Since the question has come up of how I put my signature ruby in the ricasso of my blades, I will try to address it here.

I use what are called "presets." They are genuine rubies, although made in a lab rather than occurring naturally. They are set in a 14K gold bezel that is split on one side, allowing it to be compressed slightly and giving it a spring effect like a cylinder liner.

Before heat treating, I bore a two-diameter hold in the ricasso to the proper depth. After the knife is pretty much finished (last thing I do before sharpening it), I use a little plunger-like installation tool to press the stone into place. You can get set up with stones and tools from Signity.com (jewelers supply house) for around $200.

You need fine point tweezers and a magnifying Opti-Visor to do this. A soft, clean mat in a clean workspace is also important for when (not "if") you drop these tiny little hummers.

Here’s the drill for installing jewels in steel. Start by centerpunching the location on the still annealed blade. I use a special two-diameter carbide bit to bore the mounting hole, as shown in the first illustration.

After heat treat, polishing, and final assembly, select a preset stone with some good, sharp tweezers.

The next illustration shows a preset stone mounted in the end of the installation tool. The split bezel must be slightly compressed to get it in.

Finally, the preset stone is pressed into the previously drilled hole using the plunger on the installation tool. The bezel expands, and locks it in place.

It is a fairly simple process with a fairly short learning curve. I practiced on scraps of nickel silver and brass before I got the hang of it.
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