(Newswire.net — April 18, 2019) — Rings rank among the most important and precious pieces of jewelry. As such, it’s critical that everything about a ring is in perfect condition, from the shine to the fit. While it’s often easy to bring back your ring sparkle with simple tools you can get at home, sizing one takes a little more time and effort. Here are a few tips on how to size a ring down.
How to Size a Ring Down
When sizing down, there are two main options depending on the type of ring. First, you can compress a uniform band into a smaller size using reducing techniques. Second, rings with patterns, engraving, settings and more complicated designs will need to be cut and soldered without showing where the work was done.
Reduction
If you’re reducing a plain band, the ring reducer is an indispensable tool. It’s relatively easy to use, and since it’s a ring stretcher as well as a reducer, it can come in quite handy when working with finger ring bands. It’s important to size bands before engraving or stamping to avoid distorting any markings. This technique allows you to reduce rings by about one full size.
Cutting and Soldering
If the ring you’re sizing down has a setting, for example, you’ll have to cut and piece together the ring. You want to start by checking whether the embellishment can withstand heat. If not, you’ll need to remove it. And once you’ve removed it ask yourself whether you can set it again. Settings such as gypsy, for example, cannot be sized up down or up because they can’t be distorted in any way. Flush settings, on the other hand, allow you to reset the stones once you’re done reshaping the ring.
Resizing down a ring typically involves removing a piece of metal to the right size, bringing the disconnected ends together, soldering them and reshaping the ring. The chances are that some settings will not have their original shape anymore so if you’re uncertain about sizing down a ring without sustaining damage, you’re better off turning the job down.
If a stone can’t stand the heat, remove it from the setting before soldering. Moreover, rings can typically be sized down or up two sizes, so anything more risks losing the ring’s original shape and integrity.
- Step #1
Find the center of the band.
- Step #2
Mark the center line at the bottom.
- Step #3
Determine how much metal you’ll need to remove from the band, moving equal distances from each side of the center line at the bottom of the band.
- Step #4
File both ends of the metal pieces.
- Step #5
Join the two ends together, ensuring it’s a tight fit.
- Step #6
Place a medium solder under then flux, solder and quench.
- Step #7
File and Sand.
Before working on a ring, be sure to check for any markings as you will need to restamp any special notes or markings on the band, or at least explain to the client if you’re unable to. Those are the few tips on how to size a ring down.