Secret Compartment Ring
Introduction: Secret Compartment Ring
As a jeweler I've always enjoyed spy films where someone has a ring with a secret compartment- so I decided to make one!
I thought about what someone might stash in a ring and the first thing that came to mind was a memory card, so that's what I based this design around. The design is very versatile though so you can make it whatever size or shape you want. This ring is made from sterling silver but it could just as easily be made from copper or brass.
Materials
To make this ring you will need:
Jeweler's torch
Jeweler's saw
Ring mandrel
Small hammer or leather mallet
Various size files- I used a large flat file, a small square needle file, and a small half round needle file
Small drill bit
Sandpaper
Red Scotchbrite pad
Tweezers
Hard, medium, and soft silver solder
Soldering flux
Sterling silver sheet and wire
Let's get started!
Step 1: Make the Base
The base of the ring is made from a 20mm diameter disc cut from 16 gauge (1.2mm thick) sterling silver sheet. You will need two discs (one for the base and one for the lid) so it's easier just to cut them both at the same time.
The ring to be soldered to the top of the disc is formed around a ring mandrel using 2.5mm wide x .75mm thick sterling silver flat wire. The outside diameter of the ring needs to match the outside diameter of the disc as closely as possible. Solder the ring shut using hard silver solder. The reason for using various grades of solder is because you don't want to melt a previous joint when you are assembling parts later on. Since hard solder has a higher melting temperature that gets used for first assemblies. Medium solder is used for secondary assemblies, and so on.
One trick I do when soldering complex joints is to cut the solder into tiny chips and then ball it up with a torch. Then you can place the solder wherever you want using soldering flux and a small brush. The reason for balling up the solder is that when trying to solder different facing surfaces together the ball is touching both surfaces at the same time and will more easily flow to them when heated.
Using a large flat file make sure one side of the ring is flat and solder it to the disc using medium solder. I use cross lock spring tweezers to hold the ring in place while soldering. 972
After soldering clean up any rough edges with a file and sandpaper.
Step 2: Make the Ring Shank
The ring shank is made from a single length of 3.5mm x 1.5mm sterling silver flat wire. Just form the wire around a ring mandrel for your required finger size -tapping it around the mandrel with a leather mallet or hammer helps form it to shape more easily than just hand bending.
File the top of the ring flat with a large flat file and solder it to the ring base using easy silver solder. I find that drawing centering lines on the bottom of the ring base with a Sharpie pen helps me align things more easily. When soldering I hold the ring shank in place using locking ring tweezers (called head and shank tweezers.)
Once the shank is soldered clean up the joint using a small needle file and sandpaper.
Step 3: Making the Lid
The ring lid is made using the other 20mm diameter disc cut earlier. The first step though is to file a notch in the ring base using a small square needle file- I made it the same with as the ring shank at 3.5mm. This is to allow clearance for the hinge block.
Now cut a piece of silver stock the same width as the notch. This piece only needs to be long enough to allow a small hole for the hinge wire to be drilled through it. Solder this piece to the silver disc using hard solder, making sure it sits just proud of the edge of the disc.
Take a small piece of silver flat wire, file notch in it and bend it 90 degrees. Solder the inside of the bend with hard solder. Now comes the tricky part- this piece forms part of the latch so placement is fairly critical when soldering it to the disc. It needs to sit directly in line with the hinge and needs to be placed about double the thickness of the ring base wall from the disc edge. The reason for placing it that distance from the disc edge is to allow room for the mating side of the catch that will be added to the ring base. Once proper positioning has been determined solder it in place using medium solder.
When soldering the catch in place it can be held with locking tweezers or even pinned in place by drilling through the catch and the lid and inserting a piece of silver wire in the hole. 972