turtle dove ring set

I made this ring set out of sterling silver , my hubby is not sure if guys would like a ring in the shape of a bird , but I like them maybe you guys like them too the stone I used is a swiss blue topaz

out of this 🙂

I used 18 gauge sterling silver

drew the birds directly on the sheet

cut them out with a jewelry saw

the saw I use is a 6 inch saw ( distance between blade and the back part ) and 1/0 saw blades – my eyes are getting a bit weak so I have to feel now with my thumb to make sure the teeth are in the right direction

sawed out birds with extra length so that you can make a ring shank

added texture

formed the rings so that the ends meet

the fun part is soldering

I love fire and my small welder ( its a hydroflux welder I got 2 years ago for my birthday – safer than a torch ) normally the flame is green but my flux solution is in need of replacing

soldered rings

the blackness comes from oxidation

after bathing the rings in a cleaning solution

the solution is called Pickle and will get rid of the blackness turning the metal white

now the rings are getting formed

ring mandrel and a nylon hammer will make sure you get a perfect round shape

I wanted to add a stone to the smaller ring

I am lazy so I used a bought bezel cup to hold the stone and soldered that to the ring

almost finished they just need to be polished

I use a so called flex shaft ( dremel with a hose ) which is basically the same thing your dentist has for the drills

cleaned rings

added some black max ( patina )

polished again

added the stone

i saw that the ring with the stone did not have the patina for the eye so I had to do that

ring for her

ring for him

hope you liked it 🙂

nici laskin