Forged brass ring

Based loosely on rings from the Bronze Age Andronovo culture of Central Asia.  This one is made of 3/32-inch brass rod, and has one less loop around the finger than the originals.  It's made by repeated annealing, bending with tweezers and hammering to make the curlicues tight, then wrapping around a 3/4-inch wooden dowel.

I've recently discovered that some yellow brass cracks easily when forged.  The rod for this project came from Ace Hardware.  I don't know the alloy, but at least I know whatever it is they carry forges well.

I somewhat overestimated the length required, so I tightened the wrap and took up the slack to keep the curlicues in line with each other by rolling them up more.  Unfortunately, because they are slightly oblong, curling them a little too much causes them to stick out more and rub against my joints.

Polishing was a pain; I used both Brasso and fine polishing paper to get the black scale off, and as you can see, there was still some inside the curlicues that was out of reach.  To prevent tarnish, I sprayed the ring with automotive lacquer.  I'm not yet sure whether this will work.  I do know that it replaces the nice metallic shine with a slightly plasticky one and also causes the metal to feel squeaky when being worn.