How to Make a Silver Ring

What You Need

Materials:

• A piece of sterling silver (925/1000 silver alloy), 0.8-1 mm thick, 3-4 mm wide. The length of the piece should match the circumference of the finger where you want to wear it.
• Two or three small pieces (1x1 mm each) of hard silver solder (700/1000 silver alloy).
• 1/2 spoon Borax powder mixed with 1/4 spoon water.
• 4 spoons of citric acid and half a cup hot water for the pickling solution.

Tools:

• Half-round half-flat pliers
• A jeweler's torch or a creme brulee burner
• A soldering block
• A ring mandrel
• A wooden or nylon mallet
• A #2 half-round file
• Emery paper: 800 grit, 1200 grit, and 2000 grit
• Tweezers
• A small paintbrush
• A small glass jar (100-200ml)

Tip

If it's your first silver ring ever, you probably don't have any tools of your own yet. Try to find a jeweler in your neighborhood and ask them if you could use some of their older tools. Most jewelers are happy to meet people taking interest in their trade and are ready to help.

Steps

Step 1: Annealing and Shaping

1. Put the silver onto the the soldering block.
2. Light the torch or the creme brulee burner, adjusting the flame, so it looks slightly bushy.
3. Anneal the silver with the flame until you notice that the metal changes color.
4. Turn off the flame and let the silver cool down for a minute.
5. Use the pliers to form the ring. The shape is not imporant at this stage. It can be D-shaped or O-shaped. What matters is that the edges meet without any gap. If the edges are not smooth, use the file to file them flat.
6. Bend the edges a bit further, so they overlap slightly, then move them back against each other and realign. This creates tension between the edges, which will help you make the solder joint smooth and nearly invisible.

Step 2: Soldering

1. Put the ring onto the soldering block and cover the joint with Borax mixture using a small paintbrush.
2. Put two or three 1x1 mm pieces of silver solder onto the joint.
3. Light the torch and start heating the ring, moving the torch in circular motions to heat the whole ring evenly.
4. Once the ring is hot enough, the color of the metal changes to light pink or red, and the solder flows into the joint.
5. When you see the solder flow, turn off the torch and let the ring cool down for a while.
6. Mix 4 spoons of citric acid with half a cup hot water in a glass jar to prepare the pickling solution. Citric acid removes Borax and signs of oxidation that appear on the metal after soldering.
7. Put the ring into the pickling solution and leave it there for 30 minutes.
8. Use the tweezers to take the ring out of the pickle and rinse it thoroughly with tap water.

Step 3: Finishing

1. Put the ring onto the mandrel and use the mallet to make its shape round.
2. When the ring is round enough, use the file to smoothen out the solder joint.
3. Polish all sides of the ring with emery paper, moving from the lowest grit to the highest.
4. When you're done with polishing, wash the ring in soapy water.
5. Now the ring is ready to wear!