Rings

[eteska]

I have been making rings for a few months and for sure two of the ones that I have given away are having problems with the finish. The first pic has glu boost for a finish and the second a I've cured resin. Looking for suggestions maybe it's my technique maybe there is a better product. The one that is worse in the second pic has been described as separating from the wood like there is an air gap and it is growing...

Enough rambling. If any one is able to help I would be great full.

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[Dehn0045]

Wood is not stabilized?

My guess is moisture/water getting under the finish.

I think epoxy is better for rings. CA can be brittle. However, thin CA might be useful for filling any small voids, the thin viscosity will penetrate a little better than epoxy. But I would avoid CA as the top coat. Another consideration is that acetone will damage CA, nail polish remover being one of the more common household items with acetone - sometimes people that wear rings also paint their nails.

I would suggest only using stabilized wood

 

[eteska]

Wood is not stabilized?

My guess is moisture/water getting under the finish.

I think epoxy is better for rings. CA can be brittle. However, thin CA might be useful for filling any small voids, the thin viscosity will penetrate a little better than epoxy. But I would avoid CA as the top coat. Another consideration is that acetone will damage CA, nail polish remover being one of the more common household items with acetone - sometimes people that wear rings also paint their nails.

I would suggest only using stabilized wood

I did not use stabilized wood on these rings. I have a couple blanks here that are stabilized and will try that. Might just me my excuse to get a vacuum setup and some cactus juice[emoji16].

What type of epoxy do you recommend? The stuff that I have used is pretty runny I know it wouldn't stay in place unless I could some how slowly spin the ring while it cured.


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[Dehn0045]

Personally have not made rings, so take my recommendation with a grain of salt (I should have made that clear in my earlier post). You might get some ideas from knifemakers, or guys that make fishing lures or rods, their products tend to need more water resistance than pens. I'm thinking that a UV cured epoxy might be the way to go, with a dipping method so the entire ring is encapsulated. If I was going to try something I would go with Alumi UV, but I really think that stabilized wood will make a huge difference.

 

[Dehn0045]

Oh, and definitely do your own stabilizing! Honestly it's not the most cost effective (for small volumes) and the results aren't quite as good as the professional stuff, but it's a lot of fun and you get a big sense of accomplishment (atleast I do anyway).

 

[bmac]

Eteska, I have been making some inlayed rings using UV resin. It is a resin that is cured using a UV light source. You put a small drop of resin on the ring blank, place what you want embedded in the resin and then gradually build up the layer of resin, curing it as you go with the UV light.

 

[eteska]

Eteska, I have been making some inlayed rings using UV resin. It is a resin that is cured using a UV light source. You put a small drop of resin on the ring blank, place what you want embedded in the resin and then gradually build up the layer of resin, curing it as you go with the UV light.

Your rings are amazing!

If you don't mind sharing which uv resin have you been working with?

I used this.

For the walnut ring. Maybe I didn't get it cured well enough??? Seemed hard and polished up really nicely though but I suppose if the inner most part was no cured that would create problems. I bought a I've flashlight for curing. Maybe that isn't powerful enough. Lots of variables at play here.


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[wolf creek knives]

I'm assuming this ring was worn by someone? I know that a very acidic body chemistry can break down a lot of different things. As an example, wear a gold Mizpa coin and drink Cranberry juice a lot and see what happens to the coin...it will tarnish over time depending on the amount of skin contact. You might be experiencing the exact same principal here. Could be the finish and I have no suggestions as how to get around the problem. If you find the cure let me know. I'm getting tired of taking my Mizpa coin to the jeweler to get it cleaned and fixed.

 

[bmac]

This is the uv resin I use, purchased on Amazon. Not sure if one brand is better than another.

Bobby
Louisiana

 

[eteska]

I contacted the place I bought my ring cores from with this same question. They responded almost immediately. The feel both ca and the uv epoxy should be holding up better for me.
They gave two suggestions.
1. Make sure I am not sanding to to high a grit. They recommended 320 as the max. (I know I sanded to at least 400.
2. Undercut the metal a bit more so that you can build more layers of finish.

I plan to try both on my next few rings and I will report back for those interested.


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