Chapter XIV: Finger Rings, Scarf Pins

_Silver:_ There is very little difference in the handling and working of silver from that of brass and copper. The same operations are carried out and the same tools are used. Silver is more pliable than either one of the other metals, though copper is softer. However, silver melts at a lower temperature than copper or brass, and for that reason greater care must be taken during the process of annealing, soldering, and enamelling.

Silver, of course, is the most precious metal you have worked with. So then the cost of the material limits one to the working out of comparatively small problems. When buying silver, always buy sterling. The sterling silver is made especially for silversmiths and is used in all silver work, pure silver being too soft to stand the wear that is required.

While copper is sold by the pound, silver is sold by the ounce, and rolled out to any thickness you wish. But the gauge is the same as that of copper, a No. 20 in silver being the same as No. 20 in copper. If the problems given here are carefully worked out, enough practice in the handicraft of silver will be given to enable you to work out much larger problems in the metal.

_Selecting stones for rings, pins, brooches, or bracelets:_ Choose the stones that are round or oval in shape, and pick those that have a fairly level bed and are well bevelled. This is necessary so that the bezel will hold tight when rubbed against the stone. Semi-precious and precious stones can be bought at any dealer in stones, and one has his choice out of many to pick from.

FINGER RINGS

Bands for finger rings are all made, practically, in the same way. But there is a great difference in the way stones are set in these bands. Perhaps the three ways most generally used are: setting by means of a bezel, or small band; prong setting, and setting the stone down in a cavity cut in the metal, just large enough to hold the stone.

_Finger ring, stone set with a bezel:_

_Material:_ One piece of silver, 2-3/8 × 1/2 ins., No. 20, for ring. One piece of silver, 1/8 × 1-1/2 ins., No. 28, for bezel. Stone. Silver solder. Borax.

_Tools:_ Ring mandrel (you can make one yourself), small wood mallet, drill press and 1/16 in. drill, saw frame and saw, centre-punch, small Swiss files.

_Directions--Pattern:_ To make a ring of this kind first cut a piece of paper 1/4 in. wide and long enough to go around the finger which the ring is to fit. Straighten this piece of paper out. This gives the length of the piece of silver needed for a ring. Cut another piece of paper 1/2 in. wide to this length. Draw with ink the pattern of the ring on this second paper.

Cut the design out and paste it on the piece of silver. With the centre-punch mark the centre of each spot. Drill holes into each one. Saw out the design. With a pair of shears cut off the surplus metal. Be careful to save all the scraps. They can all be returned and exchanged for silver plate. File close to the design. You now have the band ready for bending.

_To bend the ring:_ A ring mandrel is needed. This is merely a tapering rod. One can buy steel mandrels which are graduated for all sizes of rings. A small tapered square punch which you can make yourself, will be found helpful. Take a piece of 3/16-in. round or square steel. File the end, tapering to a square point, 1 in. long. Harden it the same as you did the half moon punch used to make the hat pin. This punch is used for design work. Round holes can be squared by driving the square punch into the hole to any depth. This saves filing.

Place the ring mandrel in the vise. Using a wooden mallet, bend the ring in a circular shape over this mandrel till the two ends meet. Try the ring on the finger. Snip off the ends so that the ring fits rather tightly. This will allow for stretching the ring after it is soldered.

_To put on the bezel:_ Bend a piece of No. 28 silver, 1/8 × 1-1/2 ins., around the stone. This can be done with the thumb and finger. Make the silver fit around the largest part of the stone. Snip off the ends.

Bind the two ends with binding wire, wash with borax, put a little piece of silver on the inside and heat over the bunsen burner; which is hot enough for this kind of work. Cool off in water, remove the binding wire. Each end of this bezel must be filed to fit the circle of the ring.

When this is done bind the bezel on, and at the same time bind the lower part of the ring so that the open ends fit tightly together. Solder the bezel and the open part of the ring at the same time. Wash all the joints. Place silver solder on the inside of the bezel, say one half-dozen pieces (small), round on the inside, and also one or two small pieces on the joint of the ring itself. Place the whole ring in the bunsen flame. It will all heat up about the same time. Watch the solder carefully. See that it runs all around between the bezel and the body of the ring. Cool off. Take off all the binding wire. File the inside and outside of the bottom part of the ring.

