Experienced craftsmen make rings from coins, preserving the patterns and inscriptions. Our task is simpler: to produce a ring in just one day with a smooth inner surface and a textured outer surface.
Will need
We select the coin depending on the size of the ring being made.
In addition, we will need a small wooden block and a short piece of wire. Unlike materials, tools and devices, you will need much more:
- drill and bit;
- hammer with a hemispherical striker;
- vices and pliers;
- center punch and round file;
- gas-burner;
- conical mandrel;
- felt-tip pen and ruler;
- medium and fine sandpaper;
- thin steel wool;
- polishing paste and cloth;
- polyethylene film, etc.
The process of converting a coin into a ring
Using a ruler and a felt-tip pen, we find the center of the coin and mark it.
To make it easier to process the coin, release it, heating it in the flame of a gas burner until it glows bright red, and cool it in water.
We clamp the coin in a vice and drill a hole in the center along the core.If it turns out to be smaller than the input diameter of the conical mandrel, increase it with a round file and clean the edges with sandpaper.
Having placed the coin on the mandrel, we begin to hit the piece of wood resting against the coin with a hammer and move it along the rod, increasing the size of the hole, but at the same time the metal is being strengthened.
Therefore, during this operation, it is necessary to heat and cool the workpiece in water several times.
After the ring reaches the required size, we smooth out the sides and hammer the workpiece, turning the mandrel until it takes the shape we need.
We sand the ring outside and inside, first with medium-grain sandpaper, then switching to fine-grain sandpaper, and finishing with fine steel wool.
To properly polish a ring, you need to determine what metal it is made of. If it is a copper-nickel alloy, then we use metal polishing paste. We apply it to a soft cotton napkin and polish the surface of the product being manufactured until a characteristic shine appears.
We wrap plastic film around the mandrel, place the ring on it and move it along the rod until it fits tightly. Then, using a hammer with a hemispherical striker, we begin to beat the outside of the ring to obtain a forged textured surface. After this, we sand the edges of the ring and it is ready to wear.
But the ring can still be given a certain color. To do this, remove dirt, grease and fingerprints from it. We hang the ring with a copper wire and heat it evenly from a distance of at least 25 mm.
Depending on the heating time, the ring first turns yellowish, then red, purple and blue. If you overheat it, it will turn black, which is undesirable.
To remove a color you don’t like, simply polish the metal. Instead of a textured look, patterns and lettering can be created on the ring using metalworking tools.
Original article in English
