Eternity Ring Construction

Occasionally when making an interesting new project I'll take photos all though the process, collate them and put them up on my Facebook Jewellery Page, Anna Claire Art Jewellery. Quite a lot of people seem to really like following along and I love sharing it. The only drawback my job as an artist is working alone, but when I share some of what I do it's not so lonely. 

This here is a series from the Facebook page all put together into one bog post. Enjoy!

The Process

After consultation with the client about the design, I worked out the nitty gritty of it. I haven't made something quite like this before, and I've learnt from experience it's best to figure out what I'm doing before I start.

One of the first things to do is knock up a cardboard-and-sellotape model to check that my 2D drawing and 3D idea in my head are of the same thing:

Making the ring shank. Instead of cutting a wire to length, I cut out a strip of sheet to get the proportions exactly right. It's bent so the ends meet, then soldered and forged so that it's round. This one needs to be size M when it's done, so to size it I had to saw it open and re-solder a few times. I've made it a bit smaller than M, because material will be removed from the inside of the shank by the end of the whole making process. 
Top right pic is the shank after I've sanded the sides flat and smooth.

The ring shank is just right and flat on both sides, so next I measure and cut out the sheet silver for the sides of the ring.

Here I've marked the ring shank where I want the narrow sides to fit in. I cut them out of sheet, file notches in the shank to fit, and solder the shank, sides and front plate together:

I used a jeweller's loupe to inspect the solder joints. They're good, so I sand it flat and solder on the back plate. When I'm sure all the solder joints are of the upmost integrity, it goes in the pickle (sulphuric acid solution) which removes the flux and whitens the oxidised silver.

All the soldering is done and it's time to shape it. In the first pic I'm using a fishbelly file to make the shank oval. 
With my other rings that are wider, I use a 2.5mm wide band in a rectangle shape to keep the ring stable on your finger. This one will be quite small so I'm making the shank oval. It feels extra nice when you slide it on your finger. 
Also using some little rubber sanders to make it beautifully curved and smooth.

Here's the hallmark: my ACT stamp and 925. 
The ACT stamp is my initials in a simple design to show I made the work. The 925 signifies sterling silver, which is 925 parts pure silver and 75 parts copper. It is illegal to mark anything that is not sterling silver with this stamp.

Usually I set my little stones on a bed of black and red garnet sand, but with this ring there just isn't space for sand grains. The stones definitely look best on a dark background, so I decide to paint the bottom of the ring setting. 
First pic is a tester of the acrylic paint under resin, it appears stable so I painted the bottom of the ring. I didn't have a small enough paintbrush to be accurate, so bottom pic is me removing paint that got on the side.

I spent ages finding the right stones. They had to be the right size to within 0.2mm, then to be good colours and fit in well together. 
Then when I'm finally happy with the arrangement, I mix up and pour in the resin. Bottom left pic it's almost set.

Pic 1: Using a compass to mark about where I'm going to file. 
Pic 2&3: the ring is in a vise and start filing. I'm pretty nervous at this stage. I hadn't made a final decision about the exact shape of the top of the ring before now, so I'm working slowly and thinking hard, making judgement calls as I go. I can take material off but not put it on again! 
Pic 4: When I'm satisfied with the overall shape I sand by hand to get the curves smooth.

I polish the inside and outside of the ring and inspect it closely for any faults in the polish. All good, so the I use a Scotch-Brite pad to make a matt finish on the sides. The matt contrasts with the high polish to make it sparkle even more.

Final polish with the good polishing cloth that's saved for final polishes, check the size (a perfect M, excellent), photograph it and send it away. 
Another of my babies sent out into the big world, to go on adventures with its wearer.

Another pic of it all done. Very pleased with how it's turned out.