then you have to hammer to corners of the stone to fix it firmly over the stone.
Paper rings
This type of ring is more likely to have fun with creativity. You would enjoy making this ring and love wearing it.
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To make a paper ring, cut a thick colorful piece of paper. The measurement should be 2.0 by 3.9 inches or 5 by 10 cm. The paper you are using to make the ring should have some proportions but it should be twice as long as its width.
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Lay your piece of paper on a flat surface. Fold this piece of paper with the long side positioned horizontally. By bringing the top of the paper down, make a crease in the middle of the paper. Once this is done, unfold the piece of paper.
Keep in mind that you are creating a hotdog style fold in this paper.
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After you unfold this paper, position it horizontally again. Now bring the bottom edge of your paper to the middle fold. Compress this section to create a crease, then pull down the long edge from the top. Bring this end to the middle and form a crease here.
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Pick up the paper, do not unfold any crease. Just turn its smooth side towards you. Place the paper vertical by pulling the top of the paper downwards, until it reaches the end of the bottom paper. This will make a middle fold. Now press all the creases firmly.
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Create two folded triangles by bringing down each corner to the middle. Both triangles should face each other. Press the creases to make them nice and flat.
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Once creases are flattened, unfold the two triangles. To make the paper elongated and skinny, unfold the vertical side. Once this process is done, your paper will be folded half vertically again. The shape of this paper is now like a short pencil with a pointed tip.
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Lay this paper horizontally again. The tip of this piece of paper should be facing left. Bring the long edge of the paper to the center to make a crease. Repeat the same procedure with the top long edge and bring it to the middle.
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Flip this paper to fold it into two other long edges. Pull the bottom long edge to the middle and make a crease. Do the same with the top long edge.
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When you unfold the long vertical side, a diamond shape is formed in the middle of this long, skinny piece of paper.
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Wear the ring on your finger with the diamond facing upward.
Summary
In the above section, we have discussed the process of making four different types of rings, the tools required to make these rings, and the tips to keep in mind.
Some frequently asked questions (FAQs) about how to make rings.
1: What is a prong-set Stone ring?
The prong setting in the ring has four or six metal prongs, these prongs extend up from the ring’s basket and over the gemstone. This type of setting helps to secure the stone in place.
2: How long do ring prongs last?
Prongs need to be re-tipped every 6 – 10 years.
3: Are prong set engagement rings good?
Yes, they are chosen by both jewelers and the consumers.
4: How do Jewelers tighten prongs?
Jewelers tighten prongs by moving them in two different directions to fix them firmly.
5: What is a bezel ring setting?
A bezel setting is a type of setting where a ring of metal enfolds around a gemstone to hold it in a place.
6: Are bezel rings trendy?
As compared to prong setting rings, bezel rings are a less popular option for rings.
7: How to make a homemade ring?
To make a simple ring from wire, start cutting a 3-inch piece of wire from the coil with pliers. Use the pliers to bend the wire to look wavy. Then, add your favorite beads onto the wire and now bend it on each side so that the beads stay in place.
8: How much wire do I use to make a ring?
You’ll need a piece that is between 3″ (7.6 cm) and 5″ (12.7 cm) long, depending on how big you’d like to make your ring.
9: What metal is used to make rings?
Sterling silver is a great option because it’s good for rings, bracelets, belt buckles, body jewelry, etc.
10: How long does it take to make a ring?
To make a hand-crafted ring takes between 4-and 6 weeks.
Conclusion
To make a ring is not only fun but it also soothes your aesthetic nature. However, you must be well aware of using the right material and tools as stated in the above article. While using these tools and wires you must be cautious as you could hurt yourself.
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