advice for resizing palladium wedding band
Bucky
tight, so I wanted to enlarge it a bit. I can send it back to the
manufacturer, but it's a little inconvenient since it requires a week
turnaround time. I called up a couple of local places to see if they
could do the resizing, but they said they don't have the Pd material
to do it.
So I was wondering--what if I were downsizing the ring instead of
enlarging it? Would the local places be able to do it then, since they
are removing metal? How much would you expect it to cost to resize a
ring that was not purchased at the same place?
Peter W.. Rowe,
Judging by your email address, I'm guessing you're in Madison Wisconsin, right?
If so, I'm sure that one or another of the several custom jewelry stores
downtown could do this is you take it in, in person. Don't bother with the mall
stores unless you strike out elsewhere, but I'm pretty sure of a couple of the
jewelers on State Street being decent enough jewelers to not be fazed by a new
metal.
Technically, if the stores you called don't work with palladium, AND if sizing
the ring does need a piece added, then perhaps they are correct. The use of
palladium in commercial jewelery is a fairly recent thing in terms of appearing
widely on the market (though it's always been there, in occasional use), so it's
true that many jewelers and repair shops may not yet have the metal in stock,
and may not wish to order it for just one job.
But you say this is a wedding band. If that's a plain design, not drilled and
set with stones, and not tapered or otherwise weaker in one area than another,
then standard ring stretching machines could make a typical band larger in a few
minutes or less, including a bit of repolishing. Now, if it needs more than a
slight increase, then it can take a little longer, mostly in the polishing
operation. Even if set with stones, there are often ways to stretch a ring a
little bit. More than a little risks making the metal thinner by a noticable
amount, which is why classic ring sizing methods cut the ring and solder or weld
in a piece of stock metal. But even that thins a band slightly, just from
needing the clean up the joints and polish the ring afterward, so there's no
real reason not to use a stretching method for a slight size increase, if the
ring's design will tolerate it.
If they don't have palladium, you might give them permission to use a bit of
platinum. They might have to charge you a bit more, since that's a more costly
metal. But the appearance will match fairly closely. Not perfect, but close.
To solder seams in palladium, the classic solders used for platinum (not the
new "plumb" platinum solders) , in the lower melting ranges like "1100" or
"1300" solders, are mostly palladium in any case, and work fine for soldering
palladium. So any shop that can size a platinum ring, should be able to also
size a palladium ring.
If you wish to make the ring smaller, again the first option for a plain band
might be to shrink it, rather than cutting and soldering or welding the seam.
The same machines that stretch plain wedding bands also can shrink them in size.
The rings usually need slightly more polishing after this to remove the marks
left by the shrinking die, but that's a minor difference. Shrinking is really
more limited to the simple designs like the classic half round bands. Almost
any detailed texture, for example, risks damage from the dies, though some, like
the classic millgrain edged bands, often can be shrunk down in size a small
amount without damage. Depends on the ring, and on the specific machine used.
If it cannot be shrunk down, then as with soldering in a piece in enlarging a
ring, a bit is cut out and the seam welded or soldered. As mentioned,
traditional platinum solders are fine for this, with good color match and
strength. If the shop has a laser welder, palladium welds fine if you have an
inert gas shield (usually argon) available, but then they'd need some palladium
filler wire for the welding operation.
And you've always got the option of calling the merchant you bought it from and
asking them how to proceed. That might be easy or hard, depending on the
merchant...
Let me know if I can be of further help.
Peter Rowe
Seattle now, but grew up and went to college in Madison...
Bucky
<rec.crafts.jewe...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> Judging by your email address, I'm guessing you're in Madison Wisconsin, right?
Used to be, but not anymore. =)
Thanks for the detailed answer. My ring is a domed, comfort fit, and I
need 1/4 to 1/2 size increase. How much of size change can these
stretching/shrinking machines usually do? And would most jewelers have
this machine? Because when I called a few places, they just said they
don't resize palladium, they didn't mention the stretching machine
option.
Peter W.. Rowe,
<uw_ba...@email.com> wrote:
>>On Oct 30, 8:04 pm, "Peter W.. Rowe,"
>><rec.crafts.jewe...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>>> Judging by your email address, I'm guessing you're in Madison Wisconsin, right?
>>
>>Used to be, but not anymore. =)
So you might then wish to change your email address to one that works... (an
email reply to your post bounced.)
>>
>>Thanks for the detailed answer. My ring is a domed, comfort fit, and I
>>need 1/4 to 1/2 size increase. How much of size change can these
>>stretching/shrinking machines usually do? And would most jewelers have
>>this machine? Because when I called a few places, they just said they
>>don't resize palladium, they didn't mention the stretching machine
>>option.
If you specify palladium, they'll play it safe and say they don't. Just don't
mention it, or say it's platinum. (correct that info when your at the shop)
The trick is who you call. Many retail jewelry stores sell jewelry, but don't
actually do work on the stuff in the shop. Most mall stores and many chain
stores are like that. You need to find a store that has a workshop in the store
where they can do things like sizing rings. Instead of asking them if they size
palladium, just ask them if they have a ring stretcher for wedding bands. If
they're not sure they can do it, tell them it does not need to be cut and have
metal added, but can simply be stretched, same as a gold or platinum band. Tell
them you've been told this by an expert goldsmith...
Your main problem is getting past the smoke screen of the sales counter or phone
help, to the person who actually knows how to run the stretcher. (It's simple.
put the ring on the tapered spindle, pull the lever, and measure the ring size.
repeat as needed till the ring is stretched up enough. Then buff it up.
If you can't find someone local, and don't mind paying postage, contact me by
email. Like I said, this is really simple to do.
Peter
Abrasha
Like the man said. It's simple. As long as the ring is well annealed.
--
Abrasha
http://www.abrasha.com
Frosty
smoke signal from "Peter W.. Rowe," <rec.craft...@earthlink.net>
rang out, which was heard to say :
Whew!
Hey OP, lose a few pounds.
Cheaper and easier.
My 2¢
Marilee J. Layman
>Whew!
>Hey OP, lose a few pounds.
>Cheaper and easier.
>My 2¢
Hey, losing weight other places doesn't necessarily affect your hands.
Or the other way around. My left ring finger has gone back down to
the original 3.5 from 5* in the last year (no use measuring the right
ring finger, too much arthritis and gout) and I still weigh 338. When
I put jewelry on, I spend 10 minutes sometimes trying to find a ring
that matches what I'm wearing and will fit on a finger.
*I gained about 200 pounds during the two long hospitalizations and my
ring fingers went up to 5.
--
Marilee J. Layman
http://mjlayman.livejournal.com
George
I have repairing jewelry for more than 25 years and I vote defenitally for
streaching rather than extentionning with a stock material,especially these
days high quality (sound like) finnish maybe constructed from seemlase tube
with cnc machines, those one can tolarate lots of stress by streaching, 950
Palladium is soft anyways.
George.
"Abrasha" <abr...@abrasha.com> wrote in message
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