how to make a metal thumb ring?
Can anyone comment on the steps they took to make a metal thumb ring? In particular, what metals did you use? And did the process involve shaping or casting heated metal, or simply shaving away a block of cold metal?
I don't have any metalworking experience, so I'm curious about what it takes to get started.
I don't have any metalworking experience, so I'm curious about what it takes to get started.
I have made metal rings out of cold worked copper pipe. The one I am using at the moment has lasted several years though I regularly replace the leather lining.
I worked out the diameter of the hole I wanted and the length of the lip and cut a slanted section out a pipe of smaller diameter. I then hammered out the shape with a light hammer over a small anvil. So far I have not had to anneal the metal, but I am sure that would make the production faster and easier.
You can also make a wax model and have it cast by a jewellery caster. Most metal rings I have seen look like they were cast first and them worked with their surface designs. However, there is no reason you could not make the ring by raising a flat sheet and cutting a hole in it.
I worked out the diameter of the hole I wanted and the length of the lip and cut a slanted section out a pipe of smaller diameter. I then hammered out the shape with a light hammer over a small anvil. So far I have not had to anneal the metal, but I am sure that would make the production faster and easier.
You can also make a wax model and have it cast by a jewellery caster. Most metal rings I have seen look like they were cast first and them worked with their surface designs. However, there is no reason you could not make the ring by raising a flat sheet and cutting a hole in it.
On the left is a ring I had cast in Sterling. It was easy to carve out of a wax chunk made for the purpose. Then I took it to a friend who casts rings; sprued, invested, burned and cast. Then I finished it. It was made just after I visited a Mughal display which had about 6 thumb rings. The lip rises after the originals.
If I make another I will be sure to carve in some floral decorations. Originals were plain, inlaid and set with gem stones.
The other is from a collection. It was among ancient Roman artifacts but was passed down from at least two owners. It is brass or bronze, much less massive than mine, very thin and minimalist. It has no story but is probably not Asian; maybe Near East.
If I make another I will be sure to carve in some floral decorations. Originals were plain, inlaid and set with gem stones.
The other is from a collection. It was among ancient Roman artifacts but was passed down from at least two owners. It is brass or bronze, much less massive than mine, very thin and minimalist. It has no story but is probably not Asian; maybe Near East.
Thanks for your feedback, Bede and Jack. I'll probably look into silver casting at a later date. In the meantime, I've acquired a small anvil and some copper pipe to mess around with.
What would you use to bind the leather lining to the inside of the copper? Some kind of glue?
What would you use to bind the leather lining to the inside of the copper? Some kind of glue?
Glue is the standard procedure, though while you are fitting it you can just wet the leather and push it into place. Once everything is comfortable, then glue it in finally. The Turks used animal glue or fish glue. Just remember that when the lining is worn out, you will need to remove it and re-glue a new piece. Animal glue is easier to clean up than modern glues.
There are various plumbing parts that come in brass which might be worked into a good ring, ie. 3/4" el.
I tried working with a straight pipe initially, but I didn't have the skills to work it the way Bede did with his copper ring. So I ended up sawing and filing a copper pipe joint (1" elbow): https://picasaweb.google.com/jtma04/CopperRing# . The process took longer than I anticipated, but it's certainly less messy than working with pool balls.
We'll see how shooting with it turns out. Maybe I can get away without using a leather lining, but if it things get uncomfortable I'll probably add one.
We'll see how shooting with it turns out. Maybe I can get away without using a leather lining, but if it things get uncomfortable I'll probably add one.
Justin, The brass version is milled from cast brass and is much thicker. Much more material to work from.
One of the reasons I chose the copper pipe was that it was only a millimetre thick which matched the majority of bronze rings I had seen. I do have a massive bronze ring and several in the two millimetre range so they were definitely around. I wanted to test the effectiveness of these thin rings since you can make a metal ring much thinner than bone or horn or stone.
Yeah, I noticed the brass pipe joints were much thicker. But I wanted to make this particular ring without power tools. Cutting the copper pipe took a while, so I can only imagine how much manual effort would be needed for a thicker piece of metal. Nonetheless, the copper ring (without any padding material) put too much pressure on the sides of my thumb.
