Hobo Ring How It's Made

1 The fresh carved nickel

I get my nickels engraved by Shane Hunter in Toledo, OH. I call him and tell him what I'm thinking about and then send him a sketch. In turn he sends me the nickel engraved like this. I then cut it out using a #2 jewelers saw blade which is .5mm x .24mm and cut it out.

2 Cut out

After a little deft action with the saw, it's cut out.

3 Bend the nickel

After the ring's been made and sized, the next step is to round the coin so it rests onto the ring. Doing it this way assures that the inside if the ring is round. Not doing it this way puts dents inside the ring if you solder it on flat then round the ring.

4 Solder it on the ring

I hold everything in place with some clamps so nothing moves about.

5 Soldered

This is what it looks like after it's soldered onto the ring.

6 Clean Up

After it's been soldered on, I get it cleaned up on the outside and inside. Also, I make sure all the solder has been cleaned up and smooth it all out.

7 Oxidation

After it's cleaned up, it's oxidized it in a solution of liver of sulphur. I do my oxidizing really hot because I'm just going for black. After this step, finer clean up is done.

8 All done

The finished product, a Silver Piston hobo nickel ring and this is the cafe racer version.

I've been asked how the Hobo Ring's made and if that is a real nickel I use on them. So here you go, here's how they're made. But why show all this? There's no secret, an experienced jeweler could figure it all out. What you don't see is years of just making stuff and learning. There are literally hundreds of hours playing and working out ideas, always learning. There's also hundreds of dollars of material quite literally melted as I learned. So when you get something from me, you're getting something I've learned how to make by trial and error. You're also getting a handmade ring by me right here in downtown Atlanta. Everything I do is with raw materials, nothing is pre-made, well except the nickel but give me a fucking break.