[Jewelry making - Article 00345] - Re: [Orchid] Replacing silver ring shank

[Neilthejeweler]

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    As is often the case, without seeing the piece its hard to give
    specific advice. 

    Ok, you need to replace the s/s shank. Depending on the mass of the
    piece you may not have to remove the tooth. But even if you do remove
    it, you don't necessarily have to anneal the gold antlers. I assume
    they are acting like prongs so if they bent once (to set) they'll
    bend a second time to unmount. They will anneal when you solder the
    new shank. 

    If the ring is overall not all that massive, try suspending the ring
    upside down with the tooth immersed in water to solder. Some people
    use a potato or a clump of wet paper towels or kooljool. If you're
    reshanking because its worn out at the bottom perhaps doing a half
    shank will be advantageous, as the joint will be farther away from
    the top of the ring. Its tricky to judge the risk factors in this
    situation...low heat threshold vs changing the tooth and rebedding. 

    If you have to remove the tooth, just gently pull the 'prongs' away
    from the tooth. Sometimes I'll use a flush cutter to act as a prybar
    on the prong tip. One jaw under the prong, the other one the outside
    of the prong down a few mm and lightly twist the plier. You might
    also use a chasing tool reshaped to a hook of sorts and tap the prong
    away but you'll need to the clamp the ring securely. 

    If the antlers form a cage, capturing the tooth, it might be that
    the antlers have been riveted in place. If so drill out the rivets,
    make your repair, install new rivets. 

    Hope at least something there is relevant to what you're dealing
    with.
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