Three pieces of sheet, one smooth ring

A hollow signet made from sheet is built from three pieces. The shell is a blank with two long concave sides, a short curve at each end and four small flat ends. Its ends are domed with a forming hammer and the blank is closed into a ring, the flat ends soldered together in pairs. Each long side becomes the edge round the finger hole on one side of the ring, and the two short curves close into the round opening on top, each half of a curve a quarter of it. The inner tube is a straight strip rolled on the mandrel and soldered to the shell's two edges, so the head is hollow but closed and smooth against the finger. The top plate fits into the opening.

The lengths do the work: the long sides set the ring size, the short curves set the size of the top, and the flat ends set how high it sits above the finger.

Signetmaker works it all out from your ring size and draws every piece flat, at true size, ready to print, glue to the sheet and saw.

What it does

• The head – a round, oval, cushion, rectangular or octagonal top plate in any size, as high above the finger as you want it, with the short curves cut angled or round.
• The width – how wide the ring is at the top of the finger hole and behind the finger.
• The sheet – thickness of the shell, the inner tube and the top plate, and a filing allowance added round every template.
• Templates, 1:1 – the shell blank with the lengths of its long sides, short curves and flat ends, the inner tube, the top plate, and a profile gauge for shaping the shoulders. A 50 mm ruler checks that the print is true.
• Step by step – piercing, doming the ends, closing the ring, rounding the top with a ball punch, and the order of solders: hard for the shell, medium for the tube, easy for the plate.
• Stones – one, or three in a row, bezel set in the plate: diamond, moissanite, sapphire, ruby, emerald, garnet or citrine, with the carat weight.
• A monogram – up to four letters on the plate, and mirrored for a seal if you want to press it into wax.
• The numbers – every length and width, and the weight in your metal.
• 3D print – download the ring as an STL file instead, for printing or casting.

Beta

Signetmaker is new. Check the first print against a ruler, and the templates against your own sizes, before you cut.

Made for makers

Signetmaker is part of Silversalen's tools for silversmiths and hobby makers, next to Ringmaker, Chainmaker and Bench Mandrel.