Place the ring on the mandrel and go over it gently with a steel hammer, shaping it around and making it to fit the finger. File the edges around smoothly. Go over it all with a small square file and file out all imperfections in the slots. Place a piece of fine emery cloth on a tapered round wood peg. By revolving it around this you polish and trim up the inside of the ring. Using the same emery cloth twisted around a flat stake or file, go over the outside until the ring is free from scratches.

_Stone:_ If the bezel has been carefully made the stone should drop right into place. If by chance some of the solder should have filled up the bezel space and made it smaller, take a sharp tool like a pocket knife blade and scrape the inside of the bezel till the stone fits. Place the stone. With a smooth piece of steel or very hard wood press the bezel against the stone. The bezel is thin enough to yield to this pressing process. It will cling to the sides of the stone and prevent its falling out. Polish the ring by rubbing it with pumice stone and a piece of cloth. This finishes the work.

_Finger rings, silver cut away to set stone in:_

_Material:_ For this class of work we require much heavier silver than for the other rings.

One piece of silver, No. 10, 1/2 × 2-3/8 ins. Solder. Borax.

_Tools:_ Same as were used for the bezel setting. In addition we shall need one or two small chisels, which you can make yourself. Chasing tool.

_Directions:_ Make the pattern of your ring as you did before. Paste it on the silver piece, and cut out. Bend the silver around the ring mandrel so that it will fit the finger it is intended for, and solder. Place the stone in its proper position and mark the outline of it on the silver. Now you will need a small chisel to chip away the silver and make the space for the stone.

_To make chisel:_ Take two pieces of 3/16-in. round steel 5 ins. long. One piece is to make a flat chisel and the other for an oval chisel. File the ends to a chisel shape.

This steel must be tempered before it can be used. To do this place the ends just filed into the fire. Heat about 1 in. of the end red hot. Cool 1/2 in. of this hot end in the water till quite cold. Take it out and rub the end with a piece of emery cloth till it shines.

The colour will begin to flow toward the end. When the blue colour reaches the end plunge the whole piece into water. The oval chisel is used for outlining the depression. The flat chisel is used for levelling the bed to receive the stone. With this chisel cut away the material inside the marked outline, keeping a little inside the border line. Cut away the silver to about the depth of 1/32 in. You will find the opening a little smaller than the stone. With your chasing tool drive around the inside of the oval, undercutting until the stone fits in. This undercutting drives up a little silver rim, which does the work of a bezel on the stone. When this rim is forced against the stone, the stone is held in place. The ring is now ready for the stone, but the thickness of silver makes it large and clumsy. Before putting the stone in, the ring should be filed down to the proper dimensions. This requires a great deal of filing. Use a rough file at first and finish with a fine one. When the ring is shaped as you wish polish up the inside and outside.

_To place the stone:_ With the ring mandrel on the vise, put the stone in place and put the ring on the mandrel. Tap gently on the silver rim, driving it against the stone. Do not drive it too hard or else you may crack the stone. Finish up and polish as explained before.

_Finger ring, stone set with prongs:_

_Material:_ One piece of silver, No. 14, width and length the same as the others. Stone--in the design, square.

_Tools:_ Same as used in making the other rings.

_Directions:_ Draw design, cut pattern, place it on the silver, and cut out as before. Bend the ring to fit the finger, and solder. After the silver band has been cooled off and the wire has been removed, put the band back on the mandrel. With the planishing hammer strike down, flattening the top. This reduces the thickness of the ring and gives us a flat surface, to which the prongs are soldered.

_To make the prongs:_ Place the stone on a No. 24 piece of silver. Draw the outline of the stone on it. The square piece of silver should be 1/8 in. larger all round than the size of the stone. A stone may be set with 4 prongs, or 6 or 8, according to one's taste. In this setting we have the 4 prongs. Mark the outline of the prongs on the square piece of silver according to this picture.