In the end, I put a layer of thin upholstery scrap leather to line the ring. And I shortened the lip to 14 mm. The ring is more comfortable now. https://picasaweb.google.com/jtma04/CopperRing#
Thanks again for all your feedback.
In the end, I put a layer of thin upholstery scrap leather to line the ring. And I shortened the lip to 14 mm. The ring is more comfortable now. https://picasaweb.google.com/jtma04/CopperRing#
Thanks again for all your feedback.
Justin,
That ring looks tight below the knuckle of the thumb. With thin rings, the best technique is to have the ring a little loose and let the middle section of the middle finger push it back onto the thumb. That way there is a little pressure felt at the base of distal phalanx of the thumb in the joint and the pressure of the string is distributed over the lip of the ring. This is not he same way as you would use a thick Korean ring where the thick lip can drag the ring towards the tip of the thumb.
That ring looks tight below the knuckle of the thumb. With thin rings, the best technique is to have the ring a little loose and let the middle section of the middle finger push it back onto the thumb. That way there is a little pressure felt at the base of distal phalanx of the thumb in the joint and the pressure of the string is distributed over the lip of the ring. This is not he same way as you would use a thick Korean ring where the thick lip can drag the ring towards the tip of the thumb.
Oh, interesting. What is the best way to adjust the opening --- to lengthen its short axis or to length its longer axis?Bede wrote:
Justin,
That ring looks tight below the knuckle of the thumb. With thin rings, the best technique is to have the ring a little loose and let the middle section of the middle finger push it back onto the thumb. That way there is a little pressure felt at the base of distal phalanx of the thumb in the joint and the pressure of the string is distributed over the lip of the ring. This is not he same way as you would use a thick Korean ring where the thick lip can drag the ring towards the tip of the thumb.
And do you think the lip might be too short?
Justin,
I think the lip length is about right. A millimetre longer might be better. When you press the tip of you thumb into the middle segment of your middle finger, you should be able to feel the ring as a firm pressure, but it should not dig into the skin even when you push hard.
I would lengthen the short axis. It is very commonly written and said that lipped thumb rings always had an oval opening with the long axis pointed down the median line of the lip (though perhaps not so precisely). When I checked those of my hard stone rings that fitted me, the divergence in the length of the axes was less than 0.5 mm. It was more common to have an obviously oval hole on metal rings and I wonder if that was not part of adjusting a ring to fit better by the original owner. My one old Korean ring seemed to have an oval hole, but I didn't measure it at the time since it did not fit me. I shall get it out later and measure and photograph it for this thread.
I think the lip length is about right. A millimetre longer might be better. When you press the tip of you thumb into the middle segment of your middle finger, you should be able to feel the ring as a firm pressure, but it should not dig into the skin even when you push hard.
I would lengthen the short axis. It is very commonly written and said that lipped thumb rings always had an oval opening with the long axis pointed down the median line of the lip (though perhaps not so precisely). When I checked those of my hard stone rings that fitted me, the divergence in the length of the axes was less than 0.5 mm. It was more common to have an obviously oval hole on metal rings and I wonder if that was not part of adjusting a ring to fit better by the original owner. My one old Korean ring seemed to have an oval hole, but I didn't measure it at the time since it did not fit me. I shall get it out later and measure and photograph it for this thread.
Ah, let me check my understanding. For this ring, the lip will act as a swinging door whose hinge is the base of the lip (pressing firmly, not digging, into the portion of the thumb just below the joint), and the swinging edge is the tip of the lip, which applies a firm perpendicular force into the middle of the middle finger. That is to say, the outside surface of the lip is not in contact with the middle finger joint --- only the tip is..
If that's the case, I can see already that I've made the lip too short.
If that's the case, I can see already that I've made the lip too short.
