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Using the Hell Out of a Corded Drill: How to Make a Ring Out of a Coin, When Safety is of No Concern

By Rain Noe - November 19, 2013

For those of you with access to a full shop—I'm looking at you, ID students—if I gave you a half-dollar coin and asked you to turn it into a wearable ring, which tools would you turn to? The drill press and bench grinder are probably the first to come to mind. That's why it's all the more amazing that this unnamed craftsperson did the same using little more than a hammer and a handheld drill (old-school style at that, corded and with keyed chuck) with a variety of attachments, some store-bought, some seriously jury-rigged.

The safety-minded among you will cringe—this man has no regard for his fingers, and while he never damages them on camera, it does look like the "Don't Do—" part of an industrial safety training video. Yet you can't help but be impressed by the results, and by the sheer range of uses this guy gets out of his drill.

Comments

Mike Brannon

6 years ago

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Seriously he didnt do anything dangerous that most of us haven't done in a pinch. Its not like he was putting his hands in a brake press or torch or using an open face rip saw (Ive actually had to throw a circa saw in a vice once w/ the full blade facing out). Anyway, beautiful project. Im amazed though that he didnt use a vice! It would've made it all go smoother and faster as it would have a built in anvil that would stay put. Kudos.

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lennii

8 years ago

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Showing ignorance here but what is the brown and blue stuff he puts onto the polishes

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- Mike Brannon
  
  6 years ago
  
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  Just fine rouge.
  
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Carol B

8 years ago

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Amazing use of minimal tools!
As a silversmith, the part that made me cringe was all the silver he was wasting. I would collect the silver shards from the drill and dust from the grinding stone to recycle. Also, there are other ways of making a ring from a coin that allow size variation and the design ends up on the outside.
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Sally A

8 years ago

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When I was a little girl, my father did about the same thing with a US nickle, a blowtorch, and a hammer. Again, he had little regard for his personal safety but today I have this great, little pinky ring as a reminder of that part of my life.
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Mike Parsons

8 years ago

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Having done some similar things in the past, how hot must that bit of metal be getting!?

Fingers like old leather!

Thanks,

Mike
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Rain Noe

I’m a lapsed industrial designer. I was born in NYC and figured I’d die there, but a few years ago I abandoned New York to live on a farm in the countryside with my wife. We have six dogs.