9ct white gold wedding band

[JonLendrum]

Hi everyone,

I have the oppertunity to make my best friends wedding ring. He wants a ring identical to mine but in white gold. So its going to be D shape 5mm x 2mm size Q plain band. The closest i can see on cookson is the 6mm x 2mm d wire. im not overly keen on going down the casting route as i feel it might bump the price up a bit and i know he hasnt got a lot of money.

Also id like it hallmarked, can you get one off stamps done without being registered at an assay office?

Do you think i would be able to buy the 6mm and with file work reduce it down to a 5mm? or does anyone know any other places i can buy 9ct white gold d wire?

Id appreciate any advice or tips on how to do this as ive never worked with anything other metal other than silver.

Cheers guys

[Dennis]

First of all Jon, 9ct white is very similar to sterling in use, so don't worry on that account. The only precaution I recommend is to solder in semi-darkness, to watch for overheating, as this alloy is easily melted. You will however have to buy a half piece of 9ct medium solder, which is used for this reason.

Secondly, once the ring is made you can lay it on abrasive paper and rub away a half mm on each side quite easily, giving you a small attractive flat. I suggest you practice with silver first to get the hang of it and re-check the fit on your friend, as sometimes getting the size right is only ascertained after they wear it for a few days. The width of silver must be identical, but later it will be a useful shank for some other design and can be re-sized if necessary.

I understand that the London assay office have a hallmarking service for one offs, but it will not have your sponsors mark. Regards, Dennis.

[JonLendrum]

Your a star Dennis thanks for the quick reply! Great advice as always :) I'm going to get on with making a silver band and let you know how i get on.

Thanks again

Jon

[Dennis]

I did think of adding and I shall now, that you might also want a short engraved message if there is room, so you might be looking for an engraver. Hopefully the members can come up with some, but I know that GetiTitanium is a wizard with a laser.

Engraving or hallmark, you will need to reheat the ring gently after finishing so that the solder seam shows up as a dark hairline. This will allow the punch or lettering to be kept clear of it. The reason is that in the long term it is likely that the ring will need enlarging by inserting a segment, and this is best done at the original seam.

Happy making, Dennis.

[JonLendrum]

Thanks again dennis, with engraving would i have to send the ring unsoldered so its a flat piece of wire before i solder it into a ring? Also with the soldar line, do you mean that I polish it and finish everything then re heat it so you can see the join? Dont quite uderstand that bit sorry :(

[ps_bond]

Nope, send the finished article - check with whichever engraver you use whether they want final polish or not. Excessive polishing loses the crispness of hand-engraved text (and it doesn't do much good for the machine-engraved stuff either).

[Goldsmith]

Yes Jon, I would also suggest Geti for laser engraving, I have used the company in the past and was very impressed with the results. This was a pair of 18ct white gold wedding rings that Geti lasered for me. I would prefer to buy readymade wedding bands if they are going to be just plain D shaped, this avoids any solder lines.

I have sent you a private message Jon.

James

5091

[Tabby66]

Me too, fantastic service and quality work.

[JonLendrum]

So if I wanted to engrave the inside of the band, is that still achievable even after the ring has been soldered? What is a rough price of engraving? Thanks for all the help


Yes Jon, I would also suggest Geti for laser engraving, I have used the company in the past and was very impressed with the results. This was a pair of 18ct white gold wedding rings that Geti lasered for me. I would prefer to buy readymade wedding bands if they are going to be just plain D shaped, this avoids any solder lines.

I have sent you a private message Jon.

James

5091

[Dennis]

So if I wanted to engrave the inside of the band, is that still achievable even after the ring has been soldered? What is a rough price of engraving? Thanks for all the help

Yes James has a point, but I guess despite that you might want to solder the ring from wire as that will be your personal input for a friend. Obviously as stated above, if you show where the solder line is, the ring can still be engraved provided there is room for the message and the hallmark.

For prices contact our senior member Alan at Geti Titanium, explaining that it was suggested here. http://geti.cc/ Dennis.

[JonLendrum]

Thanks again Dennis, I promise no more questions :)

[Dennis]

It's questions make our world go round, Jon.

[JonLendrum]

Hello again,

So my 6mm 9ct white gold d wire turned up today and the medium white gold soldar. Im a little nervous about even touching the metal let alone soldering it! So I'd like to write down how in my head i was going to make it and if somebody could give me any tips or advice on something i may be doing wrong it would be much appreciated as i really really don't want to mess this up.

So I am planning on shaping the wire ready for soldering.Flux and solder using a plumbers torch and auflux. ( do i file off excess solder then put in pickle to clean. Or put in pickle straight after soldering? ( I've never used pickle before) Then using sandpaper on the table sand off 0.5mm each side of the ring to make it 5mm width. Go through the sandpaper up to 600 grit, then polish with blue luxi with a calico mop, then go onto very fine grit to smooth out any scratches etc. Finish with white luxi using a calico mop on my dremel. Im not sure which way round i should be doing the 1st polishing and sanding and also for a high finish would it be better to use a felt or woollen mop with the white luxi??

