Mechanical Ring with Hidden Diamond

[JWB_Machining]

Well Seeing as his Wife said she didn't want a stone I think he did a good job. Because We All know when a Girl says she doesn't want a stone that really means she does want it. But if you get her a stone then she'll tell you that you shouldn't have and then once you're fighting she'll use it against you to say you don't listen. So John managed to avoid all that nonsense by giving her both at once.....genius.

[HuFlungDung]

Originally Posted by JWB_Machining Well Seeing as his Wife said she didn't want a stone I think he did a good job. Because We All know when a Girl says she doesn't want a stone that really means she does want it. But if you get her a stone then she'll tell you that you shouldn't have and then once you're fighting she'll use it against you to say you don't listen. So John managed to avoid all that nonsense by giving her both at once.....genius.

I can't argue with that logic

[Konrad]

John, you're right...no need to show mechanism here.
I would never duplicate the same thing....no fun!
The idea is cool, how did you ever came to this?

>>With a gentle yet firm outward pull from both sides, the ring opens to reveal the diamond.<<

Does that mean you have to take the ring off first?
Would be nice to leave ring on for show off.

I'm thinking already for a push / open, push /close design, wear it open when going for a fancy outing, close it when coming home.
Can you wash your hands with it?
Did a jewel set the diamond for you?
Oh...I have to tell you something, this ring would have been good for my wife about 20 years ago.
We were visiting Switzerland, going down a hill with a bicycle.. [rough paved road] she lost control and wiped out on bottom of hill, scrapped
the diamond off the ring and got lost!!... 3 day's in Hospital. I thought that diamond was forever.
With your design it might just be true...good show John!!!!!!
Konrad

[John Welden]

Originally Posted by Konrad John, you're right...no need to show mechanism here. I would never duplicate the same thing....no fun! The idea is cool, how did you ever came to this? >>With a gentle yet firm outward pull from both sides, the ring opens to reveal the diamond.<< Does that mean you have to take the ring off first? Would be nice to leave ring on for show off. I'm thinking already for a push / open, push /close design, wear it open when going for a fancy outing, close it when coming home. Can you wash your hands with it? Did a jewel set the diamond for you? Oh...I have to tell you something, this ring would have been good for my wife about 20 years ago. We were visiting Switzerland, going down a hill with a bicycle.. [rough paved road] she lost control and wiped out on bottom of hill, scrapped the diamond off the ring and got lost!!... 3 day's in Hospital. I thought that diamond was forever. With your design it might just be true...good show John!!!!!! Konrad

Kondrad,

Thanks for taking a look, I'm glad you like it. I'll try to answer all your questions.

I came up with the design after quite a number of other ideas. I was stuck trying to figure out something that would be challenging for me to make and at the same time have the simple look my wife wanted. I didn't want to make something I could bang out in a day.

I only had access to a 4 axis machine so that limited me in a lot of ways. (Haas VF2 4 axis)

I have a stupid theory that I came up with this design because as a kid I had a job working for my neighbor who was a concrete contractor. One of my jobs was to sit in a hot wear house and clean 100's of these special clamps that they use to join two sections of concrete pumping hose. They look like two "C"'s with a hinge in the middle. I cleaned 100's if not 1000's of those clamps and that shape must be burned into my memory.

You can open the ring while wearing it. You grab one side and sort of pull against your finger, and it will open. It's a little tricky because there isn't much to grab on to.

There is a tradeoff for how well you want the ring to stay closed and how easily you want it to open. I didn't want it to pop open unintentionally so I sided towards having it a little harder to open. My wife usually slides it off her finger before she opens it for someone. It's more fun to hold it up and open it so people can clearly see what's happening.

The ring can't be worn while open, it gets too big. I played around with some designs where it could be worn with the diamond hidden or showing. Things start getting too complex and too hard to make pretty quick. I wanted to keep the ring very compact so that limited how complex of a mechanism I could get away with and still have it be strong enough. I ran a more complex design by a good friend of mine and he quickly convinced me that it was unnecessary. Just having it open and close is way beyond insane.
Now that it's done I'm glad I went with the most simple design. I like mechanisms that get the job done in the simplest possible way.

