Rich many thanks - I'm glad you like the cases.

I'll give more thought to using a wheel as you suggest.

Now I've thought about it more I think I want to get away from the silver colour of the steel - have a darker colour which blends in more with the leather rather than standing out. Maybe I use should use another metal - bronze perhaps?

I've seen a photograph of a stainless steel ring which has been heavily oxidised this seemed to have a lovely dark textured look - do you know anything about this technique?

Best regards

Nick,

Bronze would be good, but would need to be sealed if you're in a marine environment or it will develop a verdigris patina that may rub off on clothing.

Stainless steel can be heated to red hot, as for forging, and will oxidize to a dark matte gray color much like mild steel. It will still be mostly stainless, that is, it won't rust unless subjected to salt air. If you heated the stainless sheet to red hot, then textured the sheet with a small cross pein hammer, you could develop a really nice surface texture that could have the high areas lightly sanded to accentuate the contrast. That would be a nice counterpoint to the very smooth lines of the cases and leatherwork.

Hope this helps,

Rich