[Bloob]

My partner and I are planning to get married (Once this pandemic is over…) I’ve decided that I’d like to make our wedding rings. I think I’d like to use a hammered silver or gold band, but have a fossil insert in the center. (Basically cutting the fossil into two C shapes, and then joining them into the channel in the center of the ring.) I’m thinking that both for sealing the fossil to protect it, as well as securing it to the band and itself at the join, that some kind of resin is what I would like to use. I’m just not sure what kind would be best.

I’ve worked some with both Epoxy and PU resins previously. My first thought was to use a food-safe epoxy since this will be an everyday wear item, and even if the resin wouldn’t generally be directly touching skin at all times, it would be touching frequently. I’ve also seen that PU resins might work better as they can withstand more heat and impacts from everyday life. Since this is going to be worn all the time (and by a lovable engine of chaos) it will need to be able to withstand heat, water, minor chemical contact, and UV light, plus impacts.

Any thoughts and suggestions from the community would be most welcome.

[Katherine Swift]

Hi Bloob,

Are you going to use a mold, or how do you anticipate getting the resin and fossil in the ring?

[Bloob]

Hi Katherine – Thanks for getting back to me. 🙂

No, I wasn’t planning on using a mold – the fossilized tooth will (hopefully…) stand on its own.

Some examples which are close to my end goal:
– Dino Bone, Meteorite, and petrified wood ring: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIkynrqtILQ
– Antler ring: https://manlybands.com/products/the-ranger

The fossilized spinosaurus tooth will be cut into two C shaped portions for each ring. The C shaped pieces will then be fitted back together around the ring, inside a central channel.

The resin will come into play in possibly two places. Definitely for attaching the C shaped pieces both to themselves and to the body of the ring. I’ve also started reading a bit about stabilizing fossils with resin. I think I might want to try that as well, to help prevent the piece from coming apart while it’s being worked – cut/sanded/polished/etc.

My thoughts are that I should probably use the same kind of resin for both of those applications, since I’ve heard that different resins may not join together nicely. (Though perhaps this is incorrect?) I would think that most any resin should work for adhering the fossil to the core of the ring, but since the intention is for this ring to be worn every day, I’d want it to be both safe for the wearer for frequent skin contact, but also durable enough to withstand whatever life throws at our hands.

My initial inclination is that something like a medical grade epoxy might be the best choice, but I’m very open to suggestions.

[Katherine Swift]

Hi Bloob,

I think a clear polyurethane resin is what you want to use for something like this. It’s hard and durable, plus it can be polished with rotary tools quite nicely.

[Author]

Posts