For this week’s
#tooltalktuesday I have a special ring mandrel created by
@pepetools_usa at the request of jeweler and teacher Jessica Jordan Coté of
@rosyrevolver the Flat Back, Open Ring, Forming Mandrel. This mandrel is designed for making rings with a flat top, Which people do for aesthetics, better fit to the finger and reducing the amount of swinging around the finger the ring will do. In researching for this post and in creating my own ring Jessica guided me to a video she made last year explaining the process of making an open ring, because how the heck to do we figure out our ring blank size?!? She very generously shared her method: For ring blanks made of sheet or rectangular, flat stock you do your normal ring blank calculations. I personally use this formula: (A [inside diameter of desired ring size] + B [metal thickness of wire or sheet])* pi . Pi is(3.14159265359+). You can round Pi down to 3.14 if you want. In summary, the formula is: (A + B) * Pi = blank length (+ .5mm if your ring blank is over 4mm wide). To get the inside diameter measurement you can check out the chart I included in the post or simple measure a steel ring mandrel with digital calipers! So once you have your ring blank number, Jessica then reduces this number by 10mm! That’s it! If she is using double wire, or low dome, or half round she only reduces by 8mm. This is SO incredibly helpful. You pair this knowledge with this awesome Ring mandrel and you will be making rings with an open shank and flat back in no time. If you are making this type of jewelry can’t recommend this tool enough, available exclusively from Pepetools, I will link in my profile. Thank you to them for their support and to Jessica who also has awesome tumbling media and online classes, check them out for sure!!
#flatbackring #openring #ringmakingtips #jewelrytools
