Saturday, February 12, 2011

LEGO ring

How to make a sterling silver LEGO ring.
Intermediate metalsmithing skills required.

Available for sale in my Etsy shop


My 5-yr-old son and I were playing with LEGOs the other day and I really liked the way the tiny bricks felt in my hands. I thought they would make a wonderful piece of jewelry. It would also be a fun way to keep him entertained while we're at church or the doctor's waiting room by having him stack more tiny LEGO bricks on the ring I was wearing. I'm often asked how I make my jewelry so I took a few photos of the process.

First, I made a ring out of sterling silver wire that I bought specifically to make ring shanks.

I rounded off the corners of a white LEGO brick. This one belonged to my husband when he was a little kid.

Then, I made a bezel for the LEGO brick. The height and thickness of this sterling silver strip makes it ideal for setting stones, or in this case, a LEGO brick.

After I made the bezel, I placed it on a sterling silver sheet, outlined it, and cut a piece for the LEGO brick to sit.

Then, I soldered the square bezel to the bezel seat and cleaned off the edges to create one seamless piece.

Then, I soldered the bezel seat to the ring shank. In this photo, you can see that earlier I stamped it with the word "sterling," as well as my individual stamp that has an "A" inside a star.

After I cleaned up the ring, I installed the LEGO brick, securing it with epoxy resin.

I ended up with a fun and fully functional LEGO ring.

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