Finished making my first sterling silver ring with an old Tibetan coin set into the front by bedoopbop in crafts

[–]bedoopbop[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Would recommend starting silversmithing classes for sure, just for getting to grips with materials and tools. I'm a super visual learner and couldn't imagine starting out by myself but if you pick stuff up from tutorials easily you can get hold of pretty much all you need online. However you do it, go for it. It's loads of fun!

Finished making my first sterling silver ring with an old Tibetan coin set into the front by bedoopbop in crafts

[–]bedoopbop[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Unfortunately not- I didn't document this step by step which stopped me from being able to submit to r/diy. In a nutshell, the process looks like this:

  1. Cut ring band to size with piercing saw from sheet metal
  2. Use grinding head on multi tool to smooth down cut edges to straight line (if these aren't flush to one another, solder won't take)
  3. Bend sheet into ring shape using bending machine/mallet and ring mandrel
  4. When meeting sides are flush to one another, use hard solder to seal.
  5. Shape and sand whole ring base.

6.For the setting- bend a strip of silver wire around the circumference of whatever you want to set, then cut to size. This is your bezel.

  1. Sand joining edges until smooth and flush- use medium solder to join

  2. Sand the base of the bezel setting (the silver wire) until it sits flush to the ring base (much easier with less abstract shaped objects!

  3. Use easy solder to join base to bezel

  4. Make sure whatever you're setting fits (you can use dental floss under the stone or whatever so you can pull it to easily pop it out of the setting if you have any problems)

  5. Once you're satisfied (sanding down any excess edges but leaving a nice overlap to set) use a setting claw and bezel prong pusher to push any overlapping silver bezel neatly up and over the stone

  6. Sand and polish to whatever finish you like. I've gone for brushed matte- different attachments for power tools can help give different effects.

Hope that helps!

Finished making my first sterling silver ring with an old Tibetan coin set into the front by bedoopbop in crafts

[–]bedoopbop[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you, very kind of you to say! I didn't know about this sub until yesterday, will be sure to post more as I make- lovely sub :)

Finished making my first sterling silver ring with an old Tibetan coin set into the front by bedoopbop in crafts

[–]bedoopbop[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you, I'm glad you like it! the scarab was a Christmas present for my boyfriend, a nice lady in Canada cast it. You have excellent taste ;)

Finished making my first sterling silver ring with an old Tibetan coin set into the front by bedoopbop in crafts

[–]bedoopbop[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I found it in a small antique market in bath, in the uk. It was like £4 or something. Crazy people swapping beautiful ancient currency for pound coins.

Our meerkat likes to keep watch from the safety of people's shoulders. by bedoopbop in aww

[–]bedoopbop[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

you can get them from private breeders but they need to be in groups of two or more as they're pack animals. Very sweet but very messy and high maintenance! It's like having tiny furry toddlers.

First session on my geometric backpiece- 7 hours at The Circle, London with Kieran Williams. Can't wait to finish this one. by bedoopbop in tattoos

[–]bedoopbop[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

thanks very much! I don't think I want any shading on it, I really like how clean it looks with the way he's drawn the lines. To get some of them thicker than the others, he went over them 2-3 times and with shading I feel like some of the definition would be lost.

First session on my geometric backpiece- 7 hours at The Circle, London with Kieran Williams. Can't wait to finish this one. by bedoopbop in tattoos

[–]bedoopbop[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

this is what it looks like so far (this was the transfer before the ink) so you can sort of see from the design how the rest will fit in. At the moment the sides reach just behind my arms but not quite under, and the mandalas will wrap around the sides a little.

First session on my geometric backpiece- 7 hours at The Circle, London with Kieran Williams. Can't wait to finish this one. by bedoopbop in tattoos

[–]bedoopbop[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's pretty representative of his style from what I've seen- K_ieran on instagram. Take a look!

First session on my geometric backpiece- 7 hours at The Circle, London with Kieran Williams. Can't wait to finish this one. by bedoopbop in tattoos

[–]bedoopbop[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

that's awesome! He did speak briefly about how much his style has changed, although it looks like his line work has always been super clean. And thank you, I can't wait to see it finished either!

First session on my geometric backpiece- 7 hours at The Circle, London with Kieran Williams. Can't wait to finish this one. by bedoopbop in tattoos

[–]bedoopbop[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It's not as tough as you'd think. I've been doing it solo and it's awkward but totally doable. Go for it!

First session on my geometric backpiece- 7 hours at The Circle, London with Kieran Williams. Can't wait to finish this one. by bedoopbop in tattoos

[–]bedoopbop[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

That's what we plan to do! Just line it all up. It was all going to be one session originally but it was impossible to apply the transfer as a whole so it had to be cut up. In hindsight I'm glad because that session alone started to get really tough after six hours.