My First Major Hand Fabrication, Platinum Wedding Bands! (Week 12 Redux!)

  So after all the official school projects were done (well mainly, work with me here folks) it was time to make a wedding band for my friend Tyler, who's wedding was coming up and I was also a part of. FYI: My official title on the wedding website is "Bridesman", sort of a joke but mainly because I knew the fiance Heather before I met Tyler. Anyhow, Tyler wanted to get a feel for the size based on what was at a jewelry store. Once the couple drove up from Georgia, he was in sniper school, we were all able to take a trip to the jewelry store to try on some bands.
  Once there we tried on the usual stuff and then I asked the saleswoman what they had for platinum bands. Upon feeling the overwhelming weight of the metal Tyler, although we had already decided on platinum long beforehand, he was hooked. The problem for the store was that they wanted $3,000 for what I would eventually make (I did it for less than half that). Of course this was just to get a more accurate ring size, and more importantly a width that Tyler would like. Much to my chagrin, he decided on a 7mm band. I almost shit a brick here as this would require a lot of bending and hammering to get into shape, not to mention polishing on my part. After leaving the store we went and had a bite to eat as we waited for Blaine to arrive at the school so we could set everything straight before fabrication. Blaine actually half tried to talk Tyler out of a 7mm width, but he gave me the "If that's what he wants look" which ended things on that front. One thing I did not expect was Heather also wanting a ring made.
   I didn't know if we had enough metal but Blaine assured me we did. This was sort of a blessing in disguise but I did want extra metal to make my own design for something else or just in case. I was actually planning on making Heather a platinum necklace with the leftover but a wedding band is something she will wear daily. To tell you the truth I was honored.

   The next week (and I realize I backtracked a little here) we were mainly doing the trellis ring so the bands would have to wait, just hopefully not too long. As the days neared the end of the week I was getting a little more than concerned. Finally, on the last day mind you, Blaine and I got up early and met at 7am at the school. The first step was to get all of the platinum and do a little 'testing' of you will. We did this by heating up each piece from the pile to see if any gold solder was on it. This was cool in itself because as the metal gets hot, the solder easily shows and changes color long before the platinum melts. This was taken off by grinding and filing. After the pile had been made as pure as possible the real fun began.
  Blaine and I both put on our dark glasses and fired up the torch again, this time with a jet engine sounding flame, a real hisser! As the metal got hot it melted, sort of, but not in the traditional way that silver or gold would, at least not with the heat supply we had going. Blaine more or less folded and washed the metal onto itself. Initially I was a few paces back and watched him work. The 3,700F flame was producing a ton of heat and once he noticed I was back a few steps he said jokingly "Noooo! Get in here!" as the loud flame hissed. I admit I was being timid. After all, the light was still half blinding and the metal was so hot that he could actually relight the torch if and when it went out temporarily, which it did, as he "licked" the metal with the flame. Every detail was told to me as to how to do this on my own. I don't need to write that part down, not because I don't want to, but because it will remain with me forever. In truth, a larger torch would have probably melted the metal so it was more fluid, but that is not what was needed for this job. It's funny; it wasn't actually done in a crucible to contain it, just a special high temperature ceramic board (which I have since purchased my own) and Blaine looked as if a kid playing with white hot play-doh as he precisely shaped the piece with a pair of tungsten tweezers.
   After the light show was over Blaine quenched the platinum in water, and after fifteen seconds under water it stopped glowing bright red; some of the water even boiled off. I had never seen anything quite like that either, almost seemed to defy science. The next phase was putting the blob of metal through the rolling mill to get it on its way to being a definable shape. For a piece this big/thick Blaine had to use a ton of force and the metal was actually quite hot after being passed through, due to friction, after a few times. The shape started to become a big rectangle wire, though still very thick before it was moved to the flat part of the mill. Once o the flat rollers it started to widen out to the proper width, which also took some time. I think we also annealed and cleaned some of the crud off of it before it was of proper dimensions.
  Next we annealed the metal again to soften it before Blaine formed it around the mandrel. I realized here that he would be doing much of the forming because, due to the massive weight, we would only get one shot at it. I was fine with that and soaked in every detail he showed me for each separate process. It may sound funny but the first thing he had me do, after it was all formed, was to file part of the top that the emery paper would not take off and I went a little too far. I did this with a standard file but much to deeply and all over in an attempt to even out the surface. He gave me the "WTF?!" look as I showed it to him for inspection but did inform me that to correct it more weight than should be needed to be taken off. That was embarrassing but a teachable moment all the same. With the right tool in hand this time I then took care of business and evened things out. As the polishing phase set in, and this was done after many of the other students left for good (it was the last day after all).