My wife wears the ring non stop. Dishes, the shower, sports, you name it. I had thought it would get gummed up from soap and what not, but for whatever reason it never does. The diamond and the inside do get a bit dirty and every so often I throw it in an ultrasonic cleaning setup we have it work. I polish it under a microscope with small buffing wheels in a rotary tool.

The diamond isn't really "set" as you would with traditional jewelry making techniques. I measured the exact dimensions of the diamond and designed the arms that hold it to precisely fit. I had a model of the diamond sitting there in Solidworks and I more or less designed around it. The "roof" of the ring that comes in over the top of the diamond only has about .0015" of clearance. I wouldn't have been able to have such close clearances if I had needed to bend little arms around the diamond like you would with a normal ring. I felt that would have been too imprecise.

I think you certainly let your wife down 20 years ago by not making her a ring like mine. That whole exposed diamond thing is way too risky. ;-)

Thanks,
John

[Geof]

Originally Posted by John Welden ......I think you certainly let your wife down 20 years ago by not making her a ring like mine. That whole exposed diamond thing is way too risky. ;-) Thanks, John

Could you have made this ring 20 years ago? Let us assume you still had your current knowledge and experience but were restricted to only the use of computers, software, machines and tools available then.

[John Welden]

I highly doubt I could have done it 20 years ago, but I was only joking around when I said that to Konrad.

[Geof]

Originally Posted by John Welden I highly doubt I could have done it 20 years ago, but I was only joking around when I said that to Konrad.

Oh I figure it was joking but what it brought to mind was how important is the interplay between imagination, training, experience and the tools available. And I should rewrite that in all possible permutations because none of the four is more important than the other three; I also left out artistic ability because I think it is embodied in these four.

Sometimes I wonder what could have been produced by great artists, or artisans from the past working with modern techniques and equipment. Conversely I wonder how lost we would be if suddenly all these modern devices disappeared in a puff of smoke and we were left with what was available four hundred years ago. Scary though for 7:15 am.

[John Welden]

Originally Posted by Geof Oh I figure it was joking but what it brought to mind was how important is the interplay between imagination, training, experience and the tools available. And I should rewrite that in all possible permutations because none of the four is more important than the other three; I also left out artistic ability because I think it is embodied in these four. Sometimes I wonder what could have been produced by great artists, or artisans from the past working with modern techniques and equipment. Conversely I wonder how lost we would be if suddenly all these modern devices disappeared in a puff of smoke and we were left with what was available four hundred years ago. Scary though for 7:15 am.

I'm sure Leonardo Da Vinci would have made some insane things if he had all our tools.

I think a craftsman is a craftsman though. If we didn't have the tools we have today we would still be good at making things once we learned techniques of the past. I was making things as a kid when all I had were crude tools.

[HuFlungDung]

John,
Have you considered making a wristwatch type of device along a similar line? From a practical aspect, I'd like to have a wristwatch with a slick option like that to cover the face to protect the crystal. Or maybe some sort of a protected flashdrive (mini-USB) that inhabits a bracelet or something.

[ViperTX]

I think I figured it out.

The diamond tray is just a floating mechanism...might be lighly spring loaded just to center it...probably a flat spring.

The key seems to be the hinge mechanism....which is most likely the spring mechanism that gives the action its snap when closed.

Paul

[John Welden]

Originally Posted by HuFlungDung John, Have you considered making a wristwatch type of device along a similar line? From a practical aspect, I'd like to have a wristwatch with a slick option like that to cover the face to protect the crystal. Or maybe some sort of a protected flashdrive (mini-USB) that inhabits a bracelet or something.

A guy just emailed me the other day about making a wristwatch like the one you suggested. I think he's going to try to make one himself. Should be a cool project. I'd like to make a watch too, but it's not near the top of my list of things I need to make.

A bracelet/flash drive might not be all that hard depending on how crazy you want to make it.

All of these interesting ideas seem to stack up before we ever have a chance to make them all.

ViperTX.

I think your guess for the ring operation would work, but my design works differently. If you had the chance to handle it in person, I'm sure you'd figure out how it works. I've been a little reluctant to show exactly how it works because I'd rather people figure out their own cool design rather than make one just like mine. There are a lot of talented machinists out there and I'd love to see what they could come up with whether it be a ring or something else.

Thanks,
John