Hi,
Anyone out there with any experience in producing wedding ring bands on a
lathe? I am interested in knowing how the blanks are produced pre-lathe
cutting. Also work holding systems and tool stations. Anyone in the
industry with the know-how willing to share please get in touch.
Thank-you
Martyn, RINOPAI, New Zealand.
I worked for a jewelry manufacturing company years ago that made silver
bands using a lathe. They used seamless tubing made to order in the ring
size that they wanted and fed it through the spindle hole. I am not quite
sure what the cutoff setup was, however, but they seemed to crank them out
quickly. Most machinists could make the proper tooling.
Richard D. Hamilton
A goldsmith on Martha’s Vineyard
USA
Fabricated 14k, 18k, 22k, and platinum Jewelry
wax carving, modelmaking, jewelry photography,
and sailing whenever I can…
http://www.rick-hamilton.com
Anyone out there with any experience in producing wedding ring bands on
a lathe?
Martyn,
Not sure if you intend to do this for a single set or for production, but
I have made wedding bands by using my flex shaft as a lathe. I start with
a circular piece of wax, stick it on a mandrel, and use a flat edge,
graver, file, ect. to shape it. I have also done this for other things
besides rings that I wanted to be round and symmetrical.
is it possible to get silver seamless tubing with a 2.8 mm wall
thickness? still no one with any knowhow on how the rings are held on the
lathe?
Cheers,
martyn-- RINOPAI, NZ.
Hi Martyn,
Anyone out there with any experience in producing wedding ring bands on
a lathe?
You didn’t indicate wether you’re going into mass production or making a
small quantity (<5). I’ve never made precious metal items in a lathe, but
I’ve made lots of other stuff. The principles of turning don’t vary much
between materials.
The techniques could vary depending on the quantity to be made & the
material used (solid, tubular etc). If you’re just making a small quantity, the
technique will vary with the type of equipment you have available.
Basically there are 3 ways to hold tubular or round stock in a lathe, a
chuck, a collet or a mandrel. Each has specific applications, disadvantag
es & advasntages.
E-mail off list if you want more info.
A couple of times over the years I have had ocassion to lathe
elements for wedding rings. I did so by lathing wax, casting my elements
and then fabricating the finished piece of jewelry. If I needed plain or
milgrained wedding bands I would pick up the phone order the piece
un-finished in whatever width, half round, thicker, inside-round, white
yellow to the size I needed it. Have it tomorrow, tripple key the puppy
and have more time to spend on the computer… With no leftover gold
ribbon to sweep up. There are somethings that others can make far faster
and cheaper than I can. I find that allowing them to do their thing frees
me up to mine.
While I mfg almost everything that I sell, wedding bands aren’t
on the list. Now having said that, ring blanking stock is available from
most major metals supply people, it’s tubing, seamless, and can be
ordered in a variety of wall thicknesses. Lathes can be expensive…
There is wide variety of materials that could be lathed into wedding bands
that aren’t on the commercial market. and there a good many things that
could be done that aren’t difficult to do that would probably sell… But
at a profit? hmmmm stay happy Brad
Hi, thanks for your responce. I am already turning rings on a lathe. I am
basically preparing ring blanks for further work. I am doing quite a few
and am trying to streamline the process. i.e. get the correct tooling ,
holding system and tool posts sorted out. The industry does use such
equipment in a big way so I am trying to see if there is some one about
who is experienced .
looking forward to some more responces.
contact me off list if preferred.
cheers
martyn— @RINOPAI
is it possible to get silver seamless tubing with a 2.8 mm wall
thickness? still no one with any knowhow on how the rings are held on
the lathe?
You could probably have it made though the tooling charge would probably
be prohibitive unless you were ordering hundreds of ounces at a time. Most
sterling tubing that I’ve seen has a wall thickness in the 1mm range, or
less for smaller diameter tubing. Myron Tobak in NYC has a wide variety of
sterling tubing, but nothing with that wall thickess in the (old) catalog
that I have. Contact Gold Machinery about the tooling questions- they have
an amazing collection. Truck freight to NZ, though…
Good luck
Rick Hamilton
Richard D. Hamilton
A goldsmith on Martha’s Vineyard
USA
Fabricated 14k, 18k, 22k, and platinum Jewelry
wax carving, modelmaking, jewelry photography,
and sailing whenever I can…
http://www.rick-hamilton.com