Almost Done?

It is highly possible or even probable that this ring will be finished before the end of the week. This week I spent an hour soldering, another 2 hours sawing out finger holes and edges so they line up exactly, and probably at least four more hours doing cleaning and finishing work. The brass was copper coated after I took it out of the pickle (mild acid solution for cleaning), so I had to make a brass dip (pickle plus peroxide) to get the copper off. I still have to file off some more copper that the brass dip didn't get, continue filing the edges of the piece, sand the entire ring to remove scratches, sharpen the blade that will be in the center, and then attach the blade to the ring. So I still have a ways to go, I guess that's the thing with metal work-- it takes FOREVER. But my goal is to be done by the end of this week. In other news, I am sporting some great scratches and cuts from working in the metals studio, as illustrated by the slice on my thumb in the picture. I kind of forgot how gnarly metal work makes my hands look.