I made a Godfather Ring, from my finds.

Skippy SH13 · Apr 23, 2019

Some of you may know that I picked up jewelry making last year. I decided to use a ring, that I found last month, as a basis for 'Godfather' ring for a buddy of mine. He's Italian, a BIG guy, and a personality to match. My kids love him, and started calling him "godfather." Which he absolutely LOVES.

I decided to make him a ring to go with that big personality.

Below are the pictures of the ring casting (along with the original used), and the final product. It includes a 1/3 carat ruby pulled from a ring I had melted down a few years ago (found metal detecting). The silver is an amalgamation of 925 from finds, as well as some fresh stock. It's about 94% silver (above sterling, but slightly easier to work).

EDIT: That's my kid who did the smelting and casting! I did the finish work!

The tools used in the making of this ring:
Map Pro gas
Casting Sand
Casting frame
Hacksaw (to remove spru and button)
Bench Grinder
Dremel (Grinding stone, grinding wheel, sanding disk, polishing pads, round burr for setting stone)
Flat file
320 Grit Sandpaper (Smoothing), 500 grit sandpaper (Polishing), and 80 grit sandpaper (creating the matte look around the ruby)
Plastic ball point pen to PUSH the ruby into place (just used the plastic housing).
Silver polish for final look.

There was a LOT of eyeballing to create the corners. They're not perfect, but close enough!

Cheers!

Skippy

66hotel · Apr 23, 2019

Enjoyed watching the steps you went through to reach the final product. Great looking ring. You and your friend should be proud of the way it turned out.

Numil · Apr 23, 2019

Did you mark it with a Hallmark and of course the purity (940) so that when i find it in the sand I can return it?

Slimpickuns · Apr 23, 2019

Came out really nice Skippy, you guys did a superb job! :neat:

I'm thinking of trying out cuttlebone casting soon with some gold scrap and see what I can come up with..

Skippy SH13 · Apr 23, 2019

Numil said:
Did you mark it with a Hallmark and of course the purity (940) so that when i find it in the sand I can return it?

Nope. When you find it in the sand, and it's super heavy, you'll have the luxury of testing it yourself, and getting SUPER excited at such a honker ring!

It's my gift to you.

Skippy

Skippy SH13 · Apr 23, 2019

Slimpickuns said:
Came out really nice Skippy, you guys did a superb job! I'm thinking of trying out cuttlebone casting soon with some gold scrap and see what I can come up with..

I've thought about trying cuttlebone casting, but I don't really do pendants. I don't think it'd be good for rings.

Possibly a bracelet to be bent, however, or maybe some earrings, or a bolo. It's definitely a cool effect when it's done!

Skippy

Skippy SH13 · Apr 23, 2019

66hotel said:
Enjoyed watching the steps you went through to reach the final product. Great looking ring. You and your friend should be proud of the way it turned out.

The casting is the easy part, from press to cut at the bench, it was probably 10 minutes, tops. The rest of the ring making, was probably closer to 5 hours, spread over a week. I didn't really have a design in mind, so I kind of tried several things out as I went...

Skippy

markinswpa · Apr 23, 2019

Looks like an offer he couldn't refuse. Sweet Skippy, great job. I'm sure he will treasure it for years to come' HH Mark

Skippy SH13 · Apr 23, 2019

markinswpa said:
Looks like an offer he couldn't refuse. Sweet Skippy, great job. I'm sure he will treasure it for years to come' HH Mark

If he doesn't like it, I'm going to cast a big ol' horses head.

Skippy

zeemang · Apr 23, 2019

Awesome job man, that came out great!

Mud-puppy · Apr 23, 2019

Gabbagool Cool! Guido could not refuse an offering like this! What a great project for you and your Son! Outstanding! :cheers3:

Saoirse · Apr 23, 2019

Nice!

Skippy SH13 · Apr 23, 2019

Mud-puppy said:
Gabbagool Cool! Guido could not refuse an offering like this! What a great project for you and your Son! Outstanding!

Yeah, he's pretty much got the smelting and casting down. He doesn't have the patience, yet for fine detail work (often gouging the items, instead of slowly, ever-so-slowly filing/sanding down to the right depth)... but that's just 16 years-old.

Skippy

georgeinsc · Apr 24, 2019

Hey how does one get to be your friend? I could use a ring or two like that. Great Job. I am sure he will appreciate your efforts.

Silversmith45 · Apr 24, 2019

I did silversmithing for over thirty years. I never did do any casting. Mine were all hand pieced together. I don't have any pictures because all were sold.

Foragist · Apr 24, 2019

When people see a big guy wearing a ring like that, they better pay attention! That's a serious statement piece there, Skippy! Nice work.

Skippy SH13 · Apr 25, 2019

georgeinsc said:
Hey how does one get to be your friend? I could use a ring or two like that. Great Job. I am sure he will appreciate your efforts.

It usually requires feeding me. LOL

Skippy SH13 · Apr 25, 2019

Silversmith45 said:
I did silversmithing for over thirty years. I never did do any casting. Mine were all hand pieced together. I don't have any pictures because all were sold.

I don't have the skill, or tools for piecing together. I start with scrap silver, melt it, and go. Wish I had a roller, or flat pieces to work with, to cut...

Skippy

Silversmith45 · Apr 25, 2019

You can buy silver in sheets of different sizes. You can pound silver flat but unless you aneal it, it will probably crack.

cellrdwellr · Apr 25, 2019

Really like the work there skip! I have been smelting some scrap silver recently, want to start casting soon. Would love to start making rings eventually. Thanks for posting!

I made a Godfather Ring, from my finds.

Skippy SH13

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