Hello,
I'm looking for some advice making quite narrow silver stacking rings with a hammered finish. Now I know how to make a plain ring, it's the hammered part where I've read conflicting advice. I'm intending to use 2mm round sterling wire and want a fairly subtle hammered texture, changing the profile of the wire to more of an oval and leaving a subtley faceted texture on the top only (which would be the outer edge of the ring). My questions are:
1) Is it better to do the hammering on the wire before it's made into a ring, then measure, make the ring etc. Or is it better to make the ring intentionally small (by how much) and hammer it both to create the texture and stretch it to the right size?
2) Probably based on the answer to the above, do I want to hammer against a steel surface (like my triblet if the ring is made (worried that will damage the mandrel) or a steel block if the wire isn't a ring yet, or is something softer, like wood, better?
3) And finally what kind of hammer? I have a Cookson planishing hammer (this one http://www.cooksongold.com/Jewellery...rcode-997-3112) but to create a subtle finish I'm not sure if I want the flat side or the domed, or another hammer altogether?
Any advice greatly appreciated! Many thanks
Faith
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