How (not) to make a PMC ring - Part 2

I realized after firing the rings that maybe I should have called this series How NOT to make a PMC ring, as I'm not too happy with the results. However, I'm going to show you how they turned out and how these flaws could have been avoided. THEN, I'll show you Method #2, which I've had better luck with in the past.

I took these out of the kiln and put them back on my mandrel to measure them. I pounded them with a rubber mallet since they had gotten a bit distorted during the drying and firing process. One of them turned out to be a size 7 (I needed a 6). The other was just under a 6, so I pounded a little more, trying to stretch it. In the process, I created a crack on the seam. This crack was actually already there before firing (I did a poor job of joining the seam) and I should have fixed this better before firing.



All is not lost though. You can refire PMC as many times as you want. I have read that it's best to do this before you clean it, though honestly I have done that and it has turned out fine. You'll notice when you take it out of the kiln that it is white. This is just residue of the firing process and the binder and will come off. I'll show you how in a bit. First though, I had to patch the seam. I took a little more PMC (about the size of a ball bearing) and put it along the seam until it was smooth. Then I let it dry (this time I put it in the oven at 200 degrees for 20 minutes because I was impatient). Then I refired it.






This time, it looked pretty good. I put it back on the mandrel and pounded until it was a good size 6. Then I put both rings in a tumbler with stainless steels shot and a little bit of dish soap and tumbled it for about an hour. You can also clean this by using 3M pads or a stiff wire brush and running under water.





The tumbler doesn't completely polish it, but it gives it a good start. Next, I take my polishing cloths. These are a series of about 12 cloths that you polish your piece with one at a time. It starts with a course cloth and works up to a soft cloth. It's a painstaking process but it does produce a nice mirror finish. Of course, if you have a flex shaft or similar tool, you can polish with that (one day I will purchase one!)





So after polishing, it had a nice finish, but I should not have been surprised to see the same flaws that were in my piece before firing were still there. I knew this... I did. And yet I fired it anyway. You really want the piece to look perfect before firing. It's frustrating and hard and  you often have to scrap your work and do it again and again... but hey, that's jewelry making for you.

I also didn't like the shape of the sides of the ring, so I took my big metal file out and evened it out. The end result wasn't bad. I'm sure I could sell this ring. However, this was a custom order based on a picture of a larger ring I made, so the customer is expecting something specific, and I don't feel like this is good enough. At a jewelry show, where a customer could look at this in person, I would feel fine selling it. When customer order online, I want to be sure that they are getting what they are expecting.

Notes about this method: The method I just described in this post and the last is tricky because in manhandling the ring to get it around the mandrel, you can really ruin the imprint - which is one thing that happened with me. As you can see, it's also incredibly hard to size these rings correctly this way. However, there are some instances when this method would work. 1) If you're flexible about the size and not trying to get an exact size. 2) If instead of using a texture sheet, you decide to hammer it after firing, then it doesn't really matter if the surface isn't perfect. I've made a few rings this way and they've turned out great. 

And so this brings me to method #2. And it also brings me to the sad fact that custom orders are rarely profitable. I usually make 3 items trying to get it right, and you can't charge the customer for your mistakes.. This is ok with me because I'm not in it for money, and I love trying new techniques. But I imagine this is also one reason that the markup on jewelry is so high. Not only do you need a lot of tools and inventory, plus labor, but there is also a lot of waste.

METHOD 2: Firing the ring flat

In this method, you start out the same as before. You take your PMC, roll it into a log and roll it into a sheet. I used 5 cards this time since the 2 previous rings turned out a little too thick for my liking. Like before, I used a texture sheet, removing 1 card from each stack first. Then I used a ring template to measure a size 9 (which should shrink to a size 6 in the kiln). Then I evened out the edges and trimmed. Again, I put it in teh oven to dry it out, and I'm getting ready to fire it. For this method, you fire it flat, then form it into a ring, checking the size (filing if too big), adding more PMC  like I did for fixing the crack above and then refiring. You could also solder it closed, those this tends to leave a more noticeable seam.



This photo shows pre-firing. I'm going to take my file and even out the edges just like I did last time before I fire it.

Stay tuned to see how this turns out!