   Blaine once again took over mainly because the ring would get very hot when using the buffing compounds. I learned this first hand both when he dropped it in my hand and later on my own when doing the same. I needed a cup of water next to me to dip it into periodically to reduce the friction burns on my hands. Polishing did take nearly forever as platinum is dense and hard to get right, initially. After much buffing, hand washing and switching wheels and polishing compounds, not to mention plenty of profanity on my part from light friction burns, the ring looked phenomenal. Blaine did say not to use another compound on it, some super special stuff that would make it like neon, but I did anyways. It didn't need it and in no way could hurt the finish, but I wanted to do it anyways for an extra 'neon' look. After this was done, and trust me I was getting tired, it was onto band number two.
  Blaine did do the initial fusion but I cut what was left of the strip from Tyler's band and it would be just about perfect for the width that Heather wanted. Other than that part of it, this was all me. It was my chance to take everything I had learned in the previous few hours. Here I did not fail. I did all the forming and bending around the mandrel and checked in with Blaine after most steps to make sure I didn't forget anything. I got myself fusing this ring on camera and can upload it if I can also have an additional item with the main post picture. After all the forming was done, I decided to call it a day as I was near exhaustion and still had to pack up all the tools that I had bought and put my workbench and all my tools back in order. Afterwards I thanked Blaine and Jill, his wife and acting receptionist, for everything and drove back to hotel. After a brief nap Dad and I packed up the car and started to drive the 17 hours back to Massachusetts. I was not thrilled about leaving that night but more on that in a later post.
  Back in my own workshop and a week later, as I gave myself some time off to let all my hand/arm muscles get back to normal, I began to finish Heather's ring. The feeling was a little different but that was only because the change in setting, but I used all the same tools. I filed and used some new tools to shape it from flat to half round (Tyler's was flat as he wanted it to be but Heather opted for half round, which gave me another obstacle to learn/overcome) made a comfort fit inside just as Blaine had shown me on Tyler's band, although I had to be finer with my movements on the flexible shaft machine due to the difference in size. But I had learned these fine motor skills while away for twelve weeks. I think I debunked the myth, or just worked it out, that people with any sort of autism do not have the ability to do this type of work. Let me tell you that I am very proud of what I accomplished and how I was able to, with plenty of the right instruction, pull this feat off. After making sure the bands fit, I met with Tyler & Heather the week before final delivery of the bands, I polished hers and refinished his. They both came out, as you can no doubt see, incredible, even as far as a complete hand fabrication goes.
  The day of delivery came last weekend, at the bridal shower, and was the last gift opened, mainly because Tyler went hiking earlier that day and wanted to be the first to see the final product, but also because the bands were to be used more than any other gift the couple would receive that day. Everyone looked upon them with envy and once they felt the incredible weight of Tyler's band with even more envy. People were sort of shocked when  Heather had to say, multiple times, "Yes, he MADE them." We got a couple pictures of them with the rings on and I put them on Facebook for all to see.

  The whole thing went well, and not just the rings. Those three months in Nashville changed my life and in more ways that one. I'll never forget all the fun we had, the frustrations that we put to rest (after a lot of practice of course) and being able to do things that we never thought possible as far as making jewelry goes. I lived in a hotel in a state I'd only been to while in an airport and also where I did not know anyone previously, for three months 1200 miles away from the comforts of home. It was a wild ride and I loved every minute of it, truly a life experience that will never be equaled in my mind.

Questions or comments (Come on, at least on this one, folks)