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 on the right of the shell design. This creation started out as a sheet of 12-gauge .925 sterling silver.
Shown in the picture to the left 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. But the rest of the general population knows almost nothing about this art form. My sample-set of friends and colleagues prove this lack of knowledge several times a year, when I decide to bring up my joyous hobby of ring making. I do manage to make sales to friends and colleagues from time to time using this word-of-mouth method. Christmas and Valentine's Day are great holidays when it comes to selling my silver coin rings (IMO).
If you are in the jewelry business, then you probably know all about forming washers into rings. But the rest of the general population knows almost nothing about this art form. My sample-set of friends and colleagues prove this lack of knowledge several times a year, when I decide to bring up my joyous hobby of ring making. I do manage to make sales to friends and colleagues from time to time using this word-of-mouth method. Christmas and Valentine's Day are great holidays when it comes to selling my silver coin rings (IMO).
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! There are other methods for forming coins into rings. To see how I make coin rings, consider purchasing my eBook "How to Make Coin Rings for your Business or Hobby".
Shown in the picture to the above-right is a ring mandrel being used to size-up a 1945 Silver Quarter Coin Ring.
The bottom two pictures show two examples of a jeweler's mallet. A typical Rawhide mallet is shown on the left and a Harbor Freight Nylon mallet is shown on the right.
Shown in the picture to the above-right is a ring mandrel being used to size-up a 1945 Silver Quarter Coin Ring.
The bottom two pictures show two examples of a jeweler's mallet. A typical Rawhide mallet is shown on the left and a Harbor Freight Nylon mallet is shown on the right.
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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.
If you would like to learn more about coin rings, including step-by-step instructions on how I make coin rings, click the Products or Store tabs to see the eBooks I created.