Washer Rings AKA Coin Rings
All of the rings in the top picture are custom silver rings formed from washers; at least half of these rings were based on modified washers or washers completely produced with the help of a Desktop CNC Machine. For an example of a washer that was completely formed using a CNC Machine, look at the picture of the shell design. This creation started out as a sheet of 12-gauge .925 sterling silver.
Shown in the next picture is another silver washer; this washer is made from a 90% silver US Half Dollar (pre-1965).
Now that we have our washer, the next step is to form or forge the washer into a ring.
If you are in the jewelry business, then you probably know all about forming washers into rings. Whenever I bring up my joyous hobby of ring making, I do manage to make sales to friends and colleagues from time to time. Word-of-mouth method works, though other social alternatives work better. Christmas and Valentine's Day are the best holidays when it comes to selling silver coin rings (IMO).
If you are in the jewelry business, then you probably know all about forming washers into rings. Whenever I bring up my joyous hobby of ring making, I do manage to make sales to friends and colleagues from time to time. Word-of-mouth method works, though other social alternatives work better. Christmas and Valentine's Day are the best holidays when it comes to selling silver coin rings (IMO).
Shown in the next picture is a ring mandrel being used to size-up a 1945 Silver Quarter Coin Ring.
A couple tools of the trade for this type of ring making is a rawhide hammer and metal ring mandrel. To form a ring band that was recently soldered together back into a circular shape, a jeweler typically grabs the trusty mandrel and hammer first. For forming a flat washer into a ring, these basic tools will do the job alright, though it may take a while to hammer a flat coin into a size 15!
I use the HF mallet to first hammer the ring to a size close to its target size. Then, I use the rawhide mallet to finalize the ring to its final target size.
For ring stretching to a 1/2 to full size adjustment, I usually reach for my Durston ring stretcher first; then finalize with the Rawhide mallet and mandrel.
The Durston 6-spline ring stretcher is shown below. Also notice the double-sided reducing die plate that comes standard with the Durston.
For ring stretching to a 1/2 to full size adjustment, I usually reach for my Durston ring stretcher first; then finalize with the Rawhide mallet and mandrel.
The Durston 6-spline ring stretcher is shown below. Also notice the double-sided reducing die plate that comes standard with the Durston.
