Hammered stacking rings

[Faith]

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

[Goldsmith]

I would make the rings small, then hammer texture them on a steel triblet until they are the correct finger size, they will also be nice and hard by then and keep their shape, for texturing the rings while sizing them, use a small slightly domed hammer like one of these;http://www.cooksongold.com/Jewellery...prcode-999-89O with a polished dome.

Over the years I have bought many cheap hammers and shaped them myself to suit various jobs and textures.



James

[Faith]

Thanks James, I'll get the little hammer. Any idea roughly how much too small you'd make the rings to start with? I'll be aiming for about a size K when finished?
Many thanks,
Faith

[jayneharrison]

Thanks James, I'll get the little hammer. Any idea roughly how much too small you'd make the rings to start with? I'll be aiming for about a size K when finished?
Many thanks,
Faith

I've made lots of rings similar to what you're describing Faith, and I start a full size smaller than what I need the finished ring to be. Here's an example:



The hammered facets are very subtle, but do catch the light nicely.

[Faith]

Thanks Jayne, your photo shows almost exactly what I had in my head to make except I'm just finishing the bezel for an 8mm garnet cab instead. To make those subtle facets did you use a hammer similar to that which James suggested? I'm rather hoping so as I ordered it just before your post!
Many thanks for all the help,
Faith

[jayneharrison]

Yes, I have exactly the same hammer as the one that James linked to. It's super light and you really don't need much weight to get the effect that you're looking for. Just keep hammering round the ring and checking the size every few taps - it can be easy to go too far!

[Susie]

Hi james

I would like to convert some old hammers too, but not sure which tools to use to shape hardened steel.
Perhaps a diamond tip grinding tool first with the dremel? Also i have some high quality steel files from Cooksons. Will the hardened steel i'm filing damage the files? Do i need to buy a cheapish file to get the excess off first? I'm looking to convert some old coach bolts into some punches, and to polish up some old battered hammers. Thanks

[Faith]

Thanks Jayne that's fab!
Faith

[Goldsmith]

Hi Susie,

I use my bench grinder to start shaping my hammers, if hammers are hardened steel it is usually only the outer surface that is hard, grind this off and then they will file into shape easily, although most cheap standard hammers are not that hard. If you fancy a bench grinder, Screwfix has a cheap one for sale at £17.99. I use large flat and half round engineers files for filing steels into shape. Over the years I have bought small steel rods and bars from Model engineers shows, they are a great place to source metals and tools if you can visit one.
Screwfix also sell engineers files.

Good luck
James

[Susie]

How did I miss this? I've only just seen your message james. Thank you so much. I'm off to buy a grinder from Screwfix!!!!


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