Question: copying the design on the outside of a wedding ring

[simone-cervellati]

Hi guys! quick question I have been asked to restore a worn engraving in hebrew on the outside of a wedding band and to put the same design on a brand new ring (this couple lost one and the other was in a really bad shape)

I was able to save the engraving (thoug it proved quite a challenge since the original engraver used a mixture of round and v point gravers and was not very good at hebrew lettering so I also had to fix a couple of his mistakes) now I need to put the design on the other ring and I would like to use the same exact font and size wich of course has been lost, I tried pulling the design but the compund curve makes the tape wrinkle a lot and ruins the pull..

so what would you suggest guys?

I was thinking about making a series of stamps using hot glue but I'd like your opinion before smearing sticky goo on a gold ring I don't own

thanks in avance for the replies!

 

[Sam]

Lynton McKenzie would used dental rubber to mold engraving on compound curved surfaces, and then use it like a rubber stamp. Your hot glue idea would probably do the same thing. Give it a shot and let us know how it works.

 

[Roger B]

Hot glue should not be a problem.

Roger

 

[Kevin Scott]

Hot glue releases real well after running a light bead of alcohol around the edges. Wait 5 or 10 seconds, comes right off, real clean, no mess. No need to reheat.

 

[bram ramon]

A spoke print will work great!

 

[rod]

I have worked a lot with dental molding impressions in my flute work, and also hot glue used as "rubber stamp" moldings. Hot glue impressions are very durable as well as flexible. After experiments, I found that applying Armor Vynal polish to the metal beforehand, it acted as a good release agent. However, the above described method of using alcohol may be equally good, or better.

Rod

 

[simone-cervellati]

thanks for the suggestions guys, I'll let you know how it goes with the hot glue.

what is a spoke print exactly?

Simone

 

[Dave London]

I think he was referring to a smoke print

 

[bram ramon]

Damn my english.. yes i do refer to a SMOKE print

 

[James Roettger]

When laying out on 1/2 profile bands I would always think laying it out visually to be the most accurate as to overall letter placement. I wedge the ring on a mandrel, paint it with white gouache water color and layout with 6H pencil. Mistakes can be corrected by using a fine sable brush and some more white water color. Any kind of transfer method on such a surface is hard to make well placed work with if your engraving all the way around the band.

 

[Southern Custom]

Ditto James. I just set them side by side. With a pair of dividers to be sure of measurements and a pencil. The tiny space magnifies small registration errors. Though I've never tried it with the hot glue and that sounds fun and promising. It's not a good day till you learn something new!

 

[simone-cervellati]

Here is the whole process I used:

I went and bought hot glue and a hot air gun (should have had those in my shop already but I opened only 1 month ago so bear with me.. :biggrin: ).

I took a smooth metal surface (piece of sheet steel in my case) and melted hot glue on it until it formed a nice sheet about 2-3 mm thick. I then detached the hot glue sheet I just made from the steel backing using the alcohol trick from a previuos post (worked amazingly)

I proceded to cut the sheet with an exacto knife into long strips that were slightly wider than the ring (this is going to come in handy in the next steps)

I clamped the "master" ring with the engraving facing upwards and I layed one of the strips on it.

I used the hot air gun to heat the strip slowly so it melted on the engraving but it didn't drip off of the ring.

I ended up using two strips of glue in the end.

the strips molded aroun the ring, being slightly oversize. so I had an index embedded in my stamp since the other ring is the same width.

and voila, apply ink, stamp and add fixative to the mix.

if the ink does not stick to the metal apply fixative first and then stamp it, worked great for me thoug the image is a little faint.

hope this helps othe people!!

Simone