fun with metal – how to make a flower ring

You can always look into your community college ( USA) and most of them have beginners and medium metal/silversmithing courses that are not too expensive

I start out with 18 gauge sterling silver

18 gauge is 1 mm thick . I prefer that thickness as the flowers do not bend but are not too heavy either draw a circle ( use a template – its easier )

inside the circle I drew a flower

using a jewelers saw and 1/0 blades for cutting out the flower

cut out flower

I want to dome mine so I am using a dabbing block

mine is a square block with 30 domed indentations and corresponding hammers – put your flower in a ” bowl ” and take the “hammer with the ball that fits ” using a nylon hammer to pound on the end of that hammer if you do not have a dabbing block you can go with 20 gauge sterling which is thinner and bend your pedals with a pliers

domed flower

file your edges smooth

take any wire you have

I used twisted wire for the ring shank – twisted wire is easy to do or you can also buy it at riogrande or thunderirdsupply.com

cut the wire to length – file edges flat

take a needle nose pliers

bend your ring shank until edges meet

try to get the ends as close as you can together

flux your ring

I prefer paste flux add some solder and…

….start heating with a torch

heat until the solder flows , quench in water and clean in pickle solution

soldered ring shank

now comes the forming

using a ring mandrel and a nylon hammer , shape you ring shank until its round

I prefer my rings to be flat and not round

so I used a planishing hammer for flatten the ring

rounded ring shank

take some metal scrap – flux and then heat with torch

this is to make the little ball in the middle

heat the sterling until it forms a ball

here its red hot metal

turn your flower upsdide down and flux both ring shank and flower

heat with torch and solder together

flip again

flux the inside of your flower and add a small piece of solder

heat again until solder flows – add your ball of molten sterling and again flux and heat

this is after everything is soldered together

clean in pickle solution to get rid of oxidation ( blackness )

after the pickle bath

start polishing ( sand paper , steel wool )

finished

I added the smaller ring to the slightly larger one I already had