Wow - both are amazing.
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though you posted it a while ago, I just spent some time with your tutorial. thanks for posting that, i know it took a chunk of time. love your work - a great mix of artistry and craftsmanship and engineering and patience. tim
Honus, I was expecting a couple of slices of a Ti handlebar resized! Wow, every nice. That beading detail must be difficult.
Before and after pics of a Platinum ring refurbishment. One whole side of the ring was missing and needed to be replaced, the bottom of the ring needed to be replaced and all of the engraving work needed to be redone. The cutouts in the side of the ring are so small I had to make my own cutting tool- even a #80 drill was too big to pierce out the side of the ring. The cutter I made was less than three thousandths of an inch thick.
Before-
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...psddef3eaf.jpg
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...psdbeaeea7.jpg
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps096f98d9.jpg
After-
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps6ca92873.jpg
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps9e5d19fa.jpg
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps02762867.jpg
...that is so far beyond a refurb. Wow
holy wow, what he^ said. teach me your ways!
Wow. Amazing. Can't imagine the amount of work ... Great stuff as usual.
What was the story of the ring? How'd it end up with a whole side gone?
Sorry I haven't visited this thread in a while... I don't know how the ring above was destroyed. People bring me stuff and I just do my best to fix it. You wouldn't believe the punishment some people dish out on their jewelry. I've seen rings that looked like they went through a meat grinder. Sometimes you can fix them and sometimes you can't.
Anyway it's that time of the year where I have work coming out of my ears so here's a pic of one I just finished up. This is a big 'ol yellow Diamond that was in a vintage setting and the owner wanted to use some of the original setting and incorporate it into a new ring. A really tricky job. Unfortunately this is the only pic I could nab just before she picked it up.
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps314a0944.jpg
Continuing the yellow Diamond trend... This was another job where the client wanted all of the stones pulled from her existing ring and had them reset in a new Platinum mounting.
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps01083caa.jpg
Honus, your work is amazing. The attention to detail, the amount of detail... I dont even have the words. unbelievable work.
Just curious, do you work with Titanium at all?
my wife's rings are nowhere near what these are, but I still look at it and think "wow." I'm thinking pictures don't do these the justice they're deserved.
I'll to to get some better pics next time. It's a hard thing to do when people are trying to snatch it out of your hands the second it's done. :)
Bill, I have done some work with Titanium. Mostly custom machined wedding bands for men but it's been a while since I've made one. Titanium is really neat for bands but it's a pain to get cut off if you ever damage your finger. It's also a terrible material to set stones in.
This was a fun job, as well as a bit of a challenge. The idea was to take an old multi stone Opal ring and breathe some new life into it.
Here's what the ring looked like before-
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps71f4b570.jpg
And after I modified it-
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps8281947c.jpg
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...pse5f0bbc3.jpg
Just finished this one today- a rose cut raw Diamond in white Gold.
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps1779362c.jpg
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps5d384855.jpg
Last one I finished up on Christmas Eve. A good sized Morganite set in white Gold with Diamonds. Setting that stone was a bit tricky...
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps91c4fc92.jpg
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps4e034a45.jpg
The natural raw Diamonds are really neat. We've been working a lot with them lately.
I did a write up on the creation of that ring here- Rose cut natural raw Diamond ring
There's also a write up on the making of the Opal ring- New life for an old ring
I really appreciate demonstrated rings, especially the last variants, they will be not only to bride*s taste, but also to groom*s, I suggest))
Couple more rings I made this week. Work has been extremely busy- I haven't even had time to get photos of finished pieces before delivery but I nabbed a couple of quick phone pics of these two.
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...psyurqeyaz.jpg
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...pskcr9giee.jpg
This was a fun job. A very nice lady brought in this vintage early 1900's Platinum ring that was severely damaged and I put it back together. We really wanted to keep the ring as original as possible. Took a fair bit of time to get this one sorted out but it turned out nice. Really tricky too since the ring was originally put together with gold solder and pretty much every single joint was cracked or broken and there were previous repairs that were done in a less than stellar fashion (probably done a long time ago.) Three support bridges were also missing.
I like it when I can save a nice vintage piece like this.
Before-
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...psk0kshnao.jpg
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...pspgusuo6h.jpg
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...psiva0omxp.jpg
After-
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...psqyg98brf.jpg
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...psohjmxb05.jpg
Oh. Wow. I was trying to figure out what kinda design the ring had. Gorgeous.
Hey are ring designs "patented"?
Great to see you posting again!
Ring designs aren't really patented as much as some manufacturers state they have a copyright on particular designs. The only real patents I've seen are on tension set rings- I think the first manufacturer to do that was Kretchmer.
Got wifey's engagement and wedding rings back from Hurdle's. Wish I knew more people getting engaged so that I could send them your way.
Well I have been just stupid busy at work but I managed to put together a little tutorial so people can see how a hand fabricated ring is made from raw stock.
Hand fabricated engagement ring
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...psejxeq9cv.jpg
This has been an idea of my for a while. Think I originally emailed Jonus in Feb or March. Then life took over and money got tight. I guess I mentioned it to my mom at some point. Wifey and I came to Fredericksburg this weekend for our annual anniversary retreat and found this with a card from my mom. A little tiny replica for wifey to wear as a necklace when she's riding. Honus nailed it. Again. For the third time.
Attachment 95802
Dustin,
So happy you like it! Your mom is so incredibly sweet and is an absolute pleasure to work with.
That is by far the smallest ring I've ever made- I had to engrave the date on the inside by hand because the ring was way too small to fit in the engraving machine!
In case anyone is wondering, @Honus is still a badass at what he does.
I'll try to get a 'family portrait' next week.
Our @Honus collection:
wifey's 10yr band
wifey's engagement + wedding bands
wifey's 5yr charm
MIL's eternity band
my new wedding band (always wished I had gotten one, and finally did it for our 10yr anniversary).
Absolutely love them all.
I FINALLY MET @Honus !!