Making two tone gold ring

I need to make a two tone gold ring. I am starting with a white gold
band of 6mm in width and want a yellow gold ring in the center of
that band using 18 or 16 gauge square wire. If I make the white gold
band and make the yellow gold wire ring how do I connect the two so
there is no gap when I solder the yellow gold to the white gold band?
I have tried it using silver and copper and always there is a gap
even though I tried to make the band a little undersized and hammer
it up to meet the wire ring on top. Do I sweat solder the yellow gold
wire? I am just at a loss as to how to do this and make it look
good.

Thanks for any suggestions anybody can give me.
Lona

Hi Lona,

Although there will be plenty of comments about this my idea would be
to sandwich a three piece ring together leaving no gap at all. Sweat
solder them together. This way you don’t have to fool around with
guessing the size of the white gold band when you stretch it up to
meet the yellow gold band.

Russ-TJCI, Inc.

Lona- For that job we use an old fashioned ring stretcher. Make your
white gold band a bit small. Anneal it. Slide your yellow one over
it. Then stretch the white band up til the yellow is snug. You can
find ring stretchers in jewelry tool catalogues, but most trade
shops have them for quick sizing jobs on plain bands. Got to your
local trade shop and see if they’ll do it for you if you don’t want
to invest in one.

Have fun and make lots of jewelry.
Jo Haemer
www.timothywgreen.com

I have tried it using silver and copper and always there is a gap
even though I tried to make the band a little undersized and
hammer it up to meet the wire ring on top. Do I sweat solder the
yellow gold wire? I am just at a loss as to how to do this and make
it look good. 

I publish DVD “Coronet Cluster” http://www.ganoksin.com/gnkurl/fp
which addresses the issues that you are raising. Cluster is
constructed of 4 ovals fitting together. The method shown should be
useful for what you are trying to do.

Leonid Surpin

Hello Lona,

I’d solder the two metals together BEFORE shaping the ring, creating
a flat piece of stock. If using 6mm half-round, it would be helpful
to flatten the top a bit, so that the square wire fits well.
Soldering should anneal things so that you can shape the ring. Some
white gold alloys are more friendly to forging and shaping, so choose
one of those for your ring.

Judy in Kansas, where the tomatoes have quit producing, but the
peppers are coming on!

Lona, Can you clarify what you mean by “gap?”

G. Strickland, GJG

I think using copper as a “stand in” is part of the problem. Copper
is a bugger to solder.

Jo,

Make your white gold band a bit small. Anneal it. Slide your yellow
one over it. Then stretch the white band up til the yellow is snug. 

This makes a lot of sense to me although I don’t have a ring
stretcher, I think it would solve my problem. Can you tell me if you
sweat solder the inside of the yellow gold before sliding it over
the white? I would think if you added the solder later, there would
be no way to keep it from flowing onto the white band.

Thanks so much.
Lona

Hi Gary,

Lona, Can you clarify what you mean by "gap?" 

I want the solder to flow all the way around to solder the yellow
gold to the white and it will flow almost all the way around but
there will be a section that must be too slack and isn’t touching so
the solder stops flowing and then I have a gap. It’s terribly
frustrating.

Thanks,
Lona

Lona

Can you tell me if you sweat solder the inside of the yellow gold
before sliding it over the white? 

I’d just solder afterwards. Careful torch work should be enough to
control the solder flow. I’m willing to bet that the solder will
want to flow up onto the yellow first since it has less mass than the
white. Once you have the yellow band snug and in place you could take
a sharp scribe or 8/0 blade and lightly score the white just at the
edge of the yellow. If the scribe lines are clean the solder will
want to flow there.

Have fun and make lots of jewlery.
Jo Haemer
www.timothywgreen.com

Hi Lona,

Make your white gold band a bit small. Anneal it. Slide your
yellow one over it. Then stretch the white band up til the yellow
is snug.

Can you tell me if you sweat solder the inside of the yellow gold
before sliding it over the white? I would think if you added the
solder later, there would be no way to keep it from flowing onto
the white band. 

