Thanks, yes, it's a big risk to do it by yourself, my family's getting a pretty good deal on this though, I could get away with charging a lot of money for gold rings but since they're family and have been paying for all of my education etc. they just have to pay for materials.
One thing to bear in mind with the gold, it's really hard and has a higher melting temperature, the toughness was surprising, you do have to get used to it and how hard you have to hit it just to get the damn metal to bend.
RE: Jewellery - Rings, along with silver I'm making two 18ct Gold Rings for a wedding