How Do Beginners Make a Simple Silver Ring?

Feb 25, 2025

Making a silver ring for your lover is a very romantic thing. It means much more than a simple ornament. It carries your emotions, commitment and unique memories. It sounds difficult for beginners to make a ring without the basics of silversmithing, but we provide you with detailed instructions. Follow us step by step, you can definitely do it.

Prepare these basic tools and materials

Steel Ruler
Sterling silver wire
Wire cutters
Ring mandrel
Rawhide or rubber mallet
Flat file
Sandpaper (various grits)
Soldering kit (torch, flux, and solder)
Pickle solution (to clean after soldering)
Polishing cloth or wheel

Start making

Step 1: Measure the size of finger

You can use a piece of string to complete the measurement. Wrap the string around your finger and mark the string to get the required length of wire. Of course, if you have a ring sizer, the measured size will be more accurate. If you know your own or your loved one's ring size, you can skip this step.

Step 2: Choose the right silver wire

To make a simple silver ring you don't need much silver, usually between 12-16g. For ease of processing without any basic knowledge, a 12g half-round wire is good. Once you know the size of the ring, you will know how long the silver wire is needed. You can use wire cutters to cut the sterling silver wire to the correct length. Usually experienced silversmiths will add about 3mm to the measurement to accommodate shaping.

Step 3: Bend the silver wire into a circle

This step requires our Ring Mandrel. Wrap the silver wire you just cut around the shaft. You need to keep the silver wire as close to the shaft as possible. You can start with a smaller size because you can't keep it close during the winding process. If you loosen it, the silver wire will expand to a larger size. For example, if you want to wrap a size 5, you can start with a size 4.

Step 4: Sand the ends

The next step is to smooth the ends of the ring with a Flat file, this step is crucial for the soldering later on and is directly related to the solidity of the ring. Therefore, we need to take care to maximize the cross-sectional area of the ring's soldering points when sanding. There is a trick, you can use a file at an oblique angle to smooth one end, the other end of the same oblique angle sanding, be careful to sand in the opposite direction. Avoid failing to join in the same direction. Make sure that each end is completely flat so that you don't leave gaps when joining, as the solder won't be able to flow into some of the tiny gaps, which can lead to a weak weld and eventual breakage.

Step 5: Welding Ring

Soldering isn't as difficult as you might think, and I've written a previous post on 10 tips on how to solder jewelry that might help you with your soldering.
You can use a toothpick and cotton swab or something like that to apply flux to the seam, making sure the flux is coated all around the seam and placing a small piece of silver solder. Then use the torch to heat the ring evenly until the solder flows and fills the gap. Don't worry about damaging the ring as the temperature required for the solder to melt is much lower than the temperature required for the silver ring to melt. Once the soldering is complete use tweezers to pick up the ring and place it under cold water to cool it down and check that the joint is secure. After making sure the solder is good we move on to the next step.

Step 6: Acid Wash Your Ring

The heat of the soldering process leaves a lot of oxides on the ring, and we need to remove these impurities by acid washing. The recipe for the pickling solution is very simple, a tablespoon of salt and a cup of white vinegar will do, no precise ratios are needed. But you will need to heat this solution to 180°F and then drop the ring in and soak it for about 5 minutes and fish it out. Be careful not to use steel tweezers, but a wooden or plastic rod. If you use steel in the pickling solution, the steel contains copper molecules that will create an electric current that will coat all the surrounding metal with copper.

Step 7: Shape the ring

Although the ring already has an initial shape, in order to form it into a more rounded shape, you can tap the ring with a rubber mallet and Ring mandrel to make it more regular and make sure it's sized correctly for added aesthetics.

Step 8: Polishing the ring

Start by sanding with different grits of sandpaper (starting at 400 grit) to remove scratches and unevenness on the surface. You can use a damp cloth or water to lubricate the ring during the sanding process to avoid overheating. If you have polishing paste you can rub it on the surface of the ring and gently rub the surface of the ring with a cloth or brush, polishing in the same direction. After polishing, clean the surface of the ring with a damp cloth to remove any residue of polishing paste. This way a shiny ring is created.

Final thoughts

From an ordinary silver wire to a complete ring, just like your relationship from the first acquaintance to maturity, a little bit of polishing, shaping, and finally become an indispensable existence in each other's life. It takes time, energy and thought to make a ring for your loved one. This kind of dedication is a silent expression of love, more precious than any expensive gift.

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