One of the things I really struggled with when it comes to jewellery making was rings. Unless you make an adjustable ring (which I have not got my head around yet) size really dose matter.
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| One of the first soldered rings I made |
The first few rings I made I measured them on a wooden spoon that were 'more or less' the same size as my finger!
My next few rings were made on a blank ring mandrel that I got for Christmas, not in any set sizes, as they were not meant for anyone particular so the size did not really matter, I was just getting to grips with the making part.
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| Ring made from Jen Cameron lampwork headpin |
Did you know that here in the UK they measure Ring sizes by letters of the alphabet ranging from A to Z with half sizes in between, where as in the USA they are measured in numbers, also we measure wire thickness in mm not gauges? So when I started thinking about calculating the length of wire I would need to make a ring in a specific size, taking into consideration the thickness of the wire I would be using it was enough to make my head spin and with the way that I tend to procrastinate over things that was almost enough to put me off making more.
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| Stacker ring made from Jen Cameron lampwork headpin |
I used to be good at mathematics way back at school but that was a very long time ago and now due to over use of technology my brain has got rather lazy, So I was very glad when I stumbled upon this
wonderful chart from Art Jewelry Magazine that puts it very simply so that even my fried brain can understand.
Armed with this new information and a ring sizing stick (Because a numberless ring mandrel is rather useless in my hands) I am now on a mission to conquer rings....
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| Rings in progress |
I hope this chart helps someone else as much as it has helped me, and soon I should have lots of rings to show for my persistence! Happy creating!
