Does anyone know of a source of ring stretchers that will work on very small rings? I’ve got a couple of models, a table mount one and
a hand held screw type, but neither one of them goes to a small enough
size to help me with this latest ring, a size 3.
I’m thinking that it might be possible to dismantle the cheaper hand
held model and grind away some material in order to reduce the minimum
size, but that’s a rather drastic solution.
Ideally, I’d like one of the table mounted models in a very small
size, the smaller the better, as even a mid-sized ring could start out
so small that the regular one won’t go in.
You could use a bezel mandril, fix the handle in a vice, hammer the
back of the ring on the mandril with a leather mallet or use a
planishing hammer. Any marks sand and polish out. Works fine for me.
Ed Dawson Maine Master Models making models to the trade
You could use a bezel mandril, fix the handle in a vice, hammer
the back of the ring on the mandril with a leather mallet or use a
planishing hammer. Any marks sand and polish out. Works fine for
me.
That only works with solid rings; mine are knots tied in wire, and
any hammering has to be directed very carefully, never from the edge.
Wouldn’t want to have to sand marks from a piece of wire that could be
as narrow as 0.025" – heck, I don’t even like to spend much time on
the buffer with these things! They stand up well over time, but
not if one deliberately eats away at the metal.
My usual strategy is to slip a ring onto a billiards cue with a piece
of glossy finished paper and twist it as far up the shaft as I can,
but I made such a small ring this time that the proportion of metal to
size makes that a much more difficult proposition. Looks like I may
have to make a new one with thinner wire, though I hate to go below
twenty five thousandths. It’ll be up to the customer, once I get it up
to the right size. If it’s too wide for her, I’ll have no choice. What
the heck, another extra ring for the display case, nothing gets
wasted.
Loren, here’s a wacky idea for you. You could use a regular ring
mandrel, and put the ring over the tip, but before doing that, slip
some (about 4) long, thin, narrow metal pieces around the mandrel, so
that they protrude past the edge of the mandrel, forming an extension.
Then, slip the ring over these, leaving the metal strips as a buffer
between the ring and the mandrel. Then you could hold the ring firm
and gently tap the metal edges on the ends (extended part of the
mandrel), pushing them further onto the mandrel, and taking the small
ring with them, thereby stretching it out…
Not sure if that makes any sense at all, my textual communication skills may
not be up to snuff. I’d be happy to email you a drawing if you like.
Good Luck!
-Drew Drew@fiodh.com
Port Hueneme, CA… Where it seems we are always under a marine layer!
They stand up well over time, but