How to Replace a Shank on a Badly Resized Ring
- 1). Inspect the ring to determine the area of greatest damage. If the ring is only thinned, cracked or deformed at the base of the shank, you will only need to replace it will a one-half shank. If the damage extends further up the sides of the ring toward the shoulders, or upper portion of the ring, you will want to replace it with a three-quarter shank.
- 2). Order the shank in the size to match ring metal.
- 3). Press the ring into the mandrel at the top of the ring and hold it at one-eighth size smaller than the final size desired. This will allow for expansion during shaping and sizing after the new shank is placed.
- 4). Lay the new shank against the ring mandrel on top of the current shank. Mark where the new shank ends hit the current shank.
- 5). Remove the ring from the mandrel and cut off the existing shank with a jeweler's saw at the marks created in the previous step.
- 6). Clean the ring and new shank to remove any body oils and metal shaving that might prevent annealing, or softening, of the two metals during soldering or brazing.
- 7). Place the ring in a soldering clamp and check to see if any light is visible between the two pieces. If the two pieces do not fit exactly with no light visible through the join, use a needle file to adjust the seam until the two pieces fit exactly.
- 8). Coat the joints liberally in flux and solder or braze the joints together. Use the process with which you are most comfortable. Regardless of method, remember to warm the ring slowly to avoid shocking any stones in the ring.
- 9). Allow the ring to cool slowly and then dip the ring in pickling solution. For treated or porous stones, you will want to suspend only the jointed area in the pickling solution to prevent damage to the stones.
- 10
Rinse the ring and file the solder on the inside of the ring with a half-round ring file. Leave a slightly visible amount of solder to prevent removing solder in the joint. Any remaining solder will be removed during polishing. - 11
Place the ring back on the ring mandrel and straighten the sides of the ring. During straightening, the ring should expand the one-eighth size that you subtracted from the final size in Step 3. - 12
File the outside of the ring with the half-round ring file to remove the solder and any hammer marks. - 13
Buff the ring and polish with rouge to remove any final traces of solder and bring the ring back to its original shine.
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