slight tipp here from a blacksmith. always hammer your piece supported, otherwise the energy is lost and the vibrations go right into your hands causing lots of little problems. so I advise you to lay a piece of wood on the anvil and then tap the ring on the mandrel flat on that. quicker and safer. and never put your thumb on the top! again your trapping vibrations sending them into your body/finger.
Nice brass mallet. Wow!?! Copper washers the size of a penny for only a penny!! And quarter sized washers for only a quarter! That mallet and mandrel combo is just the ticket. Ive got to get me one of those discs. I never knew it was so easy to go from a disc to a cylindrical ring. Thanks for sharing about this!
Instead of using a die reduction… did you just use the circular thing from the band stretcher and reducer with the cone?! I’m getting into this and am learning and I think I just noticed you did that?!
Thank you for replying so quickly! You just solved a problem I was running into! I’m bout to get everything and was stumped when I saw what you used. Helped me realize that the die reductions are the same. So in your opinion. I’d be fine with a 17 degree cone and the normal stretcher/reducer plate? I was thinking of buying ball bearings as well as the cone for my press. I also considered that it may be a good idea to have one 1” die reduction in case I get a tough coin
@@essicc I think you're on the right track. Most reduction dies are a bit small in the largest hole (only big enough to fold a quarter) so keep that in mind. The Skylar Jenkins stretcher from Pepe tools is significantly larger. I personally use a 2.5" dapping block (the 2" block is not big enough) and dapping punches to fold coins as large as a silver eagle. You don't necessarily need a 17 degree cone if you have a dapping set. You can also get nylon/delrin dapping punches too. Lastly I do recommend a Swedish wrap set. If you plan on doing big coins it's hard to get that nice straight wall without it.
@@joshuathejeweler ok thanks for the info! I’m a bit nervous to not have propper tools. So the block does just as well as a reduction due is what interpreting?…
Go for it! I started out as a blacksmith. Make a few copper bracelets at a live demo event and I bet you’ll have customers wanting to buy them right away.
Newer coins are quite malleable, however they will crack if over worked. I find I can get most to between sizes 6 & 9 before they start to show signs of stress.
My father took a coun and a needle, he hit the coin in the middel for days with the needle every so many days he wil use a thicker needle. it eventualy made a ring.
could the coin be pierced and rolled rather than taking a plug out of it so that a gold or silver coin retains its weight? i like the idea of the ring weighing its face value.
I haven't seen anyone do this successfully. The challenge is the inner material would be spread so thin it would crack very easily making it difficult to form the ring. That being said the punched pieces make nice earrings, tie tacks and cuff links. With larger coins like Morgan dollars I can even make a second ring from the center piece.
maybe using the purest k and heating to some point below melt although you would probably end up with a plain gold ring. it bears experimentation. the plug could be pressed back into the ring perhaps.@@joshuathejeweler
Most brass, copper, nickel, gold and silver coins will work for ring making if you are careful. I avoid steel coins and zinc pennies however. Steel can mar my tools, and zinc pennies just aren't very malleable and the copper cladding separates from the zinc interior.
The coin is made from copper and nickel which are very tough metals (ie they will bend a lot before breaking). It will work harden and crack however if I go too far, and older coins tend to be work hardened already so I anneal those.
I've found with newer quarters (less than 25 years old) I can generally size them to about a size 9 ring without annealing. They will crack if over-worked and for larger sizes or older coins I will anneal them. When stretching the coin only stretch a little bit at a time and turn the coin about 1/8 of a turn with every stretch so you aren't overworking one area of the coin.
If you're looking to purchase tools for coin ring making, I have links to all the tools in this video here: www.joshuathejeweler.com/post/new-video-making-a-ring-from-a-quarter
Sorry to hear you're having trouble with coin ring making. Half dollars are a bit tougher to move than quarters, so they take more patience and slightly different tools. The older silver one's can crack easily too so they need to be annealed frequently. I typically use an arbor press, and swedish wrap dies for those coins. I'm happy to help if there's a specific part of the process you're hung up on.
Actually no, not with a modern quarter. The nickel is very tough and doesn’t deform much and the only part of the coin in contact with the die is the very edge of the outside and inside rim. Silver coins are a different story however because they are softer.
Man the technique has changed from the sixties hasn't it. We used to beat on the edges with a spoon till it gets wide enough and then drill out the center and then take a rasp and bore it out to size sand it down polish it look like a real silver ring except for one thing your shows the whole thing ours didn't great job master
