[Jewelry making - Article 00028] - Re: [Orchid] Puzzle ring fabricating process

[Gary]

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    I've been hand-making puzzle rings for over 45 years; it was the
    desire to make a puzzle ring that started me making jewellery. I made
    the very simple bending jig shown in this link: 

    http://tinyurl.com/66l8de 

    I started by drawing the shape of the knotted part of the ring, full
    size, on a sheet of paper, then copied each individual part to get
    the shape of each of the four sections. These were then cut out and
    glued to the block (you can just see the remnants of some of them -
    its well over 45 years old) shown. Nails were then hammered into the
    block where the wire would be bent, and the heads of the nails were
    then cut off. The jig is then finished. This particular jig is for
    making two types of ring - one for ladies, and a heavier one for men. 


    To make a ring, I cut 4 pieces of wire (silver, gold, or platinum)
    of the correct length, then bend each one round the nails for that
    particular component. The knot is then assembled (its pretty rough
    and crude at this stage), the shanks are bent to bring the ends
    together, and then soldered up. That's the easy bit. The hard bit
    comes next: the pattern of the knot is then gradually improved until
    it fits really nice. It takes time and perseverance to get it just
    right. 

    These two links show a plain ring and one with 3 emeralds, both made
    with the above block and technique. 

    http://tinyurl.com/59e27v
    http://tinyurl.com/6eb2nc

Regards, Gary Wooding
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