If you don’t have a ring stretcher, you might try a ring mandrel.

Slide the rings down the mandrel& when they get to tight to slide,
tap them down with a hammer until the gap between the rings closes.

Use a hammer that won’t damage the rings or place something over the
rings that won’t damage it& hammer on that. Hammer 1 side down until
the gap is closed, Then remove the rings from the mandrel, turn it
around & slide it on the mandrel to do the 2nd side.

Dave

Lona, if you have a good solder joint on the yellow ring and have
created a groove to sit it in the white band, once you stretch the
white band up to get to the yellow you won’t need to solder it to the
white. I t will be tight enough so it won’t spin if you take the
white band up far enough.

R Hyder The Jewelry CAD Institute

Hi Russ,

Although there will be plenty of comments about this my idea would
be to sandwich a three piece ring together leaving no gap at all.
Sweat solder them together. This way you don't have to fool around
with guessing the size of the white gold band when you stretch it
up to meet the yellow gold band. 

For the life of me I can’t visualize what you are trying to tell me.
I don’t know what you mean by sandwich a three piece ring together.
I hope you can clarify it a little though as it sounds intriguing to
me.

Thanks,
Lona

It will be tight enough so it won't spin if you take the white band
up far enough. 

This is my approach, I find that there is no need to solder the
bands together once the inner band is stretched up to capture the
outer one they will not move.

James Binnion
James Binnion Metal Arts

hi Lorna, sorry for a late response, i’ve been neglecting orchid
recently!

i used to work for a firm in the uk that specialised in bi-colour
wedding bands.

without getting technical on different ways to approach the issue
(although if anyone requests i would be more than happy to share),
the easiest way without a ring stretcher, would be to use a solid
centre band with two white gold edges.—>if your total width is
6mm, then make two white gold bands 1.2mm leaving room to file and
finish and make your centre 4 mm (adjust according to style!).

round up your rings slightly deeper than required and slightly
smaller than the needed size to allow room for discrepancies. tie
all 3 with some binding wire and fuse/solder together.

for a cleaner edge you could flood some solder on to the side of the
centre ring and sand most of it off before soldering to the edges.
that way you would have less clean up on the top of the ring.

dont forget most commercial bi-coloured rings are finished
(grooved/mill-grained) with a lathe, although its possible to do a
more than adequate job by hand with a saw and needle files.

good luck, jon

Hi Jim,

This is my approach, I find that there is no need to solder the
bands together once the inner band is stretched up to capture the
outer one they will not move. 

Do you also make a groove in the white band before stretching it up
to capture the outer one? I was wondering if it would work if there
is no groove.

Thanks,
Lona

Hi Jon,

Thank you so much for the description of another way to make the
ring. I now have several options to try.

I would also like to say “thank you” to everybody who has generously
shared their knowledge on this subject. It is much appreciated.

Lona

Lona,

I have one of those ring expanders. If you would care ro risk
sending me the parts, I could try to do the expansion as mentioned.
Obviously there would be no guarantee of success but if I broke it
at least you’d get the metal back. 8)

John in Indiana

Hi Jon,

I have one of those ring expanders. If you would care ro risk
sending me the parts, I could try to do the expansion as
mentioned. Obviously there would be no guarantee of success but if
I broke it at least you'd get the metal back. 8) 

That is so nice of you to offer that. I do have a friend here in
Louisville that will do that for me. But I really do appreciate your
offering to help me out.

By the way, I have been wondering what part of Indiana you are in.
If you are close to Louisville, it would be great to meet you. I am
just being curious but I think the people on this forum are so
helpful and friendly and it is a community of like-minded people that
if we are close in proximity we could be great friends.

Thanks for the offer.
Lona

Lona,

I quite agree! This is the place for anything one needs to know and
everyone is so gracious and glad to share! I appreciate so much the
kindness and the knowledge I gain on a daily basis even though I am
just a hobbyist.

I am in the Indianapolis area so am right in the center of the
state. I don’t get to Louisville hardly ever but be sure to let me
know if you are ever up this way!

John in Indiana