If i were to finish it matt, would it leave the soldar line more visible? Because i matt finished a silver ring and it really shows up the seam line. One more question.... When lining up your join for soldering is there some tricks on making it line up really flush because i always seem to get a little step that i have to file off.

Any hints a tips would be really appreciated!! Im really scared about messing this up.

Thanks a lot everyone

Jon

[Dennis]

Do it in silver first, Jon. One practice ring can be cut through and re-soldered several times. You will also see that putting the ring flat on your bench peg and cutting through the join vertically before soldering will make the ends meet more perfectly. However cutting through does reduce the size. As a rule of thumb removing 1mm reduces the ring by one English size.

The ring does not have to be round for soldering, but the two ends have to meet as well as possible with no bumps and no visible daylight showing when you hold it up. It will have work hardened from bending, so to anneal it (soften it) you will have to heat it to dull red and leave it in warm pickle for about 2-3 minutes until it is bright again. It should then be soft enough to perfect the alignment.

Traces of pickle inhibit soldering, so now rinse in running water. You really don't need that much solder and personally I place it across the join on the inside and watch it flow through. To prevent the gap opening when heated, it might be sufficient to heat from a point opposite the join. If not you might need to keep the ring closed with binding wire.

After soldering, pickle and rinse before doing any finishing. The aim is to work cleanly and gently, so as not to introduce new scratches and not to damage the original contour of the wire. Dennis.

[SteveLAO]

Hi, with regard to hallmarking yes we have a walk in service for one -offs so you don't have to register. The sponsor mark will be "LAO" for London Assay Office.
It is literally for one piece though as the whole point of the sponsor mark is traceability! Looking forward to seeing the ring for marking when it's done!

[JonLendrum]

So bad news is i just tried soldering the ring for the first time and couldnt get the soldar to flow properly. I panicked a little when i saw the metal going pink cause someone said dont over heat it,so i withdrew the heat a little but the soldar has flowed a little but stopped. There is no daylight between the metal its a nice join, i cleaned surfaces thoroughlyand fluxed with auroflux. Im in a panic, do i pickle clean re flux and try again?

Also i forgot to buy binding wire, do i need this to hold the ring together properly?

[Dennis]

If no gap has appeared Jon, then I think all that happened is that you withdrew your flame before the solder finished flowing. If you have not put it in pickle (only possibly water) it should be sufficient to reflux, add a small amount of extra solder and re-heat.

If you have pickled it, then boil in a solution of soda crystals, or baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) for a few minutes, because traces of pickle inhibit solder flow. Then rinse, dry, re-flux, add a little more solder etc. as above.

Gold does go red when heated, but if you solder in semi darkness, to see that you are heating evenly and withdraw the torch after the solder has flowed right through, all will be well.

You can also reduce the intensity of the flame a little by partially closing the air hole of your torch and by keeping the torch moving about to avoid overheating one part.

As I have said elsewhere, if you begin by heating the ring at a point remote from the joint it will tend to keep the joint together. Dennis.

[Tabby66]

Don't panic Jon!!!! You don't need binding wire to hold the band together and it sounds like you have a really well fitting joint. If I was being extra cautious, I'd just drop a fine saw blade along the joint to ensure that fresh metal is facing fresh metal and then flux again and away you go!! (add more solder if you feel necessary).

Then apply the heat, all around the band and as you see the metal come up to temperature and the solder start to flow, concentrate the flame across the joint, remember, the solder will flow towards the heat, so you can pull it towards any unsoldered parts.

If you panic, pull the ring away from the heat, take a deep breath, think of your positioning of the heat on the ring, a splash more flux on the join and then go again before it cools too much,........good luck!!

[JonLendrum]

Thanks soo much guys really appreciate the help. Ive messed it up pretty bad :( basically i was soo worried about the join being absolutly perfect i ran the blade through it soo much ive now soldered it and its too small! Its almost two sizes to small, im soo annoyed with myself cause i think its so much smaller so im going to have to add a piece of metal into it. This project is just showing my noviceness if thats even a word. Stressed!!!

[caroleallen]

Don't stress Jon. Do you know anyone with a ring stretcher? If not, you can tap it up on a ring mandrel.

[Wallace]

I am only 30 mins from Longwell Green, if that is of any help. I have both a ring stretcher and a mandrel. You are welcome to come and use them both.

[JonLendrum]

Thank you Wallace thats incredibly kind of you to offer that Ive got birthday party's and family down this weekend but I may take you up on that offer.I have a mandrel but i thought stretching it two sizes would just damage the ring and distort it. I have an off cut of white gold, is it better practice to add a piece and have two seem lines? I really want to try and sort this out this morning or else I'm going to have a heart attack!!

[medusa]

I'm getting palpitations reading this thread! I really hope the ring works out well, Jon!