Best Ring Ever: Superconductor & 18k Rose Gold Custom Ring

Today I am going to be making a ring that is honestly a match made in heaven! I am going to be using rose gold and superconductor. They are both very similar in color. The rose gold is a lot more premium of a material than the superconductor and is not going to oxidize, so I am going to be putting this part on the inside where it contacts your finger. The superconductor has a lot of small filaments in it which is going to give the ring more of a refined look with a lot of stripes across it. This ring is going to be great gift for your husband, boyfriend, or anyone else special in your life.

The Process:

I started this process off by cutting a slice of the superconductor off of the rod, which I have measured to be the same size as the rose gold ring. Next, I started hollowing out the superconductor by drilling a hole out of the center of the blank. Doing this allowed me to put the rose gold ring into the center. Now before I added the rose gold liner, I wanted to trim the outside of the superconductor and even out the blank. To do this, I put the blank on my expanding ring mandrel and slowly trimming away the outside until it was the smoothness I wanted.

My next step was to trim the inside of the superconductor just a little bit, so I could get a secure press fit. To get a secure press fit, it was very important that I did not trim away too much of the superconductor. I then put the rose gold ring inside of the superconductor and hammered them together until the rose gold ring fit perfectly inside. After hammering the two pieces together, as an additional measure of security I decided to put the whole ring onto a cone shaped mandrel and hammer the sides of the ring to help flare the end of the rose gold out. This allowed the rose gold to be wedged inside of the superconductor for an even tighter bond. I then decided to also add a tiny bit of ultra-thin adhesive to create an even more secure ring.

Now it was time to start sanding. I started by sanding away all the extra superconductor until the edges of the ring sat flush together. After this was over, I then started trimming everything down until it was the exact dimensions I wanted. One thing to note, because this is a composite material where we have the superconductor infused with the copper, you can have issues where the superconductor itself will smear into the copper. So, you want to be careful with the final passes you do with your bit. This is why I used a brand new very sharp bit. I then added bevoles to the ring with the angled side of my bit. The next thing I did, was sand down the inside of the ring. To do this, I started with a 220 grit and worked my way up to a 2000 grit. I did this to both the inside of the ring and the outside of the ring. I then polished the inside of the ring until it was a perfect mirror inside.

After finishing this processed, I decided I wanted to add another finished to this ring. To do that I added a little muriatic acid and a little bit of hydrogen peroxide to etch away a little bit of the copper on the ring. This did leave a little bit of a tarnish on the copper, so I put it in some distilled vinegar and table salt to bring back the shine to the copper. And now for the final product!