Official OSU Class Ring - Crafting A Tradition

[Music] the crafting of each official OSU class ring by the balfor company is a Time honor tradition that involves more than 30 skilled workers from start to finish each ring begins with a permanent mold that is used to create wax casts each cast is different depending on the size and design of ring [Music] requested hot wax is injected into the mold to create each ring one at a [Music] time the molds are carefully removed to ensure the Integrity of the ring [Music] design the casts are then tediously sculpted and shaped to guarantee the final ring is flawless at this point in the process a worker sizes each ring specifically so it will perfectly fit its recipient the words connected for life are also imprinted into the wax cast to connect all alumni and former students who wear the ring with each other and Oklahoma State [Music] University once several casts have been made an additional wax stem is temporarily attached this stem is then fastened to what is known as a ring tree each ring tree can contain more than two dozen Rings this is the only phase of the process where individual rings are grouped together the ring trees are placed into metal cylinders and a high heat tolerant plaster is poured around [Music] them after 2 hours the plaster hardens And the cylinder ERS are loaded into ovens and baked for 10 hours at 1200° this process solidifies the plaster and melts the wax ring trees leaving a negative of each ring the next step in the process begins early in the morning when molten gold or silver is poured into casts filling the negative ring space after hardening the casts are blasted with high pressure water and sand to remove the plaster leaving only the newly formed rings dozens of workers are lined up in rows to individually work on the ring and pass it from one station to the next the extra material used earlier to size the ring is now filed down the gold and silver filings are recycled to be used again in other [Music] Rings the sizing of each ring is also checked again to make sure it fits the recipient's request the grooves that were a part of the original mold must now be handcarved into the bottom of the ring for a consistent look the area around the top of the ring is also filed to match the design of the finished [Music] ring now the ring enters the polishing stages with one of many buffers [Music] the ring sparkle and shine becomes more and more apparent after each [Music] pass in total nearly one dozen different polishing machines are used to bring out the Ring's true beauty [Music] after being cleaned and Polished it's time to individually Place each diamond for the signant and traditional Rings an electronic etching machine then inscribes the recipient's name Clash year or any other personalization request Ed onto the inside of the [Music] Ring the official OSU class rings are now ready to be individually packaged and sent to the Alumni Association where they will be kept until the spring or fall ring ceremonies at that point they will be United with their new owners for the first time it is a carefully executed process that involves hundreds of man hours by more than 30 workers to individually craft a ring that symbolizes the past present and future of Oklahoma State [Music] University

Channel: OSU Alumni Association

Views: 88,908

Keywords: OSU, Oklahoma, State, University, Alumni, Association, Official, Class, Ring, Tradition, Balfour

Id: Y0A5U8VRcqc

Length: 5min 21sec (321 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 26 2010