Titanium Wedding Ring - Any experience of making tighter?

[thetapeworm]

My wedding ring is starring to get a bit too loose to the point I'm worried it might fall off and get lost.

It's titanium with an inlay of race-used F1 carbon fibre and a material that glows when it's exposed to UV light so, aside from the difficulties of adjusting titanium, it can't just have a piece removed and be rejoined so I'll need to find some way of finding someone to add material inside or a sleeve of some kind.



The guy who made it for me years ago is incredibly busy with fancy watches these days and is overseas so ideally I'd like to find someone in the UK to help.

Have any of you had similar done or have knowledge of working with titanium on a small scale? I've tried stick on pads (they lasted about an hour) and some coiled plastic as a temporary fix on holiday but it was quite unsightly).

Any thoughts appreciated, obviously due to the sentimental side of things I'd prefer not to just replace it.

[Ambleton]

From a mechanical/engineering POV you might be best to sleeve it, swage the ends over and get it on a jewelers lathe to get turned back on the external edges and bored out to the right size. Im guessing we're talking about half a mil or something radially.

I dont think shrink fitting/heating a sleeve will work because carbon fibre and the resin used is pretty temperature stable in size so will crack damage if you get it to a point where the ti ring expands, even if you dip the sleeve in nitrogen.

Edited by Ambleton on Tuesday 18th November 22:11

[bern]

No direct experience of ti wedding rings but lots of experience with ti machining. You're right that you'd need to sleeve it, I can't think of another reasonable way of reducing the inner diameter. Do you know how much it needs reduced by? That will be critical to whether it's possible or not. Anything less than 0.5mm off diameter, so 0.25mm wall thickness and it'll start to get tricky.

[thetapeworm]

Ambleton said:

From a mechanical/engineering POV you might be best to sleeve it, swage the ends over and get it on a jewelers lathe to get turned back on the external edges and bored out to the right size.

Cheers!

That was my initial thought, I'd hoped to get some kind of liner added and a bit of extra width isn't an issue, I just wasn't sure what material would be best but I guess it doesn't need to be fixed to the titanium and could be a push fit?

[mikef]

This chap did a good job modifying my platinum with inlaid gold wedding band:

Simon Wright
SWJ Design Ltd
2nd Floor
6 St John’s Place
London
EC1M 4NP

Telephone: [phone]
www.sw-jewellery.com

[thetapeworm]

bern said:

No direct experience of ti wedding rings but lots of experience with ti machining. You're right that you'd need to sleeve it, I can't think of another reasonable way of reducing the inner diameter. Do you know how much it needs reduced by? That will be critical to whether it's possible or not. Anything less than 0.5mm off diameter, so 0.25mm wall thickness and it'll start to get tricky.

Thanks, it was always a bit on the big size so I suspect it'll a decent amount of extra material, I need to get some measurements done but wanted to check how feasible it might be before a jeweller laughed me out of their shop

[thetapeworm]

mikef said:

This chap did a good job modifying my platinum with inlaid gold wedding band:

Simon Wright
SWJ Design Ltd
2nd Floor
6 St John s Place
London
EC1M 4NP

Telephone: [phone]
www.sw-jewellery.com

Thank you.

[bern]

thetapeworm said:

bern said:

No direct experience of ti wedding rings but lots of experience with ti machining. You're right that you'd need to sleeve it, I can't think of another reasonable way of reducing the inner diameter. Do you know how much it needs reduced by? That will be critical to whether it's possible or not. Anything less than 0.5mm off diameter, so 0.25mm wall thickness and it'll start to get tricky.

Thanks, it was always a bit on the big size so I suspect it'll a decent amount of extra material, I need to get some measurements done but wanted to check how feasible it might be before a jeweller laughed me out of their shop

Someone will do it for sure. A good interference fit will be all that's needed to hold it in place.

[Ambleton]

If it was mine I dont think id be going to a jeweller...

I'd be going to a very good machine shop that makes high precision ti motorsport/engine/aerospace parts... somewhere that deals with precision machining of Ti to standard tolerenced engineering fits (h7, F8 etc) on a daily basis

[cliffords]

Do you have any serious food allergies that may make your fingers swell. If my wife eats sea food her fingers swell up .
Just a thought. 🤔

[Tango13]

I'd be looking at sleeving it with an inner piece that was under size which would be stronger and therefore easier to press into place then boring it out to the required size.

My main concern would be damaging the ring itself when I was introducing the inner sleeve to the original ring with my six ton press...

[thetapeworm]

Ambleton said:

If it was mine I dont think id be going to a jeweller...

I'd be going to a very good machine shop that makes high precision ti motorsport/engine/aerospace parts... somewhere that deals with precision machining of Ti to standard tolerenced engineering fits (h7, F8 etc) on a daily basis

That's a great shout, it would be nice to find someone like that, even more so if I can get a chunk of something motorsport-related put in.

[Ladders]

May also be worth giving Rob Hayles a try?:

https://carbon-concepts.co.uk/

[CoolHands]

In the old days you could get a simple strip that ran from one side to the other ie a chord if you think of a circle. It would usually be on the underneath of your finger so you don t see it. They are at least simple to make so might be a possible solution even if longer term you want a sleeve of some kind manufactured

Like this

[bern]

Ambleton said:

If it was mine I dont think id be going to a jeweller...

I'd be going to a very good machine shop that makes high precision ti motorsport/engine/aerospace parts... somewhere that deals with precision machining of Ti to standard tolerenced engineering fits (h7, F8 etc) on a daily basis

I'd definitely be doing this. The trick will be finding a place small enough to want to do a 1 off but with the experience and willingness to work with titanium.

[vladcjelli]

Bought my Ti wedding ring from Greenfield Engineering twentysomething years ago and after a quick search, they appear to be still doing it.

From their website -

https://getititaniumrings.uk/pages/can-titanium-ri...

[Big Nanas]

bern said:

No direct experience of ti wedding rings but lots of experience with ti machining. You're right that you'd need to sleeve it, I can't think of another reasonable way of reducing the inner diameter. Do you know how much it needs reduced by? That will be critical to whether it's possible or not. Anything less than 0.5mm off diameter, so 0.25mm wall thickness and it'll start to get tricky.

Off topic I'm sorry, but Bern, I have a titanium wheelchair that needs a couple of small welding tasks doing. Sadly, I've tried to contact local firms, but they either never answer the phone, nor answer emails. It's a small, but precise job, so it's all a bit frustrating.

Any thoughts what I can do?

[defblade]

Don't know if it'd work with Ti, but when I was in the same situation with my gold wedding ring, the local jewelers added 2 small (about 1mm across) blobs of gold at 10-to-2 inside the band. (There's a front and back for my ring as I previously had to have it made larger which spoiled the pattern a bit, so I like that section on the inside). It's still pretty easy to take on and off, but now doesn't have any sign of wanting to come off on its own.