In this instructables we are going to make a nice and solid ring out of a rusty nut. The process is very simple, I'll do my best to explain every single step!

Step 1: Quick Video of the Process

Most images I used come from this build video I made on my YouTube channel, I suggest you to watch this right away, you will see all the steps and get a general idea of what we'll be making.

Step 2: Materials

Nut:
Either new or rusty, it doesn't really matter!
Coal:
A tiny little piece from your bbq will work great.
Epoxy:
Plain 5 min works like a charm, but any other clear 2part epoxy will do the job.

Step 3: Tools

This ring can be made only with files and a lot of elbo grease, but I'll sugest you here some tools that will make your life so much easier :')

Rotary tool (super handy)!
Bits for the rotary tool: any tipe that grind steel, I used many different bits like a little cut off disc, little sandpaper drums and flappy sandpaper discs.
Vise: may come usefull to hold the ring from time to time.

Extra fancy tools:

Metal lathe: can be used to remove the inside thread of the nut. I know many won't have one, so I'll give you alternatives.
Belt grinder (or any other steel removal powertool)

Step 4: Remove Inside Thread

It can be done with files, rotary tools or a metal lathe.

Take out all the thread and possibly even more if your finger doesn't fit inside the hole yet.

Step 5: Shape the Outside

This is a pretty long step if you don't own a powertool that can grind steel like a disk sander or at least a rotary tool.. Bur sure enough file will work too! I used my homemade belt grinder, it's a tool made to eat knife steel so it went through this bolt like butter. If you are interested I have a video about this tool too: DIY Belt Grinder

Step 6: Resin Socket

In order to add the black resin on top of the ring we need to grind a slot on the top of the ring. To do so I used a combination of rotary tool bits and files. This doesn't need to be very deep, take a look at the third pic.

Step 7: Cleaning the Ring

I suggest you to polish the steel now before we add the epoxy so you can work as aggresivly as you want and there won't be any damage to the epoxy. A buffing wheel with fine polishing compound works great if you happend to have one. Otherwise use any steel polishing product on a rag and work the ring for a lot of time :)

If you still have a lot of marks from files or such use fine sandpaper before buffing! The flappy sandpaper disk for rotary tool works great for this as they are very gentle on the steel.

Step 8: DIY Black Epoxy

Grind the piece of coal down to a powder.
Take a drop of epoxy.
Add the coal powder little by little and mix well untill all the epoxy turns dark black.
Place the now black epoxy into the socket we made previously in the ring.

Step 9: Refine the Shape

Let the epoxy cure well and take off all the excess with files. Take your time and make it as clean as you can!

Step 10: There You Have It!

All done! You now have a nice ring to carry with you.

A frequently asked question I had on the video is about rust. My answer is that there is no rust problem at all!
I had this ring for 6 months now, never applied any oil, it as zero rust or patina on it.
As far as I know polishing steel helps to protect it from rust and hands naturally have some kind of oil/grease on them that may help protect the ring too. I don't really know the reason but still I had no problem at all :)

I hope you liked this quick article and found some inspiration!

Thank you for reading :)

See you on the next one!