To place the stone: With the ring mandrel on the vise, put the stone in place and put the ring on the mandrel. Tap gently on the silver rim, driving it against the stone. Do not drive it too hard or else you may crack the stone. Finish up and polish as explained before.
Finger ring, stone set with prongs:
Material: One piece of silver, No. 14, width and length the same as the others. Stone—in the design, square.
Tools: Same as used in making the other rings.
Directions: Draw design, cut pattern, place it on the silver, and cut out as before. Bend the ring to fit the finger, and solder. After the silver band has been cooled off and the wire has been removed, put the band back on the mandrel. With the planishing hammer strike down, flattening the top. This reduces the thickness of the ring and gives us a flat surface, to which the prongs are soldered.
To make the prongs: Place the stone on a No. 24 piece of silver. Draw the outline of the stone on it. The square piece of silver should be 1⁄8 in. larger all round than the size of the stone. A stone may be set with 4 prongs, or 6 or 8, according to one's taste. In this setting we have the 4 prongs. Mark the outline of the prongs on the square piece of silver according to this picture.
Drawings showing prongs, unfinished, and soldered on ring at point marked by arrow.
Saw out on the dotted lines. Cut a piece of copper the exact size of the stone. Place the copper on the silver and bend up the prongs at right angles to the silver plate. Take away the copper, and file the under part of the silver piece flat, and prepare the upper part of the ring in the same way. Bind the flat part of the prong piece to the flattened part of the ring, and solder. If the flattening in the first place has made the ring too large for the finger, cut a piece out along the soldered joint. Fit it to the finger and resolder. File all joints perfectly smooth. The prongs should be filed carefully and made perfectly even and of the exact size and shape. Place the stone in and push the prongs against it. Rub each separate prong down until it fits close against the stone. This prevents their catching on anything like cloth, etc. Polish and finish as explained before.