I wanted to make a ring for my girlfriend- no occasion, we’ve just been mighty good buddies for a while now. I headed out to a machine shop to try to find a chunk of stainless, but I pedaled past a knifemaker’s shop and thought I’d check if he had anything more interesting. Sure enough, he gave me a chunk of damascus and some hints for lining and brazing. It was rough on all sides. The roughness was appealing as most rings are smooth and polished; I wanted to preserve its origins somehow.

I decided to keep the majority of the steel block as a holder for the ring. I ground a few tools so I could pull the ring out of the face without turning the entire block to chips. Pictured above is the internal parting-off tool.

The ring was lined with fine silver and brazed so it wouldn’t rust on her finger.

Here you can see the seam in the silver at the bottom. Not bad!

C. wears it all the time despite hardly wearing rings before :’)