Silver Ring Part 2

This is part two of making a silver ring. If you want to see part one just click here.

When the ring has cooled down it is put in a diluted acid solution. This cleans the silver and removes any traces of flux.

The ring is rinsed with soapy water and scratch brushed. Scratch brushing is done using a brass wire wheel rotating slowly on a lathe. Here I am just using a brass wire brush to clean the metal.

The ring is hammered again on a ring mandrel. Once the ring is perfectly round the joint is filed to take away any excess solder that may be on the outside of the ring. If the inside of the ring has excess solder this should be removed before the ring is hammered on the mandrel as it may affect the shape of the ring.

The file marks are removed using a fine emery paper before the ring is ready for polishing.

Polishing is done on a lathe. This lathe has two cloth mops, one to remove the scratches from the ring and the other to give the metal a final polish.