Silver Braid Rings

A quick look at the making of a silver braid ring.

I thought I'd share how I make one of these classic designs - A ring of braided wire.

1. It all starts by braiding three strands of wire together. 

I usually make a nice long strip, as much as I can bear; bending wire can be quite hard on the fingers and blisters ensue.

Here is the end bit after many rings has been cut from the strip.

2. Then I use my size mandrel to bend a ring and cut it to the right size. The tricky bit is aligning the ends of the ring to fit together ready for soldering.

3 The ring is heated to 500 degrees C until the solder flows and binds the ends together. 

The ring turns black with oxidation and is dunked in an acid bath to reveal 

the shiny silver once more.

4. The ring goes on a mandrel to reshape it again after the heat. 

Then it is hammered to flatten it slightly. This enhances the pattern 

and makes it more comfortable to wear.

Any rough bits are sanded smooth. 

The size is checked again and adjusted if needed.

5. To finish the ring is tumbled in a polisher 

for an hour, then packed and sent off 

to its new destination.