Making a ring

I recently caught up with a good friend, Vicky, who rivals me in terms of how many different hobbies she has. Her kitchen worktop was covered in jewellery making tools, and she asked if I wanted to learn how to make a simple copper ring. Of course I did!

1. We started off with a reel of 2mm copper wire. Vicky says it works with anything from 1.5mm up to 3mm

2. The wire was bent around a metal mandrel (nice word) to a size slightly larger than the finished ring

3. We cut the wire to make a hoop

4. And then bent it using special plastic pliers to make the ends of the hoop line up

5. Next we got some jewellery solder

6. And smeared it across the ends of the hoop

7. The ring was then placed on a fireproof block

8. And heated gently until the solder flowed across the joint and sealed it.

9. We cooled the rings down in water

10. And then placed them in a solution of vinegar and salt pickle to remove the oxidised copper

11. The rings were washed in water again and the black cupric oxide rubbed off with a finger

12. Leaving just the rather beautiful red cuprous oxide

13. The rings were then put back onto the mandrell and hammered to be round and the correct size. Sadly this knocked off most of the cuprous oxide.

14. They were then polished using an impressive array of different grades of sandpaper

15. Ta da!

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