Ring Sizing

[MoonFireTurquoise]

Wondering if I can get some help with a request sent to my store. I have this ring:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/98920513/wintergreen-turquoise-ring
It is currently a size 6 and my potential buyer wants it to be a size 7.5. I want to be able to do this for her, but I don't want to mess up the ring or the stone. so here's my questions:

*It's made out of heavy sterling wire and pounding it up that far without annealing will be impossible. And I can't anneal it with the stone in there. Is there anyway to protect the stone, or am I better off removing it?

*I'm also worried about warping the bezel if I do pound it up. I tried pounding up a ring once before for a request and I ended up bending the bezel and cracking the stone, so I'm a little gun shy about this.

*or do I forget about the pounding, remove the stone, add a piece to the shank and reset the stone?

This gal wants it as an engagement ring, which I think would be fabulous to do. I could always just rebuild the ring as a 7.5, but I'd like to avoid that if possible.

Also, I'm wondering about everyone's policy on ring sizing. Do you do it? Do you take it on a case by case basis? Do you charge for it?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated - thanks in advance!

[Former_Member]

Hi Jen!
That is a gorgeous ring :) and how special to know your work will be someone's engagement ring!
if it were me.... I would remove the stone and and add a strip to the shank just because of the way the bezel is set even with the band. I tend to do the "better safe than sorry method" personally.... just because I am so far far away from being a master silversmith!
I don't think turquoise is a stone that will tolerate the pickle, also... maybe it's just me but I never really trust the gel heat protectors with a special stone.

The price on your ring is so fair... that I don't think you should feel bad at all for charging to resize it. That is a really time consuming thing, and I am sure your customer would understand. A bench jeweler would charge anywhere from $30 to $120 depending on how difficult the resize is.

[Former_Member]

I use asbestos to do rings with stones. They don't sell it anymore but when wet it wont give off the bad stuff. Not sure what is available now days because my shop still uses a tray of asbestos. It also directs the heat away from the stone. Saw a straight cut on the back of the band and move it up a ring mandrel to the size you want. File the ends flat and fit a length of silver in the gap. You know it is heavy silver so I would use medium chips of silver sheet solder. Angle the ring almost on its side and direct the flame on the inside so it is as far from the stone as possible. Properly directed it shouldn't hardly heat up the stone. When you size up the down side is it will never be truly round again.

[Former_Member]

Hi Jen
You can do it by adding a piece to the shank but you will have to remove the stone as the Turquoise will not take the heat even with a cool gel, or the Picking .
You can also do it by hammering it with a rawhide or wood mallet. do not try to force the ring up the mandrel. If you do you will crack the stone.
The rawhide mallet will not mark up the shank to much is it can easy be buffed out.
I does take a few minutes to do it so take your time.
Did you make anything from that Turquoise You got?

[MoonFireTurquoise]

Thanks for the help everyone. I haven't heard from my gal in a couple of days, so I'm thinking the sale is a no go, but we'll see.

Gerald, I made this necklace out of the bigger stone:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/98793467/bisbee-turquoise-necklace
Terrible pictures, but I really like the necklace. I actually wore it to a wedding a couple of weeks ago. I'm also working on the other stone, which will also be a necklace. Should be done by the end of the week...

[Former_Member]

Jen:
Great Necklace!!!
Send me Pictures of them and I will put them on my web sites and show off your work
I have listed some Royston Natural turquoise.

[Former_Member]

Hi Jen
I have a lead filled rawhide mallet..yes you can size up a size or two with out removing the stone..the rawhide will not do much damage to the shank... Your shank is a highly polished domed shank.. I do not like that is is soldered to the side of the setting verses underneath am not sure the silver gauge you used in the setting....Just keep an eye on the sheet under the setting that it does not warp as you are enlarging.
My problem also right now with building rings a size that can be enlarged..the women keep buying my large mens rings and I have to take apart and reduce the size's. Wish I had an answer for all.. I have bought all the different sizers and find each has its strong and weak points....I have the two Kagen sizers one is a roller the other the expander and both do not do it all...That is why these people that give solder answers on the forums do not take into account having to re size a ring....I like to use easy for most of what I do....

