Split Shank

Split Shank

Split Shank builds a cathedral band that forks: a single trunk rises from the bottom of the ring and, at a point you choose, splits into two arms that climb to the head separated along the finger axis. It is the shoulder of the split-shank and open-shoulder engagement rings, and it can carry pavé that runs up the trunk, bridges the fork with one stone, and continues along both arms.

Run it from the ribbon (Shanks) or by typing ArtisanSplitShank. Unlike most shank commands it opens straight into its parameters — there is no style gallery. The panel is driven together with gumballs in the viewport: one on the rail for the movable Side profile, and two on the arms marking the ends of the pavé run.

Finger Size

Sets the ring size the rail is built on.

Profiles

The metal is swept through three cross-sections along the arm rail. Bottom sits at the ring bottom and Top at the arm tip; both are fixed at their ends and always active. Side is the central one: it can be switched off, and its position along the rail is movable — either from the panel or by dragging its gumball on the rail in the viewport.

Three buttons select which of the three you are editing. Each has the same set of controls, and the asset preview at the top of the panel chooses and edits its section shape.

• Width: Width of the section, in millimetres.
• Height: Height of the section, in millimetres.
• Type: Solid, Comfort or Thickness — the treatment of the inner face.
• Comfort Height: Depth of the comfort fit. Shown only while Type is Comfort.
• Rotation: Roll of the section about the rail, in degrees.
• Displacement: Lateral shift of the section off the rail.
• Orientation: Natural or Reverse. Flips the profile curve.

The Side panel also carries an enable toggle. With it off, the sweep runs straight from Bottom to Top and the rail gumball disappears.

Shape

• Arm Height: How far the arm tips rise above the top of the band.
• Opening: Separation along the finger axis between the two arms of each side — the width of the fork.
• Split Start: Where the arms leave the shared trunk, as a fraction of the rail from 0 (ring bottom) to 1 (arm tip).

Gems

Pavé along the shank. The toggle at the top of the tab enables it; with it on, the command cuts the channel and lays the stones on it. The two orange gumballs on the rail set where the run starts and ends, and they stay in sync with the geometry — the start one cannot be pushed back past the fork.

The run is treated as three zones: the trunk below the fork, one stone at the fork junction bridging them, and the two arms above it. Sizes and spacing are set per zone.

• Start: Stone size at the arm tip.
• Transition: Size of the stone that sits at the fork, where two arms meet one trunk.
• End: Flat stone size along the trunk, below the fork.
• Arm Spacing: Gap between stones on the arms.
• Shank Spacing: Gap between stones on the trunk.
• Vertical: Radial lift of the stones over the rail.
• Angle: Angular extent of the pavé, in degrees.
• Move in Z: Vertical displacement of the stones.
• Inner Width / Inner Height: Width and depth of the seat cut under the girdles.
• Bright Cut: Height of the bright-cut edge between metal and stones.
• Margin: Metal left at the edge of the channel.
• Inner Margin: Metal left under the stones.
• Gem Shape: Round or Square.

Prong settings

Three buttons choose how the stones are held: without prongs, shared prongs (one bead between neighbouring stones) or scalloped.

Drill settings

Three buttons choose the hole left under each stone: none, round or square.

Channel settings

• Channel shape: U, V or □ (square) — the cross-section of the channel the stones sit in.
• Flip Start: Flips the channel profile at the bottom end of the run.
• Flip End: Flips it at the tip end.
• V-Cutters: Adds V-shaped divider cuts between adjacent stones.

Working with the panel

• Save defaults in the header stores the current parameters as the starting point for the next run. Right-click the same button to clear them and go back to the factory values.
• Accept bakes the split shank into the document as a parametric object. If the preview has not been computed, the panel asks you to preview first; if the parameters cannot be built, it reports why rather than failing silently.