Silver sheet what thickness????

[sam9769]

Hi Guys,

I want to make a ring with a bezel setting and make some toggles too and I was wondering if you could please advise
me on what thickness the sterling silver sheet should be.
I went onto Cooksons and 10cmx10cm 1.5mm is around £100
I thought I must be doing something wrong here.

Also do you know where I could get a peridot gemstone to set in a ring?


Thanks for your interest.

Sam.

[Shirley]

I've been making rings with a band of 1.2mm thickness. Maybe a bit chunky for some but I like it, but then I've been setting fairly large stones and glass cabs. I use 0.4 for the base that the stone sits on and then the 5mmx0.5mm fine silver bezel strip that Cooksons do. Don't forget that for most items you can buy the exact size that you need, so that would keep the price down.

I don't think you would need 1.5mm thickness. I made a copper toggle a while back and I think I used 1.2mm for that too.

I just bought some peridot cabs from Kernowcraft. I have a niece with a birthday at the end of the month. I think they also had facetted stones, as did Cooksons.

[paintboxcrafts]

I have been making rings recently and I use 0.8mm thick for the back of the bezel and fine silver bezel strip for the bit that goes around the stone,
http://www.cooksongold.com/Strip-Bezel-and-Gallery/Fine-Silver-Bezel-Strip-0.3mmx-5mm-On-500gm-Pancake-Reels-prcode-DSF-605

or you can use bearer wire for a bezel without a back, it has a step in it for the stone to sit in. http://www.cooksongold.com/Wire/Sterling-Silver-Bearer-Wire-30gmtr-Fully-Annealed-0.4mmx-0.9mmx-4.8mm-prcode-MSAP-700

Cathy

[ARBeads]

Also look at the square wire not the sheet for the ring shank.

[Shirley]

Or D shaped wire

[sam9769]

Thanks for your replies.

I've been advised to get some 6mm square silver wire but I've seen some 5mm
square silver wire which is a lot cheaper.

Do you think it would make any difference if I got the 5mm instead?

I intend to make findings and a ring shank.

Many thanks,

Sam.

[mizgeorge]

I can't think of a single finding you could make with even 5mm square - that's very, very thick indeed. Are you thinking perhaps of rectangular wire?

For ring shanks, I generally recommend rectangular, oval or d-profile wire (I generally invert this).

For bezel backs, unless the stones/cabs you're planning to set are very big, 0.6mm is a good weight - strong enough to prevent buckling, but more affordable than thicker sheet. You can use ready made bezel strip (I wouldn't recommend bearer wire, especially not as a beginner), or slightly thicker fine silver sheet cut to an appropriate size. 0.4mm is a good start point for this, but thicker will be better still. File a bevel on the outside of the bezel cup to rub over. The effect is much more substantial and stronger too, especially if you need to do a lot of finishing.

If you want to set a gemstone rather than a cabochon, a tube setting is a good place to start, but you will need a wider range of tools than those needed for setting a cab in a simple soldered bezel.