[Former_Member]

Just a little add....when ponding with the rawhide mallet make sure to just pound at the outer area furthest from the setting.Stretching there should not cause any stress to the setting. Just watch the setting as you pound....It will take a lot of pounding though....good solid pounding.I like to rest the mandrell on my leg and put the setting toward my leg and it absorbes the hit....Little hard on the leg though.. I have some leather chuncks ,pieces I use to shield my leg I use. A folded smaller towel would work also..Hope you have a larger mallet. The roller stretchers do not make convex rollers the width of these larger shanks..good luck..let us know how you did....

[MoonFireTurquoise]

Thanks for everyone's help on this ring. I sold it and also made a wedding band to fit, and I think it turned out well. Yay!

Jerry- I'll shoot you some pics of the necklaces soon. I want to take some better pictures of the one and I'm not finished with the other yet. (I got a little heat happy with the torch and melted my setting-oops)

Jim- You mentioned a lead filled rawhide mallet - where did you get it? My rawhide mallet is a lightweight one, thinking something heavier would be a great help. My heavy hammers leave soo many marks and the rawhide doesn't have a whole lot of force behind it.

[Former_Member]

Hi Jen...
I know you directed this questionn to Jim, but I got a lead filled raw hide mallet from Rio Grande.
IJS also has different weights of lead filled mallets... but I am not sure what the quality is like.
My Rio mallet is well made with screws instead of nails. A co-worker told me to hit the mallet on concrete over and over to soften it up and make the head "fuzzyy" so it won't mar your work... i tried it and all it did was scratch up one side of my mallet. I put a big x on that side so I wouldn't use the scratched side and that forced me to always use just one side and it has really softened on the edges just from repeated use. :)

[opalendeavours]

Sounds good I'll have to get one! I had been using a rwa hide mallet with- great force!
Lots of good advice here.
A word on resizing using the cut and solder method.
For smaller rings I have always used a "sand pot".
Fill a small metal tin or half a drink can with clean white beach sand and fill with water. Water should be visible at the top of the sand at all times.
Place about half the ring down into the very wet sand.
I used this technique profesionally for a few years when doing repairs and resizes.
I still use this method on opal jewellery without removing the stone.

N.B. IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO APPLY HEAT FAST, GET THE JOB DONE; ENSURE THERE IS WATER VISABLE AT THE TOP OF THE SAND AT ALL TIMES.
THERE WILL BE A SMALL AMOUNT OF STEAM SO BE CAREFUL!

Best to practice on some old junky pieces first!
I did burn a tourquise once durring my training 25 years ago simply because I let the water dry out.
I have never tried it on a band as wide with a tourqoise as that.
Jill, you chose the corrct method, you can always experiment, but it might cost you.
It's best to have a tourch that can supply a lot of heat to a small area fast.
I use the "Little Tourch" as it is called here with oxygen and LPG.

[Former_Member]

Just a small point Jen..I agree with the last post but will po int out..it depends on the torch you have..The small hot oxy/ gas smith torches are more of a gold /Bench jewelry torch and not what wenormally work silver with....But used as stated above is a good choice for that method....I am working on a correct size myself to build rings from so that I can quickly shrink or enlarge to match a persons wants...Not an easy answer....My jewerly sales have been very good and seems the need to adjust size with rings is getting to be a problem for me....I have several of the ring sizers and find each has its limitations.....The Kagen inside stretchers and then the Kagan and import roller ring shank stretchers all have limitations I have all of them..I still have not found a good answer..but then what the last post sugested is a good start..make small to increase but also make large to cut out and solder and shrink...two approaches no good one answer.....

[Former_Member]

I think I will make a practice ring and try the approaches to see what works well before I tell my customers...The problem I have is that I build a nice large mans ring and the women keep buying them and wanting me to shrink them....another reason I price high...Takes many things into account when pricing..hard to turn down a $250.00 sale that just needs the size adjusted...Made an extra thousand last month from just offering shrinking ring size for my cutsomers..it all adds up in the end... I will not custom build and will not resize unless paid for first....learned my lesson there....
.hope all are well..I have just been to busy myself in my studio to post much
Have a great summer
James

[Former_Member]

Thanks Ken
for taking some time to come here..it is always appreciated..Small world we live in to be accross the world but still have the same passion and talk the same language...Good luck in what you are doing
James

[MoonFireTurquoise]

Jim,
Do you charge a specific price for a resize? Or do you just figure that making the sale is the point and your higher prices cover it in the end?