RAW #4 (Ring a Week)

For my 4th ring in the Ring a Week (RAW) Challenge I decided to try something I haven't done before. I wanted to carve a ring out of a piece of ebony (wood) and then add some silver detail to it some how. It has been quite a while since I worked with ebony and even back when I did I never made a ring before. I wasn't sure what the piece was going to look like when I started the project but I thought it would be a good learning experience for me. So here's how it went :)

I started by cutting a small chunk off the block of ebony that I had.

I used a drill press to make a hole in the ring and then started to file the ring into the correct size to fit my finger.

Finally it fit. YAY!

Then I just started filing and sanding until I had a shape that I liked.

Once I figured out where I was going to add the silver, I carved a groove a little off center on the top of the ring.

Then I inserted the oxidized silver piece and polished up the ebony to bring out the rich dark color of the wood. All finished!

And here is the finished product next to the chunk of wood it was originally cut from. It took me about 4 hours (give or take) and the entire ring was done with hand tools, except for the drilling of the hole. It was fun to make and I definitely learned a few things for next time! Well worth the time and effort spent!