Neat tool idea

Jewelry Discussion
1

Hi All!

I was sitting at my bench yesterday sizing a wax ring model on my
ring mandrel and had an interesting thought. Wouldn’t it be nice to
have a ring mandrel shaped file for sizing rings? I wouldn’t care
if it had the size markings or not. Does such a thing exist?

Thanks,
Jill
http://www.jjewelry.com

2

Rio has a mandrel that has a blade running the length of it. Put the
wax ring blankon the mandrel and turn it. The blade shaves the inside
of the hole out smoothly. Flip the wax over and do the other side so
that the hole doesnt come out tapered or graduated. The mandrel is
marked with sizes , so it is relatively accurate, but dont use it as
your only guage. Ed in Kokomo

3

Hi Jill,

Is this

http://www.fdjtool.com/store/showitem.asp?Cat=79&item=21-02890&store=5

What you mean?

No affiliation with said company. Usual disclaimers apply.

Personally I use a sheet of aluminium cut in the shape of a ring
mandrel with the edges left rough so I can carve through the wax.

Hope that helps

Lee Lyssimachou
Lee Feenix Art Workshop
Greece

4 
 Wouldn't it be nice to have a ring mandrel shaped file for sizing
rings?  I wouldn't care if it had the size markings or not.  Does
such a thing exist?

Jill, Matt Tools makes two ring sizing tools. One is a mandrel with
a mounted blade running the length of the taper. You size your wax
with a backwards rotating scraping action (don’t turn the blade into
the wax with forward rotation as you’re more likely to bite and gouge
your wax) taking care to flip the wax ring over to compensate for the
taper. Also, even though the cutting mandrel has sizes marked on it,
you should measure your size on your usual mandrel to insure your
sizing protocol.

The second tool is a ring sizer that cores out wax ring tubes to
size. You then saw off the sized portion of the ring tube. This
tool is nice because you get a straight, untapered ring hole.

To see and images of these tools, visit www.dumatt.com

HTH,
Donna Shimazu

5

Thanks everyone for the replies. The ring mandrel with the razor
would have done the job, but that Matt Reamer looks awesome! Thank
you, Donna.
Have you used it? (this one:
http://www.dumatt.com/Tools%20folder%20%20%20/Tl.pg7.Ream.html)

Jill
http://www.jjewelry.com

6

Oversized Ring Mandrel for wax ring blanks.

Flea Market Specials.

I have found that a surplus snow ski pole which has been cut off at
the big tapered end, makes a good wax ring mandrel . It is 4 times
longer than a regular mandrel and the taper is much less making a
much more cylindrical form. It is much lighter and cheaper. Just use
a ring gauge to size.

ROBB.

7

Matt Wax has a marked mandrel with a blade that allows you to turn
it and shave the inside of the wax ring to the size desired. Got mine
on ebay, it’s great.

-Barb Baur