bending small shapes

[eekoh]

Inspired by some beautiful jewellery I've seen on the Hairy Growler website, I decided to make myself a little oak leaf ring.
http://www.hairygrowler.co.uk/acorn-and-oak-leaf-stacking-rings.html

I've successfully cut out and shaped something that looks like an oak leaf (without breaking any saw blades :) ) and I've got a couple of vintage sterling silver bands to choose from to solder it to - cheating or upcycling depending on your point of view. Anyway, having got to this point I've realised that obviously a mallet and ring mandrel isn't going to work with something this small so now I have to figure out how else to bend the leaf to match the curve of the band.
In the absence of something easy like doming punches or ring bender pliers, are there any tricks you can think of with other non-specialist tools I might have? Or do I just need to put this project aside for now until I have the right tool?

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[enigma]

I just use two pairs of pliers, hold it onto the ring with one and bend it with the second pair.
Ideally both pairs have the plastic jaws so you don't have to polish the scratches out of the inside of the ring but its not the end of the world if not.
Sometimes I also bend again when one side is soldered on.
Assuming that you just want it to conform to the shape of the ring that is.

[Dennis]

You can use your ring mandrel in reverse. Hazel
Anneal the leaf shape to soften it and lay it face down on something that will give a bit, like thick rubber, a plastic cutting board, or several layers of blanket. Lay the mandrel on that and tap the mandrel until the leaf is done. Once the curve is started you can also tap the leaf on the mandrel if necessary.
Dennis.

[CJ57]

I always use my mandrel on my leg and would use a hammer too. It's amazing what you can catch hold of with a finger nail. An old wooden rolling pin is also great for things like this and a tiny toffee hammer although your coin will be quite hard as well as illegal:)

[eekoh]

I was struggling to keep my fingers out of the way using a hammer but I hadn't thought of tapping with the mandrel itself and I didn't realise that tapping just with the leaf would work - I'll see how I get on with that before I get the pliers involved.
thanks :)

And its an old half penny so should be ok, don't think the rozzers will be chasing me for this one ;)

[Goldsmith]

Hazel,
If you fancy adding to your tool set check out what is called a swage block, this is a steel or wooden block with half round grooves which is used for shaping items. You can also make your own half round shaping blocks. I also shape cheap hammers to suit shaping purposes when I am making flower petals and such. As I have said before I also use a lead block for hammering shapes into.

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James

[eekoh]

I always fancy adding to my tool set James!
I've been trying not to go crazy with buying everything I see but that's a good suggestion as I've got a friend who could easily make me something like that. He does beautifully crafted hand-made guitars and I've got some offcuts of wood from an old mahogany desk that should be about the right size and solid enough. (We used one of the drawers to make a spice rack and had to drill holes to even get panel pins into it!)