A lot of the jewelry designs I have in mind include silver circles - so I made a whole bunch in various sizes. The process I used is very similar to how band rings are made from wire. I start by cutting wire to the length I need, and filing the ends til they are smooth. Then I form the wire into a kind of oval with the ends touching each other.

Silver Rings - Before Fusing

If I was using regular sterling silver, my next step would be to solder the rings - but I prefer fusing to soldering, so I used Argentium sterling silver. I line the rings up on my firebrick and fuse them closed with a propane torch. I like this method because it is less toxic than soldering - no flux, no pickle, only the propane gas and the metal itself. Also, there is less clean-up involved. My rings look pretty good right after fusing, and just need to be reshaped into circles.

Rings - After Fusing

I reshape them using a ring mandrel and a mallet, one at a time, then polish them a bit, and they are ready to be used in my jewelry designs (or worn as rings - many of them are big enough to fit an average woman’s ring finger, though normally I’d use thicker wire for a finger ring). Some will be textured, others left smooth, and they’ll become parts of earrings and necklaces.