Justin,
Whereas I am not too sure of the hinge metaphor, I think you have an understanding of what I meant. In certain deep, long-lipped rings, the preferred method is to press the end of the surface of the ring against the side of the middle section of the middle finger. These rings are characterised by thin tips and thick bases to the lip. Some Korean rings are reversed having thick tips and thin bases.
Since most surviving metal rings are thin all over, they can be used with a fully flexed thumb. Rather than build a new ring with a longer lip, you could put another layer on the leather liner and expand the hole towards the back of the ring. This moves the base of the lip a millimetre farther from your thumb.
Whereas I am not too sure of the hinge metaphor, I think you have an understanding of what I meant. In certain deep, long-lipped rings, the preferred method is to press the end of the surface of the ring against the side of the middle section of the middle finger. These rings are characterised by thin tips and thick bases to the lip. Some Korean rings are reversed having thick tips and thin bases.
Since most surviving metal rings are thin all over, they can be used with a fully flexed thumb. Rather than build a new ring with a longer lip, you could put another layer on the leather liner and expand the hole towards the back of the ring. This moves the base of the lip a millimetre farther from your thumb.
Sounds good, thanks. More practice making this style of ring doesn't hurt, so I'll make another one with a 15 or 16 mm lip instead of 14 mm. I'll use a power drill and dremel this time, so it should take less time. Worse comes to worse, I can use this current ring for my left thumb in case I ever want to try shooting left-handed again.
When I widened the short axis of the previous ring, it certainly felt more comfortable. Still, the lip was a little short, so I made a newer version: https://picasaweb.google.com/jtma04/CopperRingVersion11# (I tried the dremel but it was slow, so I went back to manually filing the ring.)
The opening's length/width divergence is 2 mm (as opposed to 4 mm in the original attempt). I could probably make the divergence smaller, but I want to prepare to use this ring in case my thumb swells down after a long hiatus from shooting (an unlikely but possible scenario).
The opening's length/width divergence is 2 mm (as opposed to 4 mm in the original attempt). I could probably make the divergence smaller, but I want to prepare to use this ring in case my thumb swells down after a long hiatus from shooting (an unlikely but possible scenario).
That ring looks a better fit.
Even though the ring will work without it, it will be more comfortable with a leather liner.
Even though the ring will work without it, it will be more comfortable with a leather liner.
I've had a few opportunities to shoot with the version 1.1 ring --- using the draw hand technique you described, there is no numbness so far (the previous version left my thumb pad a bit numb at times). Just a couple millimeters adjustment --- lengthening the lip and lengthening the short axis --- improved comfort noticeably.Bede wrote:
That ring looks a better fit.
Even though the ring will work without it, it will be more comfortable with a leather liner.
[external image]
I used a straight copper tube piece for this one. I had only a vague idea how it should look like when I began, and ended up like this by making it fit my thumb only. I have yet to try it out ;-)
JJ
![[external image]](http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk224/upo546/IMG_2396.jpg){kind=link}
I used a straight copper tube piece for this one. I had only a vague idea how it should look like when I began, and ended up like this by making it fit my thumb only. I have yet to try it out ;-)
JJ
JJ,
After you try it, I suggest you might find it more comfortable if you round the tip of the lip. If the length of the lip is even a little out of proportion to your thumb, the pointed tip could dig into the pad of the thumb and cause discomfort.
Many original rings did have pointed tips, but people riding all day develop very tough skin on their hands from handling reins and ropes.
After you try it, I suggest you might find it more comfortable if you round the tip of the lip. If the length of the lip is even a little out of proportion to your thumb, the pointed tip could dig into the pad of the thumb and cause discomfort.
Many original rings did have pointed tips, but people riding all day develop very tough skin on their hands from handling reins and ropes.
This is what happened to me when I made and shot a ring with a short, pointed tip... https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/b ... directlinkBede wrote:
JJ,
After you try it, I suggest you might find it more comfortable if you round the tip of the lip. If the length of the lip is even a little out of proportion to your thumb, the pointed tip could dig into the pad of the thumb and cause discomfort.
Many original rings did have pointed tips, but people riding all day develop very tough skin on their hands from handling reins and ropes.
Probably took a couple weeks to heal properly.