If you have a set of dapping/doming punches you can bend heavy stock around them by clamping in a vice and bending with a hammer
If you have a set of dapping/doming punches you can bend heavy stock around them by clamping in a vice and bending with a hammer
It's a deluxe item and most of us would like one, but if you don't sell your work or you are on a budget, then one of these with a strip of leather will do it for less.
Shop around and there are bargains to be had from India, for instance from Tools n Tools.
I find the Durston ring stretcher/reducer more useful, it does have a ring bending aspect to it but tbh I don't bother with that as its pretty quick to do on the mandrel for up to 3mm thick and I wouldn't want to make a ring thicker than that.
I do use the stretcher a lot though as it makes sizing much easier and also is great for bending the ring to round after its been soldered.
Don't forget that you don't want the ring round for soldering anyway so what you actually need is something to help male it round after soldering.
I agree really Sarah, so I am surprised at how much importance Andrew Berry attaches to having the ring round at the start:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaU5acww9gc
I have never had a ring shank open in use and some of my rings are more than twenty years old and of course stretched to size.
Hope the weather in Portugal is more seasonal. It's foul here and snow predicted again. Dennis.
Thats interesting thanks Dennis.
I haven't had it either and use pretty thick bands but interesting to see the video.
Weather here is lovely, we had the first sunbathing by the pool day yesterday and the same today but we did have an unusually stormy March!
Funnily enough Dennis, that was the exact video that made me think i was putting too much undue strain on the ring, by rounding it after it had been soldered. Well i have my answer then, I値l keep using the ring bending pliers and for thicker wire, I値l round it up afterwards.
I am going to buy a ring stretcher/reducer though. I知 guessing it痴 got to be a Durston then?
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
I致e just seen one on Cookies that is a third of the price of the Durston one, so think I値l go with that one and will post my results. Thanks all for the information. As always, this forum puts me right
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
If you shop around, there are some bargains to be had Susie and you will be able to stretch to size instead of bothering with a formula.
Here are some general precautions:
1. Stretch slowly, because it can happen quite suddenly that you have overstepped your mark.
2. Keep turning the ring round and round and also flip it over to avoid a faceted or conical shape.
3. Check with your ring stick, because the marks on the stretcher are often different.
4. Re-anneal after two sizes to avoid stressing your solder joint.
Hope you enjoy using it. Dennis.
Thanks Dennis. Will keep all of that in mind.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Bookmarks