Saw out on the dotted lines. Cut a piece of copper the exact size of the stone. Place the copper on the silver and bend up the prongs at right angles to the silver plate. Take away the copper, and file the under part of the silver piece flat, and prepare the upper part of the ring in the same way. Bind the flat part of the prong piece to the flattened part of the ring, and solder. If the flattening in the first place has made the ring too large for the finger, cut a piece out along the soldered joint. Fit it to the finger and resolder. File all joints perfectly smooth. The prongs should be filed carefully and made perfectly even and of the exact size and shape. Place the stone in and push the prongs against it. Rub each separate prong down until it fits close against the stone. This prevents their catching on anything like cloth, etc. Polish and finish as explained before.

_Finger ring, made of twisted silver wire:_

_Material:_ No. 30 fine silver wire; length depends upon the design of the ring.

_Tools:_ Same as those used in making the other rings described.

_Directions:_ Cut off a piece of No. 30 wire about 6 ins. long. Bend it in the middle, place the two ends in the vise and, with a pair of pliers, grasp the other end. Twist the wire into an even twist. Select the stone. The round stones are best for this wire setting. In making this wire ring it is best to make the setting for the stone first. Cut a piece of wood the exact shape of the largest part of the stone. Bend a piece of No. 30 silver 1/8 in. wide around the wood peg, till the two ends just meet. Coil around this the twisted wire, one strand upon the other, until you have about three coils. Wash with a little borax; place a little silver solder upon the under side of this coil. Heat and solder the strands together; at the same time solder the band on the inside. Place it on the ring mandrel, and curve it to fit the shape of the finger. Either press it with your fingers or use a mallet.

_The setting is now ready for the ring:_ The ring can be made either by twisting a piece of wire to fit the finger or by using just the plain wire itself for the ring band. In either case, the piece of silver used for the band, plus the size of the setting, must equal the size of the finger. Solder the two ends of the ring band to the sides of the setting. File the inside opening of the setting to a level; place the stone in as you did the others. Clean and polish up as usual.

SCARF PIN

_Material:_ A piece of No. 20 silver for the body of the pin; the size is determined by the size of the stone to be set. A piece of No. 24 for the bezel. A piece of No. 20 silver wire for the pin. The pin piece can be bought at any jewellery store, if you do not wish to make your own. They are better, too, than those you make yourself. Solder and borax.

_Tools:_ Shears, files, draw plate.

_Directions:_ Cut a piece of silver, No. 20, the size of any one of the above designs. Cut a piece of No. 24, 1/16 in. wide and long enough to go around the stone, to make a bezel. Be sure that this bezel fits close and tight around the stone. Bind the bezel, and solder. After soldering, fit the bezel again to the stone, for the soldering is apt to change the shape. File the bottom off perfectly flat; clean the surface of that part to be used for the back of the pin. Bind the bezel on this piece, wash with borax, and solder it in place.

_Pin:_ This can be bought at any jewellery store. However, if you wish to make your own, you can do so in the following manner: Place a piece of No. 16 wire in the draw plate and reduce it a little. This drawing through the plate stiffens the wire, and this is just what is needed in a pin; otherwise it would bend when pushing it into the scarf. When you think it is stiff enough, file the end to a long needle point. Cut it off about 3 ins. long. Bend the blunt end down at right angles 1/8 in. Place this end against the back of the pin in such a way that the bent end will be against the plate and a little above the centre. Bind it in place and solder it on tight. Be careful to heat just as little of this pin as possible, for you remember that heating a piece of silver red hot softens it, and you must heat it red hot to solder. So confine the heating to as small a space as possible. Sometimes I soak a piece of cloth in water and wrap it around the pin, covering up all except the part to be soldered. This prevents it from softening.

_To place the stone:_ The stone is put in and the bezel is pushed against it and holds it in place.

This is a very plain scarf pin without any pretence at design. Scarf pins can be made in all shapes, sizes, and all sorts of cut out designs.

All silver should be polished smooth and made free from scratches. The polishing hardens the surface of the metal. This is why silver jewellery of all kinds becomes brighter and smoother the longer it is worn.

_Setting of stones in scarf pins:_ There are many ways of setting stones for scarf pins. The setting just described is called a box setting, the bezel forming the box to receive the stone. The open or prong setting is made in the same way as that kind of setting is made for the stone in the ring.