DIY Ring Making Beginner's Guide 3 Easy Methods

There are many ways to make a ring, but if you are new to jewelry making, you may not know where to begin. In this video, I am going to show you 3 simple ways to make your very first ring with basic tools. Which way to choose depends on the thickness and the width of the ring you want to create. From thin to thick, I'm going to show you which tools you will need and how to make it. As usual, all the tools I use in this video are listed in the description below. Hi, I'm a jeweler, optical diamond setter, and a GIA graduate gemologist based in the UK. I've been making jewelry using real gemstones and precious metal since 2003. It has taken me over 20 years to get to this point. In my channel, I help jewelry enthusiasts to start their jewelry making and hand engraving projects with very limited space at home.

The first way is also the simplest one. It starts with finding the size you want to make with a set of ring sizes like this. They are normally made of plastic or metal. Let's say I want to make a size M, that's a US size 6¼. This is a play steel ring mandrel I made back in 2003 using a lathe as part of my training. You don't need to make one yourself. You can simply get one from the shop these days. I first put this sizer on the mandrel, all the way down till it doesn't go any further. Mark it with a pencil. To make it easier for you to see, I mark it again with a Sharpie. This is a 1.5mm round wire in solid sterling silver. That's about 16 gauge. This method also works with other materials. Next, I wrap this wire around my mandrel. You see I deliberately wrap it a quarter inch above the mark I made earlier. That's because I have not heated up my wire. This means once I release the wire, it will become a bit bigger than where I originally wrap it around. This also means once I have finished wrapping the wire, it will turn out to be the size where the black mark is. Because you are bending the wire by hand, as far as you can easily bend it, this method will work just fine. So this varies from person to person. For me, I am not very strong, 16 gauge is the maximum size I will use with this method, but for you, it might be thicker. I mark the place where I am going to cut next. Now I wrap it a little bit more so my circle overlaps. This will make sure it is perfectly round once the wire is cut. From this angle, you see the rest of the wire is far away from one. Once the two ends are cut, this is what I have got. Before soldering it, I adjust the two ends to make sure they meet nicely. Because it involves only a ring mandrel, and a set of scissors to form the ring. This is the simplest and most affordable way. This works best with round wire because the shape of the wire is smooth and even all the way round. You need very little effort to make the two ends meet. With other shapes of wire, you will find it easier to align the two ends using a pair of pliers, because it is very hard to bend the end of the wire with just your hand. You will always end up with a small offcut. If you are working with precious metals, the price is very high at the moment. You will need to add that to the cost as well. To solder this ring, I cut a small piece of solder This one measures about 1 by 2mm. After brushing some borax on the joint, I place the ring on top of the solder and make sure the joint is touching the solder. Here I put a small broken crucible next to the ring. This will reflect the heat during the soldering process and make it quicker to reach the melting temperature for my solder. This is not a must-have. You don't need this if you don't have an extra crucible lying around. Now my ring is soldered. This is what it looks like. Next, I put it in the pickle bath, leave it there for about 20 minutes to remove the fire stain and flux residue. Before moving on, I need to make sure all the pickle is rinsed off with running water. In the final stage, I file the extra solder off the joint and polish the ring with sandpaper. Once this is done, you have a ring in exactly size M, that's US size 6¼. It's really not that hard. If you are new to jewelry making, this is the perfect project to start with.

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In the second method, as far as you can bend the wire with just your hands and pliers, This method is good for any shape of wire. This is a 3mm wide rectangular wire. You can use other materials as well. It works the same. I bend it so both ends meet. The pliers I use here are the flat and half round pliers. I have the wire bent around the half round side. At this stage, it doesn't matter the shape of the ring, so no worries if it is not round at all. What matters is the two ends of the wire meet nicely. The shape of the ring can be as wonky as anything. We will make it perfectly round later. To test if it is a perfect fit, I touch the joint with my finger. You want it to be so smooth that you don't feel the joint at all. Next, I put a small piece of solder on the soldering board and put the ring on top of the solder. The small crucible I put next to the ring is for speeding up the process, as I explained earlier. If soldering is new to you, I have another video talking about soldering basics in my channel. Have a look if you are interested. Once it's soldered, I move it to a block of steel to get it to cool down quickly. After the ring is back to room temperature, I put it on a ring stretcher. This tool is very simple to use. Basically, put the ring on the mandrel and push the handle downwards. Not too much to break it though. I keep flipping the ring upside down when doing this so it can be stretched evenly on both sides. After a few times, this is what I get. A perfectly round shape. That's why I said earlier it didn't matter whatever the shape was.

Here I use a flat file to make the sections of my ring flat.

After about 1-2 minutes of filing, here is my perfectly round ring.

The only downside of this method is the ring stretcher could be quite expensive. If you have a limited budget. The next one is more cost-effective if you are not ready for a ring stretcher yet.

Here is a rectangular wire in solid sterling silver. Before bending it, I file both ends flat, so when they meet, the gap will be as small as possible. Next, I heat up this wire evenly. This is to soften the wire and make it more workable. This is very important if you are making a chunky ring. It will make your wire easier to work with. When I see the wire shows a hint of dark orange, it's ready, and I will move it to a steel block to let it cool down to room temperature. Before picking it up, I always test if it is touchable, just in case. This is my heavy-duty bench vise. I use it to hold my ring bending tool. With this tool, you can bend all kinds of thickness. What I'm doing here is to make the two ends of my wire meet as neat as possible. Once the wire turns hard, you can simply heat it up again and keep bending it till you have the smallest joint possible. If the two ends meet at an angle and you can't get rid of it, you can cut into the gap with the jeweler's saw to make it disappear. When using this saw, I always make sure my finger is not behind the blade. Now you see the two ends meet nicely. You can see it better from this angle. So when I solder it later, it will have a strong bond. The soldering process is the same as the previous two. I'm not going to repeat it here. All you need to know is, up to this stage, My ring is not round at all, and I'm going to show something different from any of the previous processes. Here I put the ring onto the same plain ring mandrel I used earlier. Just in case you are curious, no table comes with a hole on the side like this. I drill it myself. I have another video showing what I did to it. If you are interested. The link is in the description below. This is a walhai mallet. You can also use a plastic one if you don't want to touch animal products. What I am doing here is I strike the silver ring with this mallet. In between, I flip the ring upside down to make it evenly sized. Once this is done, my ring is perfectly round. The cleaning process is the same as the other 2 rings I showed earlier.

I'm not going to repeat it here.

Almost forgot to mention, when I'm hitting my ring, I'm wearing this heavy-duty air defender during this entire process. You can never be too careful to protect yourself.

Now you know 3 different ways to make your first ring. It depends on the width and thickness of your wire, your budget, and your situation. You can choose the tools you want to make it. There are many more ways to make a ring, but these are the most 3 simple ones to start with. Hopefully this helps. If you like this video, you might also want to check out the one here. It shows how I drill a hole on the table and why I did that, with much more information if you enjoy making jewelry at home. I will see you in the next one.