Imgur user Jarvicious had decided to propose to his girlfriend.
In an album uploaded to Imgur, the chap explains that he decided to make the ring himself, in his garage, using metal and other supplies he haphazardly purchased himself.
The final ring is the result of multiple failed attempts. He explains his process in a series of photos.
He prefaces the photos with: “it’s only been 10+ years since I toyed with jewellery and small metal artistry in college. Time to dust off the cobwebs and dig out the old tool kit. I took a random piece of copper and sized it for practice”.
He practiced with various pieces until he welded on that pleased him.
“After rounding on the mandrel and a quick sand. Not bad considering I used silver solder. You can see the edges of the joint where I didn’t align the two ends properly” he says.
He then practived adding a stone setter.
“Cutting the setting seat. I’m sure there are a million and one ways to to do this, but given my timeline this was my method of choice. The bottom of the stone setting was flat so I wanted it to sit down into the ring shank a little to give the solder something to grab hold of. I tried cutting a piece of scrap with a small Dremel bit and it cut way too fast. Hand filing FTW. Jewelry is not a hobby for the impatient” he says.
After multiple copper mock rings, the very patient would-be-husband turned to silver to beging crafting the final ring.
“Draft V….I’ve lost track. I probably had 10+ rings floating around the house at this point and subsequently I managed to skip a few photos.I finally got a ring make with a decent joint, in the right gauge metal with a decent setting. I generally tried to keep the solder joint 180 degrees from the setting. This one was pretty much invisible, as it was supposed to be” he says.
He got real into it by the sounds of it.
“More practice. The setting on the right is the 6 prong, die struck setting I ended up using with a different ring shank. Note the small peg that would later be inserted through the ring material. The setting is also white gold while the ring shank is silver. Because of the rate at which metals expand under heat this is a big no no. What is this, amateur hour? Yes.”
The final part would be completed by a professional.
“Soldered and polished. I can’t believe I got it centered on the first shot. I try to take care not to scratch the metal while I’m building because a scratch at the beginning means lots more work at the end. I sanded starting with 60 grit followed by 80, 120, 220, 320, 400, and 600. The final step before dropping her off at the jewelers was polishing compound on a cotton wheel via Dremel” he writes.
He chose a stone and begins explaining that his girlfriend is going to college at night and the need to remodel their house.
“The stone is a 1/2 carat Moissanite. I’m not necessarily opposed to real diamonds, but considering the state of our remodeled house at the moment and the fact that she’s still in school I felt it prudent to think frugally. The stone is frankly gorgeous though and no one would know better unless we told them. I may eventually go with a 3 stone setting (two smaller stones on either side) but she can decide that now that it’s not a surprise. If you include the tools I didn’t have (or had lost through the years) and all the extra materials I bought to practice with, she cost me just shy of $300. Just the ring in materials was around $180 after all the professional work” he says.
The important thing is she sais yes.
“She digs it. We had planned on getting married (eloping in New Orleans) anyway but both the fact that I was planning on building a ring and the fact that I knew how were news to her. If we get direct sunlight in a window the thing is shiny enough she can screw with the dogs” he concludes.
See more images HERE.
