The Ring

Okay, many people have questions on Janell's ring. Yes, I did make it, with a little help. I have always wanted to make the wedding ring for my future wife. So I wanted to design a ring I thought Janell would like, however, as some of you know I cant draw so I went to the jewelry supply store and bought some caving wax.

I just started carving. After a few attempts I carved a design I liked but it wasn't the right size and it was a rough draft, it was not a finished product. So I started over, carving out of wax what would become Janell's ring. So I got to a point that I needed to talk to someone about diamonds and casting the wax into metal. So I went to Gary Richmond. After talking to him he loaned me a few tools I didn't have and I went to buy a pair of magnifying glasses.

Armed with my new tools I went to put on the finishing touches to the wax.

With my torch, ring mandrel, knife, picks, and sand paper I made my final touches. I know the photo below isn't that great but I the iphone only does so good and I had no idea I would ever be sharing it with anyone.

With the wax done it was time to go back to Gary and look into casting it and find the gold and diamonds. For casting the wax into gold we took it to the jewelry district in Portland and went to a company that specializes in lost wax casting. Now before they can cast it they needed the gold so to save on cost (oh yeah and be green) we decided to melt down an old man's ring that Gary had in his shop. Before we could do that we had to take out the 6 diamonds in it (which we used in Janell's ring too, they are the diamonds that run down the sides). Now with the diamonds out and gold in-hand, the casters went to work. I was sweating a bit because if it didn't cast correctly or completely the wax would be gone and I would have to start all over. The ring came back and looked great. Now we had to find a center diamond, so we had a diamond dealer come in and he had the diamond I wanted but it was in and old diamond solitaire ring so we cut off the crown with the diamond in it. I then had Gary solder that crown into the center of the new ring. We took 8 more small diamonds out of an old ring that Gary had in his shop and those make the rest of the diamonds on the side. Gary did a great job setting all the diamonds. The final look is a classic style with a hint of modernism.

So there you have it. The creation of the ring. I really enjoyed making the ring. If anyone has any more questions just ask and I will tell you or blog about it so everyone can know.