Todd Daniels, an accomplished engraver and jeweler who also teaches at the GRS Training Center, created this Italian specialized trap shooting gun's grip cap from start to finish. Not only did he do all the gunsmithing and woodwork modifications so the gun could receive the hand made grip cap, Daniels also did the engraving, gold inlay, and stone setting for it. The client requested his initials "JV" specifically for this custom grip cap, which Todd made by hand from 5mm raw steel.

Daniels created the 18K green gold inlay using a 1mm thick sheet. Using a transfer technique he developed involving dry erase markers to make a pseudo-smoke print on clear tape, he then reapplied the pattern to the gold sheet for cutting. The 18K green gold inlay, which almost looks like it has a satin finish, has actually been engraved with small parallel lines. The 0.60 and 0.15 carat diamonds are set with a flush mount burnished setting technique into an inlaid gold area.

During the 2008 training year, Daniels is teaching Basic Stone Setting, Intermediate Stone Setting, and Letters & Monograms. If you would like to learn how to do creative, hands-on work like this with Todd Daniels, call the GRS Training Center at 1-800-835-3519 or visit www.grstrainingcenter.com today to find out more.

Tools used: GRS Low Profile Vise, Microscope, Power Hone, GraverMach with the Airtact system, NSK E-Max system.