How to Make Metal Rings

PMC can be used to make heavy and intricate rings.

While metal rings used to fall squarely into the province of professional jewelry makers with forges and anvils, better alternatives exist now for the amateur craftsman. Jewelry designers can make wire-wrapped rings and precious metal clay (PMC) pieces with almost no specialized equipment. These techniques present an additional advantage for the small designer: You can sell these rings at a higher profit margin than the rest of your pieces because you can make them quickly and easily out of cheap materials.

Things You'll Need

• 20-gauge wire
• Chain-nose pliers
• Ring mandrel
• Precious metal clay
• Brush
• Oven rack
• Gas burner
• Butane blowtorch

Instructions

Wire Wrapping

1. Cut a 12-inch piece of 20-gauge wire and wrap it around a ring mandrel twice at your desired size. The ring will shrink a little as you craft and wrap the wire, so make sure you start out with a ring a little bigger than what you need.

2. Twist the two free ends of your wire together once at the base of your ring. You should see a small knot right over the bands of wire that form the shank, or circular part, of your ring.

3. Grasp each wire and begin to wrap them around the knot with a slow, deliberate motion, keeping each wrap of the wire around the base of the knot. After three or four wraps, you will see a small rosette on the front of your ring.

4. Grab the remaining tail of wire with chain-nose pliers and draw it through the shank of the ring. Wrap the tail around the shank two or three times on each side, and then cut off the excess. This step gives structure to your ring's shank and ensures that the wires that make up the circular part of the ring don't come apart.

5. Smooth the cut edges of the wire by rubbing them with a nail file.

Precious Metal Clay

1. Shape your clay into the correct ring size, and add any decorative accents. PMC shrinks by about 8 to 9 percent when you fire it, so make sure that you start with a size larger than what you need.

2. Allow your piece to dry completely for 24 to 48 hours without moving it. If you move your ring or don't allow it to completely dry, it could crack when you fire it.

3. Smooth the rough edges off your dried piece with a brush, and etch any designs or writing that you want.

4. Place your ring onto a metal mesh or oven rack. Put the rack over one of the gas burners on your stove to fire your ring. A slightly more advanced method of firing requires you to purchase a small butane blowtorch to fire your piece. Check an advanced PMC guide for firing length requirements.

5. Brush off the surface again (after the piece has cooled) with a steel brush or steel wool to smooth it out.

References

• Basic Steps in Using Art Clay Silver