Helen’s Copper Thumb Ring

A couple of months ago my friend, Helen, asked me to make her a ring for her thumb out of copper.  She’s been having joint pain and thought maybe the copper against her skin would help relieve it.  Of course, I said ‘Sure’!  I came home and thought about how to make a ring that would fit or could be adjusted to fit.  And the copper really needed to touch the joint.  And Helen lives 200 miles away so there would be no ‘fitting’.
I cut paper and played with a design that would wrap around the thumb and not get in the way of daily chores.  I came up with this design. 
During one of my practice sessions with my jeweler’s saw, I decided how to cut it and how to decorate it.  I practiced.
The copper sheet I chose for the final ring came from my junk yard treasures.  It has striations on it and the plastic protection coating was still on one side.  I carefully sawed on my scribe lines and filed and sanded all the edges.  Then I used my disc cutter to make the random circles. 
I shaped it on the ring mandrel, tested it on my thumb, reshaped it and work hardened it.  Then I wore it for a day and now I’m ready to ship it to her. 
This was a simple design where I used my tools and new knowledge to create a gift for a very good friend.  I’m hoping she will like it too!







Comments

  1. Linda, honey, this is gorgeous! I love the striations on your copper piece, and the design is just awesome. So glad this turned out so well! I'm sure your dear friend will love it. I hope it helps her arthritis. Let me know on this. My hubby has very painful arthritis. Anything that might help is certainly a welcome idea for us. Again, great work!

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