Fabricating Mans Silver ring

Jewelry Discussion
1

I am very much a beginner and I do hope that someone will be able to
help. I have been learning silver smithing at evening classes for a
year now. I have completed six separate projects which I am delighted
with and I also work with silver in any spare time I have from the
day job!! I also spend all my spare ‘pocket money’ acquiring my own
tools and have the basic equipment. I have just enrolled again for
the second year, the first lesson was this week. Unfortunately I have
had a phone call to say that my tutor is unable to continue the
classes for the rest of this term due to personal reasons. This
leaves me with a very special Christmas present to finish without
access to the tool I had planned to use and this is where I require
some help.

The item in question is a mans ring, very heavy, 1 and half to 2
centimeters wide and 2 millimetres thick. My plan was to cut out
three Rune stone designs (simple patterns, - eg an ‘F’ shape, a
square with curved corners and a zigzag line and then use a cold
enamel to fill them in to make a flush pattern. I spoke to my tutor
on Monday and she said she would show me how to use the big mounted
drill to do these patterns on the ring but we would have to do it in
a couple of weeks when she had got the new students started on their
projects.

Now I am stuck or am I?? I have no access to the drilling equipment
in the college now and the other jewellery classes in my area are
already full Would it be possible to file these patterns out by hand?
If so is there a special sort of file to do this?? I also have a
dremel drill if I bought a flexishaft for it (which I am prepared to
do) would this work?? Or is there another way I could do this?

I would be grateful if anyone can offer me help with this please.

Shauneen
Sending Reiki and Bright Thoughts to her Tutor in her troubled times

2 
Now I am stuck or am I'' I have no access to the drilling
equipment in the college now and the other jewellery classes in my
area are already full Would it be possible to file these patterns
out by hand' If so is there a special sort of file to do this'' I
also have a dremel drill if I bought a flexishaft for it (which I
am prepared to do) would this work'' Or is there another way I
could do this'

Sure, buy a flex shaft. Though, rather than buy the attachment for
your Dremel, I would at least consider a complete flex shaft kit
from http://www.contenti.com. You could also buy a hand drill.

No, you don’t want to file the designs. Drill and saw as planned.
Then solder on a thin piece of backing metal (if that’s your plan)
to hold the resin. Or maybe you wanted it open’ I think people use
masking tape to hold the resin in, let it cure, remove the tape. But
please don’t do that on my word without further research.

Elaine

Elaine Luther
Metalsmith, Certified PMC Instructor
http://www.CreativeTextureTools.com ™
Hard to Find Tools for Metal Clay