My 21-year old college ring recently became too tight to wear. Who knew they could shrink? Anyway, I took it to three jewelers in town to have it resized. They all said it couldn’t be done. It is made of “Siladium” which apparently is some sort of stainless steel, which apparently is not amenable to any of the resizing processes.
In desperation, I contacted the original manufacturer (ArtCarved). They said sure, send it in, we’ll do it for the price of shipping. I said, are you SURE? It’s Siladium, you know. They said no problem.
Dubiously, I sent it in, along with a check for $15. Four weeks later, it came back, and now fits like a champ.
My question: what did the manufacturer know that the three high-end jewelers in town didn’t know? Or is it possible they just made me a new one and told me it was resized? (it looks a lot shinier now) I am confused.
Stainless steel is a bit harder to machine than regular steel because the cutting cuases the metal to hear-treat itself and/or work-harden. You will be cutting just fine, then suddenly you aren’t cutting anymore, then your tooling burns up.
I would think the easiest way to resize a ring would be to hone it with abrasive stones running under a stream of coolant. It would leave a much smoother finish and harder materials are often easier to hone or cut with a grinding stone than to turn or drill.
My grandfather worked for US Steel and on the side he made stainless steel rings, bracelets and ashtrays for friends and family. I still have a ring he gave me when I was 8 and he regularly re-sized it for me. (I’m now 42.) Here’s what he did:
He had a mandril (no, not the monkey)with different ring sizes marked on it. He would take the ring, slide it down the post, place a rubber washer against it and follow that with a tube that fit down the length of the mandril. A few taps with a hammer and voila, resized ring.
This. It’s the same as with softer metals, except the mandrel needs to be stronger and you are very limited in how much larger or smaller you can go.
At first I though SS was a stupid-cheap metal to use for jewelry, but it’s awful pretty and was a great way for somebody else to deviate my brother’s septum. He whistled until the nose job. I thought it was funny, since he’d been such an asshole when I was a kid.
Thanks for all the feedback, fellas, but I don’t think the mandril approach is the answer. If it were that simple, the local jewelers would have been happy to charge me $60 or so to do the deed. But they all demurred.
I suspect Duckster’s answer (post #2) is closest to the mark; that local jewelry stores just don’t have the equipment to handle it. Although that answer is still not perfect, as my ring was sized up by a size and a half, from 11 to 12.5.
Anyway, I took it to three jewelers in town to have it resized. They all said it couldn’t be done. It is made of “Siladium” which apparently is some sort of stainless steel, which apparently is not amenable to any of the resizing processes.