Help, please: Drawing lines for inside ring lettering

[davidshe]

I would be interested in hearing how some of you draw your lines for lettering the inside of a ring. After applying transfer solution, I would like some ideas for lightly scribing or drawing guidelines for various sized lettering in various sized rings without scratching the ring. Perhaps some of you use some type non-metal edge scriber? Thanks!!

 

[monk]

ii don't do the inside of rings, but when i want to scribe a scratch free line, i simply attach a round toothpick to 1 leg of my dividers. the other leg gets a small piece of soft, styrene plastic to prevent scratching the outer edge of the item.

 

[Brian Marshall]

Always use a new toothpick... used ones are messy and sometimes bent a bit.

Leonard uses the stingers from the bees that have already stung him for his "non-scratch" points, but as always - he's a special case.


B.

 

[LVVP]

Brian,

thank you for the info

 

[davidshe]

Thanks Monk, I will experiment with the toothpick idea.

 

[monk]

a tiny dab of superglue works to affix the toothpick and a piece of plastic on the inside of the other leg. one set i have, uses removable steel pins and pencil leads. the one shown has the plastic, and the scriber is a shaped, copper wire. i use the copper for marking when a toothpick wont quite work.

pay no mind to mr marshall. he lives in a "home", and is not allowed to have sharp objects in his room !

 

[davidshe]

Thanks Monk, looks like that might work for the inside of rings! A picture is a thousand words.

Mr. Marshall is fine... When God created the USA he tipped it a little and all the nuts rolled out here to CA

 

[monk]

davidshe: i failed to consider inside a ring work. you would have to make a marking gauge sort of gadget that worked in the horizontal, rather than the vertical orientation. i have a few such gauges ive made, but are way too large for doing rings. using perhaps telescoping brass tubing might do the trick. such can usually be found in hobby shops. you could also try www.micro-mark.com. they sell all manner of neat stuff, and are prompt in shipping. if you cant find any, i have 3 pieces that might work for you. jayismonk450@gmail.com

 

[davidshe]

Hey Monk, that is really thoughtful of you and thanks for the link. Indeed I did find that a regular compass was too clumsy for me to use inside a ring. I am playing with a new idea or two but I will certainly email you if it does not work out. I also have my eye on the inside engraving fixture sold by Tira. Expensive but it is a slick way to scribe the lines inside a ring. Kind of intimidating that getting the lines drawn is the easiest part of engraving inside a ring. I have a bent graver on the way also!

 

[Brian Marshall]

@ davidshe...

Last time I looked Santa Barbara was in CA - quite a ways south of me. (downhill)

UCSD can be pretty strange. You live down there. 'nuf said...


B.

 

[davidshe]

You are correct Brian, as I said in my note to Monk, all the nuts rolled out here and of course that includes me

 

[Carvenstein]

I'd like to share my little tool that I made for marking good parallel lines inside or outside of a ring. I have sanded the top of a flat head phillips head screw to give it a pointy edge, then screwed it into a block of wood. I raise or lower the screw edge with the screw driver to the proper height, place the ring over it and give the ring a spin around to scribe the line. Enjoy nice parallel lines!


Steve Wardle