Simple rings

[misspond]

First of all, for full disclosure this is not my own design (I'm not sure I could come up with something so simple!) My tutor made a ring like this that I've admired the last two times I've seen her wear it. So I asked her if she minded if I had a go at making one and she was happy for me to go ahead.

All I had to go on was that it was one piece - I thought it would be simple enough to figure out, I just needed to join the ends and twist it, right? It'll probably take me about an hour I thought.

For starters, could I estimate the right length? No. But I didn't know that until I started to twist it into shape.
Could I get the twist right? No.
Could I get the twist in the right place without lumps and bumps in the wrong places? No.
So I've got a lumpy bumpy piece with a twist in the wrong place and direction and it's far too big in the main loop, it sits over my knuckle and it's going to get caught on things. Did my best to untwist it without mangling it (and yes, I did a lot of annealing) and cut out the extra 10mm or so and started again.

After a couple of hours I finally figured it out and got it done, then made the smaller one you can see below with my remaining bit of 2mm round wire in about 20 minutes (bar the light texturing and polishing).

The whole experience of figuring this out was great - I do love to be absorbed in what I'm doing and I feel like I've scratched the itch. I may well add a set stone to one or both of them but that's for another day.

11068 11069

They're lovely rings, and can be worn with the twist up or down. I love them.

Oh, and recent discussions here had me buying some Bergeon blades - how much nicer are they to use than the ones I initially bought!?

[Dennis]

Good to wear something you made yourself, with lots of learning under your belt.
Copper is much much cheaper, so you could always try it in copper first. Dennis.

[misspond]

Good to wear something you made yourself, with lots of learning under your belt.
Copper is much much cheaper, so you could always try it in copper first. Dennis.

I pretty much only ever make things I'm going to wear myself, some family members have received gifts of things I've made (simple things, stacking rings and such like) but they don't seem to wear them. Just as well I've not gifted them some of my more *ahem* interesting pieces.

I can't quite bring myself to try things out in copper first, although on the one occasion I did make a prototype spinner ring in copper it's much more attractive than the one I made in silver that has been one of my everyday rings ever since. I appreciate it's not a waste of time in terms of material costs and the learning process but I find the difference in how copper behaves under the flame/hammer/echant to be different enough to silver that it seems a bit redundant (for me).

Luckily I can usually get things to work and my silver scrap pot is satisfyingly small.

[enigma]

Thats a nice design, it would work well with a central stone too :)

[misspond]

It is a nice design, and as I said, it's not mine ;)

My mind is playing with setting something either to one side in a tube or fine silver pebble; or three small stones of slightly different sizes, two inside and one really small one at the point where the metal meets on the curve.

[Sheen]

Great to read about someones learning experience. :">

[misspond]

Great to read about someones learning experience. :">

Thanks, in past posts I've forgotten to talk about the process and sometimes, as a reader of this forum, that's the most interesting part.