butterfly ring in sterling

    When my husband and I had our first wedding anniversary I was the whole day in school studying for the NCLEX ( National Nursing Exam ) to be able to working the USA . I had been a nurse for 4 years in Germany but you still had to take an exam in order to come here and work. I was sad that I had to be in school the whole day . He picked me up at about 6 pm with the car . We drove home through the woods and he said to close the windows and then to open the glove department . I did .  He had caught me a butterfly , a tiger swallow tail my favorite butterfly . Now my husband is not and will never be the romantic kinda guy but that was the sweetest thing . He not only remembered that that was my favorite butterfly , he caught it alive and we let it fly back at the point where he got it from .   so……….on with the project.   draw your ring shank onto a piece of paper and measure to the length of your ring size you desire ( mine is an 8 for my thumb ) . Don’t forget to multiply the thickness of your metal with 3.14 ( Pi) and add that to your length . Stick your paper to the metal ( 18 gauge sterling silver is what I used ) and start cutting with your jewelry saw and 1/0 saw blades . when you have the ring shank cut out , drill or punch holes into the wings for cutting them out inside.   When you are done bend the ring until the ends meet flush with the smallest gap possible . Flux the joint and ad some solder ( I used extra easy wire solder ) . Start heating with the torch until your solder flows .I use a third hand to hold the ring ( its the most easy way to solder a ring ) . Quench in water and put in your Pickle solution to clean. When the silver turned all white you can take it out with copper tongues and rinse in water . Form the ring on a ring mandrel with a nylon or raw hide hammer ( non marring ) until your ring is nice and round . File and polish the edges and add patina . Polish again and wear your ring proudly     You can visit my shop at www.nicilaskin.etsy.com