A few years back, while I was still in the grips of my addiction, a good friend Dan opened up his jewelry studio to me to teach me how to make jewelry. Along the way he ended up teaching me a lot more than silversmithing. He took the time to teach me some crucial life lesson that help me to this day.
His approach wasn’t like anyone else’s when it came to schooling me on life. He used attraction rather than promotion. He would lead by example and try to show me the life I could have. Instead of pointing out the errors of my ways and scolding me, he used his own life experience to teach me about life.
My only wish was that I took better notes back then, it would of saved me a lot of heartache and troubles in life. But regardless some things stuck with me.
Recently I needed to take my Rolex in to be serviced and I ended befriending Frank the Jeweler. It instantly brought back all the memories of the jewelry studio in DC and Dan. So I figured I would relive and share these memories with you guys.
Though this photo of me was not taken the first day I went to the jewelry studio, the ring I'm going to show you was the first ring I made.
Forged Wire Ring
I know it doesn’t look like much but this is what the ring starts off as. A thin piece of sterling silver (.925) wire. They come in all sizes and you cut them to length. To figure out how long to cut the wire you picture the ring you want to make and wrap some string around your finger. Wrap it and place it as close to what you imagine you want your ring to look like. Then cut your material a little longer to leave room for error. However don’t forget "room for error" costs money in material and that wasted extra material could be expensive, especially if you’re working with gold.
Pro Tip: A thin piece of copper wire works even better than string.
Once your wire is cut to length decide what you want your wire tips to look like. I went with pointed as you can see in the picture below. To do this I simply cut the wire at an angle. If you wanted it to look more flattened like a fish tail you could simply work the material out with a hammer (smash it).
Once the tip is as desired bend the wire how you imagined.
Now the fun is about to begin! Did someone call MC Hammer?
Because it's Hammer Time!
Place the side you are currently working on on your anvil or in my case a solid piece of thick steel.
Different hammers work the material in different ways leaving patterns. I just used a jewelers ball peen hammer on this ring.
Work the material slow and lightly. You can always hit it again, but you can’t take a heavy hit back. Also by working the material like this you are adding strength to the soft silver.
Once you have worked the material out you can see it looks more rugged and stylish then just the simple wire.
Now It's time to add some style to the other side of the wire. Repeat the previous steps to the other side of your wire. Make sure to note how much wire you need to wrap around for a finger to fit through.
Now you wrap the wire around a mandrel, these are made of hard metal and have the ring sizes labeled on them. I wrapped mine twice.
Get it to the desired ring size and form the material to be aesthetically pleasing.
Then it is time to work the round part of the ring to match the finish of the tips with your ball peen hammer. Also you will need to work the ends, as well, so they will curve to your finger.
Now we have a forged ring. But we are not done yet. We still need to breathe life into the piece.
It's time to polish our ring. Using a polishing wheel and jewelers rouge will give it a mirror like finish and give it the maximum luster.
And here is the finished ring!
See Dan I may not of always been listing but from what i can remember I will remember always and forever.
I spoke to Dan recently and it looks like my girl @liz.writes and I will be taking a trip up to DC soon so he can teach us how to make some different things. If you would like to learn more about the studio or possibly have Dan mentor you check out his Website or follow him on Facebook.
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Please visit my Website or call 888-343-6693
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If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, please reach out and I'll do my best to help.
This is awesome,
Hard work and a role model all in one post.
This is the power of influence. It's not what we tell people that sticks. It's what we do in our daily lives.
Thank you for bringing us into the jewel smith's life for a moment.
I have five brothers and you guessed it, one is a Jeweler, but not the one in Florida.
Yea im in west palm beach right now, what part is your brother in? Where does your jeweler brother live?
Yeah i like doing multi point post, Its fun.
I followed your boses' instagram. My brothers are also on instagram.
This is my personal Instagram and my Recovery Inc. Instagram
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If you look I’m always posting right before 12 am so I can get this badge lol
Haha you know how to do it 😉
Im going to start doing one of my short recovery memes a day as well. I have made so many and I want everyone to see. plus my Real blog post