QuestionI recently bought a lovely pewter ring at an charity silent auction fudraiser. (Very low key) but the ring was missized. Although it's not an expensive ring I'd like to have it resized. I went to the best I called the best jeweler in town to have it made smaller but as soon as I said pewter I heard him ask a co-worker if they did pewter and was told no. IS it possible to resize pewter?
AnswerKathryn, I doubt you will be able to find a jeweler who will attempt to resize a pewter ring. You see, the melting point of pewter is very low and the metal is quite soft. Special pewter solders are needed to join ends of pewter and even rerounding out the ring may easily make it a size larger than desired!
If the ring is a plain band, there is a slight possibility of making it smaller by compression(shrinking in a die) or making it slightly larger by stretching the ring. A ring with a thick shank(band) and a fancier top may possibly be made a bit larger by rolling the ring in a ring roller(stetching) or by tapping gently with a soft hammer while on a steel ring mandrel. ( A ring mandrel is a hardened steel rod tapered to accomodate most ring sizes.)
Finishing is difficult and the jeweler does not want to use the same buffing wheel used for precioius metals. The pewter will get on the buff and ruin it for work with precious metal like gold, silver or platinum.
If you can live with a slightly hammered finish, a jeweler might agree to "try" to make the ring a bit larger by hammering on a ring mandrel. To make a ring small if not a plain band is not going to happen in the jewelry store repair shop.
I do hope this helps in some manner. I have to tell it just like it is and be totally straight forward with you.
Kathryn, if you need more info or want to add more, do not hesitate to use the "follow-up" option to get back to me.
God Bless and Peace. Thomas. August 14,2006 7:45pm
