Oricalcum

I have plenty of things that could work as an anvil, does that count towards the harem?

Forged a fork and a knife. I wish I had done the knife a bit longer and wider, but I'm pretty content with how it turned out otherwise.

That's a great suggestion, seeing as none of the local schools I've checked offer anything of the sort. Will keep you lot informed.

That lost wax casting is pretty intense, just did some studying on it. I'll have to look around my area, see if we've got any fine metalworking classes around that might offer that sort of a thing. I'm in a wicked rural area, but I'm sure a few phone calls and a couple commutes over the weekend might turn something up.

Yeah, I had planned on using something other than a diamond to get around that ploy. She's a big fan of green, so I'm planning on popping a big emerald into it. If I could get her a different engagement present, I would, but there are forces in her family that are pretty anal about it being a ring. I appreciate the info on how to mount a cab stone! Seems like super delicate work, I'll definitely practice it a bunch of times with some blanks I bought. As for time, I do have a good bit. I'm waiting for her to get out of college - so about thirteen to fourteen months from now.

Yeah it is, will have to see what's in the area for jewelers! Haven't had much success so far with what I've been working at. A friend suggested I get a plate of steel and have a waterjet guy cut out a sort of Q shape where the tail goes inwards aswell, then hammer that down a mandrel and use either the two prongs as a crappy setting, or cut them down the middle to make four. Seemed like cheating to me, but I suppose it's an option. Gazz, thanks for the advice! I don't know if I want to use silver or gold, but it is seeming more practical than steel, especially for the setting. Do you think it'd be possible to weld the setting to the ring, or is that too small for most welders to handle?

Definitely considering Damasteel. Having trouble sizing the rings properly, will have to search online and see if there's some formula for figuring it out.

Mokune Gane is pretty cool - had seen it in the past, but didn't know it had a name. Will have to look into it more! I was thinking about having a professional set the stone for me, but that seemed like cheating, so I bought a bunch of low-grade gemstones cut nicely to practice on. That is good to know about diamonds (and presumably all gemstones in general), though it seems odd to me that they'd break so easily. I guess it makes sense, seeing how brittle they are. Had a bit of success with Ti so far, will post pictures in a few days of my first attempt at just the ring. Maybe I'll have set the stone if it works out, I don't know. Appreciate the help and suggestions so far, it's been invaluable!

Yeah, I didn't know if I should post this somewhere else for that reason, but I was thinking about stainless - just wasn't certain how well stainless would work out. That Damasteel looks mighty fine though, and I'm more familiar with steel than I am with titanium or other metals, so I'll have to do some more research on it. Silver and gold seem like they'd be much easier to make some kind of a setting with, seeing as your can just solder/braze the setting, so that is tempting. Will have to play around a bit and post some pictures in a few days with my first few prototypes, appreciate the information so far!

I've always thought that a hand-made gift is more valuable than one bought, and her family is of the same belief. I must've deleted this from the post, but I would plan on using a stainless steel or titanium for the actual ring, just because she has a track record of breaking rings made of softer materials, and it kinda stresses her out to wear them now. I agree though, and I want to make her something extremely special. We have two years before she gets out of school, so I'd like to use that time refining my abilities in this regard.

Evening, looking for a bit of advice on a bit of an issue I have - an engagement ring for my girl. I could go out and buy one, but what I'd like to do is take the money I'd spend on the ring and spend it on a much nicer stone, and try to set it myself in either a stainless or titanium ring of my own making. I've never made a ring before, but it doesn't seem too difficult, and I've got plenty of stock to practice with. What I'm more concerned about is the actually setting of the stone in the metal. Any advice you guys have for the project? I'm a rather novice blacksmith, and anticipate doing hundreds of trial runs with many cheap practice stones, so any sage advice would be appreciated. My apologies if this isn't the correct section to post this in, it seemed appropriate.