Gold Inlay Ring Techniques

rmattson

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I know that this isn't 100% the place for my question but after reading AndrosCreations thread on balling up gold and hammering it in I'm hoping I can find some other suggestions here.

I am getting married next spring and I'm making my wedding ring. It will be turned out of titanium. I inherited my grandfathers wedding ring that is 14k gold. I want to re-purpose his ring for an inlay in the titanium. The inlay will be a simple straight groove that I will likely undercut on the sides. I've made a number of rings similar to this but using crushed stone for the inlay. On those rings the groove has been in the neighborhood of .030 deep.

My questions are,
What is my best bet as far as getting an already made gold ring into a groove?

Cut it into a strip? Little pieces? Stretch it out over the top of the ring and hammer it in?

Does heating the gold assist at all in the hammering process?

Would making the groove shallower reduce the material needed, be easier, or help any?

I'm open to any ideas.

Currently my last resort is to make the titanium ring in two pieces and press all three together but I'd prefer a one piece ring for the base.

Thanks!
 

Roger B

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rmattson,

I'm sure there is more than one way to skin a cat but when we made inlaid wedders the wedder metal was well undersized and the inlay was oversized. The wedder was then stretched up into the inlay and finished. I am not able to translate the number of sizes required as we in Oz use a different system to the US where I assume you are based. There is a fair bit of calculation involved in this.
 

monk

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i think trying to pound a preexisting ring into the channel you cut would be very difficult to achieve. i'd measure the circumference of the ti ring.
cut the preexisting gold ring in half. you will have to then pound, roll, or stretch the gold to the (near) required diameter for the inlay. the thickness of the gold ring would be far too much metal to try and squash into the channel.
cut the formed wire just a bit longer than the circumference, and tap it in place. you'll want a bit of a "hump", so it can be stoned flush with the ring surface. brass rod can make a nice punch for the process. if you can cut a practice channel in a piece of waste ti, you can use some plain ole copper wire to check on the diameter you'll need to make your gold for the channel. of the many ways to do it, this would be my choice.
 

tim halloran

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Mattson: 14K gold would be extremely difficult if not impossible to inlay. It will work harden when you try to set it with a punch, no matter how much you try to anneal it. Use 24K as it will inlay easily.
 

rmattson

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I realize that 24k gold would work much much easier but the existing ring is 14k. I want to use the existing ring because it has a lot of sentimental value.
 

DKanger

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I realize that 24k gold would work much much easier but the existing ring is 14k. I want to use the existing ring because it has a lot of sentimental value.
Why not send the ring to a refiner and take the resulting product back as 24k gold wire?
 

Thierry Duguet

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It seems to me that you should be able to stretch to size the titanium ring while the gold ring is red hot, when the gold ring cool down it will shrink and friction will keep it in place. Of course you should/could cut a shallow grove on the titanium ring to place the gold one where you want it.
 

Georgey

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We make the ring 3 sizes to small ,lathe turn groove,melt 14k wed and re work to required width to fit groove and turn up band, solder and shape to squeeze over wed ,locate so just fits over groove and stretch up and it will lock in place.You need a wedding ring stretcher
 

Roger B

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Why not send the ring to a refiner and take the resulting product back as 24k gold wire?

If you are talking about getting your own original gold back I cannot think that any mainstream refiner would do this for you - just for the sake of getting a couple of grams of 24ct back - this is why refiners have minimum scrap weights and minimum costs. If you found a small refiner to do this time consuming job the costs would make it unviable for you.

If done as suggested with the groove cut in the ti and stretched up the 14ct should not cause any problem - we have done this with 9ct.

Roger
 
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Roger B

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We make the ring 3 sizes to small ,lathe turn groove,melt 14k wed and re work to required width to fit groove and turn up band, solder and shape to squeeze over wed ,locate so just fits over groove and stretch up and it will lock in place.You need a wedding ring stretcher

Don't forget that the 14ct ring will have to be a larger size larger to take into account the thickness of the titanium ring that will sit underneath when it is stretched up.
 

Roger B

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rmattson,

How is this for a suggestion - if you are determined to make your own ring, make contact with a friendly manufacturing jeweller who knows how to do this type of job, discuss the requirements, make up the ti ring to specs, let the jeweller rework the 14ct ring and then you can be involved in the stretching and finishing of your ring.

Roger

BTW how do you inlay "crushed stone" into a cut groove - what kind of crushed stone?
 
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Marrinan

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If it was me I would forget the inlay and go with overlay. turn the ti to you finger size, outside to ring diameter and laser weld the two together. Just my thoughts Fred
 

Jan Hendrik

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I have not had much success in stretching titanium rings. The metal is not very malleable and hard to work. I do my own small scale refining and could do the job, but i am based in South Africa.
P.S the chemicals used in refining are extremely hazardous and the resulting nitrox fumes are very toxic!
 

anthony saldana

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FullSizeRender.jpg just finished this yesterday, 14k rose into 14k white. no problem at all, just rolled out the rose into the size i needed, annealed and hammer in, seamless
 

Brian Marshall

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Anthony, you've got some fairly advanced skills and equipment that "rmattson" has no access to... (alloys that can take hammering, a rolling mill, torches, and molds for example)

This is his first attempt - the base is titanium and who knows what the alloy is in the 14K ring he wants to use?


With time, practice, and skills it IS possible to alloy your own 14K mix that can be directly inlaid into steel - or titanium. Even lower karats are possible.


Some inlays are actually being melted right into the channel or cavity under inert atmosphere, but whether he wants to get that involved for a one time project is gonna depend on how fat his wallet is and how much time it will take him to learn the processes.


My advice, if it's a one time event - would be the same as Rogers... hand it off to someone who already has the skills/equipment.


B.
 
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Brian Marshall

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Went back and reread the first post... missed the part about making the ring in 3 pieces...

That might actually work quite well, with a little luck. And if you already have access to a lathe and some machining experience you'll have NO extra expenses or running around to find whatever you haven't got handy.

The more I think about it the more I like it. Press fitting the pieces together with the gold ring "trapped" in the channel is a perfect example of the metalsmiths "cold connection".

If you wanted a little extra security, find a jeweler with a laser welder & inert gas and save some of the original swarf to use for welding the edges... No way it will ever separate.


You could also make the center gold ring "spin" freely - trapped in the channel. That was a popular style a coupla decades back, not seen much these days.

Gives you something to do whilst waiting for your spouse to get out of the dressing room, store or salon...


Brian


Plus you have the added advantage of simply sizing the heirloom band up or down to fit the turned piece - in hand. Any jeweler could do that for you if you bring him the titanium he has to fit it to.
 
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