Robert Jobe
Member
where can you buy stainless steel rings that can be engraved without much trouble.
Stainlesssteel rings
- Thread starter Robert Jobe
- Start date
Les Riddell
Member
i purchase stainless rings in the form of steel tube from any engineering supplier and cut them up as i need them. you can get lots of stainless steel rings from Ebay. i've just had a quick look and there are lots for dirt cheep. you will have to weed out all the ones that have crap on them already but a simple search of stainless wedding bands will give you a good narrow search.
I've seen tons of stainless rings and other jewelry at trade shows and have tested quite a few samples. Unfortunately they've all been so bloody hard that it's nearly impossible to engrave them. It'd be nice to find some mild stainless steel jewelry but I've not found any yet.
KCSteve
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Les
Are you finding the right size tubes for the ring sizes you want or do you stretch them to get the sizes you can't readily buy?
And can you give us a link to one of the places you're buying the tubes?
I do a lot of practice rings using copper water pipe so I can vouch for how easy it is to chop off a piece for an instant ring.
Are you finding the right size tubes for the ring sizes you want or do you stretch them to get the sizes you can't readily buy?
And can you give us a link to one of the places you're buying the tubes?
I do a lot of practice rings using copper water pipe so I can vouch for how easy it is to chop off a piece for an instant ring.
Andrew Biggs
Moderator
GRS sell them here
At least you will be buying something that is engravable because it's sold by a reputable dealer that deals with engraving..............the trouble with buying something on the internet without a personal recommendation is that it becomes a crap shoot as to what you will end up with. Been there and done that
Cheers
Andrew
At least you will be buying something that is engravable because it's sold by a reputable dealer that deals with engraving..............the trouble with buying something on the internet without a personal recommendation is that it becomes a crap shoot as to what you will end up with. Been there and done that
Cheers
Andrew
Les Riddell
Member
yes i find the right size tube. you can get just about any size you want if you are not in a hurry. Here in new zealand i get stainless from stewart steel and my local engineering shop. not sure where you can get it in the US but a bit of leg work never hurt anyone. most of the stainless i get from the these sources is annealed and soft. i have had no problems engraving it. yes some times i do size these rings up but not down. to anneal it after hammering up i place it in my kiln and heat soak it at about 750 C for 2 hours then shut the kiln off and wait until the following day. steel needs to be annealed more frequently than precious metals when working cold so i dont recommend sizing a bit of tube more than 1/2 size or so just because of annealing time. also after annealing i usually sand blast (glass bead) to clean and give a good matt finish to make it easy to draw on and give contrast to bright cuts.
Les Riddell
Member
i should qualify that last bit about being able to find every size. what i mean is i have not had a request yet for a ring size that i was not able to find a bit of stainless tube for that has not been within a half a size. i have made a few engraved stainless ring and all of them have been for men. smallest i have had to make is a size 9. i have had to stretch a ring from size 11 to size 12 it was a chore to do cold. i did have some success sizing hot steel but i dont have a forge, it was a bit of a pain using the oxy act plant and sliding it onto my steel mandrel for forging as heat loss happened fast.
Robert Jobe
Member
Thank you for the help. I have annealed some of the rings that i got,
but it did not help.
but it did not help.
I made a couple of signet rings years ago from stainless steel nuts which were surprisingly easy to engrave.
Yep. I bored them out to the correct size on a lathe and used a belt sander to shape them followed by hand filing and polishing. I made them back in the 80's during lunch breaks at New Orleans Arms Co. The one in the photo still has traces of the threads inside
Les Riddell
Member
what a cool idea. you can certainly get just about any size nut in stainless and have flat panels already there to shape around and engrave in. i would guess that most stainless nuts are high quality steel. thanks for the inspiration Sam.
Les Riddell
Member
ive had a bit of a search and i think this is probably your best bet for finding the stainless (and just about any thing) you need. www.metalsupermarkets.com they have outlets all over the states and will do mail orders. I have never used the pre made stainless rings from ebay so sam's experience should be considered, they are probably a dead end. When ordering just make sure you stipulate mild stainless for the product and in an annealed state. i have never considered asking for seamless tube but in my limited experience having a seam has not yet become an issue. most defiantly a nut will not have a seam as i believe they are cast.
Les
Les
diandwill
Elite Cafe Member
They list 304 and 316. WEhich option would be better to engrave?
Les Riddell
Member
the 316 has a higher nickel content and is a bit harder. for the purposes of making a ring i think the 304 would be just fine. i do know that you can get the 316 in a titanium stainless alloy and might look a bit different (could be a good thing). I am sure that all will engrave fine but the 304 might be easier to cold forge and change sizes if you have to. Just looking at a bit of tech data on the 316 it will soften with a heat soak at 400 C and air cool the 304 needs 400 to 600 C for at least one hour and can be air cooled but is much more ductile confirming that it is easier to cold forge and has been made for this purpose. Higher heat soaking temperatures than 600 will cause oxidization on 304 which leads me to believe simple sanding will take away any colour change if you keep the temp under 600.
Les
Les
JCB
Member
Mick
Member
Quality Gold in Cincinatti had stainless rings that were quite reasonable and not to bad to work with
Sponsors
