goldfinder
Cave Dweller 
Member since December 2020
Posts: 273
|
Post by goldfinder on Jun 17, 2023 12:50:36 GMT -5
Hey all! After a some late nights after work this week, I finished up this ring to give my Pops for father's day. He always worked very hard, and commuted crazy distances to provide for us growing up but never had a gold wedding ring. Many years ago I tried making one for him using the lost-wax technique by smelting down a wedding band I found metal detecting and adding some placer gold, but it was a complete failure as I didn't have a furnace to properly heat the casting mold. This is the first ring I've tried silversmithing, it was definitely a learning experience but I'm very glad it "worked" and turned out the way it did lol. The gold in quartz cab is from a chunk I mined and so are the placer nuggets. The bezel is 14k yellow gold. I tried using extra-easy 14k gold solder to attach nuggets and bezel to the backing plate (as to not melt the shank to backing plate joint that used hard silver solder), hoping it would flow over the backing plate and give it a gold plated look but it didn't flow nearly as good as expected and didn't change the color or the silver at all, doh! Lucky, I had on hand some extra easy silver solder has a slightly lower melt temp than the gold solder and that was able to save the day and salvage the piece lol. Lesson learned. The 2 gauge half round wire I used for the shank was a pain to work with, I definitely won't go that route again. Hopefully it fits his big hands, its close to size 14. Thanks for looking!    |
|
|
|
Post by drocknut on Jun 17, 2023 13:47:48 GMT -5
Very cool ring, I'll bet your dad will love it.
|
|
|
|
Post by rockpickerforever on Jun 17, 2023 14:02:56 GMT -5
I'll second that. A masterpiece.
Unless his hands (and fingers are larger than my husband's) a 14 should fit him.
Wishing him and all the RTH dad's a Happy Father's Day! And yes, Father's Day is tomorrow.
|
|
|
|
Post by hummingbirdstones on Jun 17, 2023 14:19:45 GMT -5
What an awesome gift to make your dad for Father's Day! I bet your dad will absolutely love it and will know how much you love and appreciate him.  |
|
|
|
Post by opalpyrexia on Jun 17, 2023 19:57:16 GMT -5
That's a beautiful ring! Had you not mentioned that it's your first, I would have thought you'd been making rings for quite some time.
The first time that I soldered gold to silver was a small piece of sheet sandwiched between two bezels. I was really stressed as I heated from below above, but the easy solder flowed nicely below the gold and up the two joints with both bezels (withdrawing the torch as soon as I saw that, of course).
|
|
goldfinder
Cave Dweller
Member since December 2020
Posts: 273
|
Post by goldfinder on Jun 17, 2023 21:11:22 GMT -5
Very cool ring, I'll bet your dad will love it. Thanks! I gave it to him earlier today and he loved it!! I'll second that. A masterpiece. Unless his hands (and fingers are larger than my husband's) a 14 should fit him. Wishing him and all the RTH dad's a Happy Father's Day! And yes, Father's Day is tomorrow. Thank you! Luckily it fit him great, so that was a relief lol! |
|
rockbrain
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2022
Posts: 3,167
|
Post by rockbrain on Jun 17, 2023 21:18:51 GMT -5
Awesome job on an awesome gift!
|
|
goldfinder
Cave Dweller
Member since December 2020
Posts: 273
|
Post by goldfinder on Jun 17, 2023 21:19:13 GMT -5
What an awesome gift to make your dad for Father's Day! I bet your dad will absolutely love it and will know how much you love and appreciate him. Thank you for the kind words! Yeah he's was super appreciative and has been wearing it all afternoon lol. That's a beautiful ring! Had you not mentioned that it's your first, I would have thought you'd been making rings for quite some time. The first time that I soldered gold to silver was a small piece of sheet sandwiched between two bezels. I was really stressed as I heated from below, but the easy solder flowed nicely below the gold and up the two joints with both bezels (withdrawing the torch as soon as I saw that, of course). Thanks a lot! I'm honestly pretty surprised how well it turned out lol. When reading about soldering gold to silver, I read some horror stories of people melting the gold bezel into the backing plate. I guess that kind of made me hesitant to put too much heat on it. But heating it from the bottom and some on top seemed to work just fine. |
|
goldfinder
Cave Dweller
Member since December 2020
Posts: 273
|
Post by goldfinder on Jun 17, 2023 21:45:27 GMT -5
Awesome job on an awesome gift! Thanks rockbrain!! |
|
|
|
Post by jasoninsd on Jun 17, 2023 22:00:31 GMT -5
Holy Smokes GF! That is awesome!! What a fantastic and well-thought out gift for your father! Self-collected stone...and smithed by you!  |
|
goldfinder
Cave Dweller
Member since December 2020
Posts: 273
|
Post by goldfinder on Jun 18, 2023 1:40:31 GMT -5
Holy Smokes GF! That is awesome!! What a fantastic and well-thought out gift for your father! Self-collected stone...and smithed by you! Thanks Jason! Yeah it does feel good to put some of the pieces I've collected over the years to good "use" lol. He said it was the best gift anyones ever gave him so that definitely felt great. |
|
|
|
Post by rockjunquie on Jun 18, 2023 5:59:48 GMT -5
I scrolled down the pictures and was like, "Oh, Wow!" My husband was like, "What?" So, he came over and looked, too. This is a man who doesn't care for men's jewelry much, but he really liked it, too. I would never have guessed that it was your first!! Especially using placer gold! I happen to really like the silver behind the placer gold. It kinda shows it off. It really looks like a nugget ring and I guess that's because it is! Great job! Your dad will cherish it. What an awesome gift. |
|
|
|
Post by liveoak on Jun 18, 2023 7:00:19 GMT -5
Designing a ring for a guy, in my opinion, is a little more difficult. You did an exceptional job, and even had to troubleshoot while doing it. Glad it fit & he liked it- a bonus
Patty
|
|
goldfinder
Cave Dweller
Member since December 2020
Posts: 273
|
Post by goldfinder on Jun 18, 2023 15:38:17 GMT -5
I scrolled down the pictures and was like, "Oh, Wow!" My husband was like, "What?" So, he came over and looked, too. This is a man who doesn't care for men's jewelry much, but he really liked it, too. I would never have guessed that it was your first!! Especially using placer gold! I happen to really like the silver behind the placer gold. It kinda shows it off. It really looks like a nugget ring and I guess that's because it is! Great job! Your dad will cherish it. What an awesome gift. Thanks so much for the kind words Tela! Yeah I agree, the silver backing looks better than I thought it would. It contrasts the gold and makes the nuggets stand out more than a gold backing. Designing a ring for a guy, in my opinion, is a little more difficult. You did an exceptional job, and even had to troubleshoot while doing it. Glad it fit & he liked it- a bonus
Patty
Thanks Patty! Yeah I tried to balance between something that looked nice, but not being too showy. I could see how making a more dainty ring would be a lot easier to work with, that 2 gauge half-round wire was a pain to work. Working with the 16 gauge backing plate didn't do me any favors either lol. |
|
rocknewb101
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2022
Posts: 1,368
|
Post by rocknewb101 on Jun 20, 2023 14:14:25 GMT -5
Beautiful! Made more special because it was made by you! very cool!
|
|
goldfinder
Cave Dweller
Member since December 2020
Posts: 273
|
Post by goldfinder on Jun 21, 2023 14:42:05 GMT -5
Beautiful! Made more special because it was made by you! very cool! Thank you!! |
|
