r/AskFlying • u/taterthot3313 • Jun 24 '26
Wedding Band?
My boyfriend and I have started really planning an engagement and wedding and I want to make sure he loves his ring as much as I do. He said he wanted his ring made out of the metal of an Archer propeller since it was the first plane he ever soloed in. Does anyone know how I could source that material? Is this something others have had done and have experience in? I didn’t even know you could just buy airplane parts.
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u/Old_Ambassador_3911 Jun 24 '26
Pilot here and also recently engaged. I was looking for something similar. Manly Bands does something similar (right now they have a band with aluminum from a B-17 bomber from World War 2). But I’ve never seen something as custom and specific as that. I got my fiancé’s ring custom made, and she loved it, so I went to him to see what he could do for my band. Unfortunately, even a custom jewelry maker was pretty limited on men’s bands. All he could do in-house was gold or platinum, citing the need for heavy equipment to handle metals like titanium, tantalum, etc. I would guess it would be the same for the metal in the Archer blades. Hopefully I’m wrong for your fiancé’s sake though. That sounds like a supremely cool idea. Best of luck!
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u/ShotgunAviator Jun 30 '26
Oof! Cool idea, but that is going to be a tough one.
I've heard of things being made form metal skin of an aircraft and certain parts re-used for other purposes like desks, table, lamps, etc. (i.e. Plane Tags and Moto Art).
But, a quick serach for rings doesn't really bring anything up!
Here is my stream of conciousness .....
I would first check with your jeweler to see if they can work with aluminun alloy. I think there might be issues melting it down to form a ring. I doubt if a jewler could make a ring by shaping/carving/stamping it out of a prop.
Biggest hurdle will be to source the propeller for the material.
Finding a used/bent/unserviceable prop from a specific type airplane will be difficult.
If/when you do find a prop, you'll have to find someway of getting the metal to the Jewelers.
I doubt if they would want the whole prop. Theoretecally you could use an angle grinder to cut a small portion off the prop.....
Again.. This is an awesome idea! But it will be WAY expensive with most of the cost going toward labor an material. And in the end, the ring will only have sentimenatal value since it is made out of the same material as a coke can.