Sizing beads made from a glue gun

[pregcurious]

I recently received a platinum ring that I had made in a size 4.5. I wear a 4.5 in the winter, and a 4 in the summer; as it's the winter, I "put in" sizing beads on my own using a glue gun (the inside of the shank is smooth). The beads stay when I take the ring on and off, and peel off if I make an effort to take them off. I just wanted to put that out there.

 

[minousbijoux]

I recently received a platinum ring that I had made in a size 4.5. I wear a 4.5 in the winter, and a 4 in the summer; as it's the winter, I "put in" sizing beads on my own using a glue gun (the inside of the shank is smooth). The beads stay when I take the ring on and off, and peel off if I make an effort to take them off. I just wanted to put that out there.

What a brilliant idea! And it doesn't discolor or otherwise affect the metal?

 

[pregcurious]

I've done it on platinum and 18K yellow gold, and it seems to have no affect. I have no idea about rhodium plated jewelry, but I am going to try on my rhodium plated white gold eternity ring. I am guessing it might have an affect on silver because the places with glue will not tarnish? I would only put it on the smooth parts of metal as I think it would be near impossible to get it out of crevices (e.g. pave).

My hands fluctuate a lot in size, so this was the best solution I could think of. I know there are sizing bars, but I don't like the idea of having my rings scratched. If you are very rough with the glue beads, they will come off, but mine stay for a couple of months, enough to get through the winter with maybe two applications.

I also put a dot of clear glue on the donut so it acts as a tiny spacer for my eternity ring. Of course I will check that everything is in place over time.

My mom used to wrap her ring in scotch tape! I saw on another forum that someone wrapped the shank with fishing line, which is very thin and clear.

 

[minousbijoux]

I am so impressed with this idea - its just brilliant!

 

[pregcurious]

Thanks, Minou. I am still careful with things like taking off gloves as the beads are not permanent.

 

[pregcurious]

I meant to write I wear a 4 in the winter, and a 4.5 in the summer! Man, I am so out of it today!

 

[Starzin]

Such a clever idea! Well done.

 

[blingbunny10]

lol! I love this idea.

How long do the glue beads stay on, typically?

 

[redwood66]

My mom used to wrap her ring in scotch tape! I saw on another forum that someone wrapped the shank with fishing line, which is very thin and clear.

I can remember in high school we would wrap the boyfriends class ring with thread on the bottom part of the shank and then coat that with clear nail polish. We would do anything to wear that ring I guess.

I like your idea much better!

 

[pregcurious]

I've never done it for a ring I wear everyday because my plain wedding band is the only one I wear everyday (except in the summer).

I've found that how you apply the glue determines how much force it can take. The main part of the bead should of course be on inside of the shank. One time, I was being messy, and had it overlap on both sides (what I would call the "edges" of the shank), and this has not come off of an 18K ring. I've probably worn it the equivalent of 3 months?

Redwood, that's a great idea. The equivalent would be coating the bottom part of the shank (on all sides) with glue. None of my rings are that loose though.

 

[carmen1]

Really great idea! I've found that I don't wear right hand rings as much in the winter because the spinning drives me crazy - I'm really looking forward to trying this temporary sizing bead solution out - thanks!

 

[pregcurious]

I'm here to report back after wearing my new setting with the glue, which I wrapped around the bottom of the ring. Wrapping the glue on all sides made for a very secure sizing band (versus bead), and I recommend it over just a bead. The beads can pop off if you put to much stress on them, but I cannot get the wrapped glue off (unless I pick at it very hard).

Verdit: wrap the glue.

 

[Niel]

im SO glad you posted this. my FSIL's ring fits hre usually but not in the winter time without a wedding band (which isnt until next summer)

she doesnt want to size it, so i told her to do this, and sounds like its working perfectly.

 

[pregcurious]

Hey Niel, I'm glad it's working.

 

[kgizo]

Thanks for this tip!! I'm now able to switch rings between fingers and hands. It feels like my jewelry wardrobe has doubled. Using a low temp glue gun and I found it helped to warm the shank of the ring first by holding it against the nozzle for a few seconds. The glue went on smoother this way.

 

[Harpertoo]

What a great fix!
I wish I had thought of this before I had a ring sized down!

 

[pregcurious]

Thanks for this tip!! I'm now able to switch rings between fingers and hands. It feels like my jewelry wardrobe has doubled. Using a low temp glue gun and I found it helped to warm the shank of the ring first by holding it against the nozzle for a few seconds. The glue went on smoother this way.

Great tip!

I've been wearing a ring with glue wrapped around the ring, and it just does not fall off. That's the way to go over making glue beads.

 

[2Neezers]

This is such a great idea!
I'm not a pro with the glue gun though, and would be curious to see what this looks like when done so I can try to do it exactly the same way.
If any one who has tried this could post a picture for reference, I would really appreciate it.

 

[junebug17]

Thank you for this tip Precurious! I wasn't having much luck with the glue sizing beads, they kept coming off - but wrapping the glue around the shank works great! It functions like the ring sizers you buy at Claires but much less bulky and it doesn't slide around. Here's a pic of my attempt, kind of sloppy but IRL you can barely notice it. I'll get better with practice lol. What a pleasure to wear my ring and not have it constantly spinning!

 

[velouriaL]

Thanks for this great idea!

A general question about ring size changes... Mine go up and down a lot, but are mostly, erm, fleshy, with small bones. The rings I wear everyday are pretty uncomfortable sometimes, not just due to weath (actually autoimmune, le sigh). Are there any ways to design for this? I've thought about sizing up and adding permanent sizing beads inside. Seems like they would keep the ring from sliding off at lower level and be less restrictive at higher levels? I guess I could try with the hot glue on a larger ring...

 

[pregcurious]

Thanks for this great idea!

A general question about ring size changes... My fingers go up and down a lot, but are mostly, erm, fleshy, with small bones. The rings I wear everyday are pretty uncomfortable sometimes, not just due to weather (actually autoimmune, le sigh). Are there any ways to design for this? I've thought about sizing up and adding permanent sizing beads inside. Seems like they would keep the ring from sliding off at lower level and be less restrictive at higher levels? I guess I could try with the hot glue on a larger ring...

Velouria, did you mean to say the parts in red (that I added)? What do you mean by "Seems like they would keep the ring from sliding off at lower level and be less restrictive at higher levels?"

I have seen 2-part and hinged rings for people with rheumatoid arthritis.

 

[pregcurious]

Velouria, have you tried these? I think they might work for keeping your ring on at a specific place on your finger, but it would be expensive in the long run, and I don't know if they look good.

http://www.hsn.com/products/blingguard-blingwraps-ring-guards/7081906

 

[velouriaL]

Gah. I'm getting really lazy and posting from my phone. I finally gave in and got one without a physical keyboard and I have to say I don't love it. ANYWAY! I haven't seen those blingguard things before, but I will check them out.

 

[chrono]

A good (and inexpensive) solution for unplated gold and platinum settings for simple summer/winter sizing or even right/left hand wear. In winter, when my fingers shrink, I wear my rings on my right hand. In summer, when my fingers swell, I switch my rings over to my left hand.