In order to be able to use the entire piece of Damascus, we need to TIG (Tungsten Inert Gas) weld on a mandrel(short piece of regular steel rod) in order to hold the Damascus in the lathe.
Mount the piece into the lathe and begin to cut it into a the shape of a stopper (on right)
Cut the threads. This will take multiple passes, going deeper each time. Bore out the centre.
Thread on a sample barrel to check for smoothness and compare to a prototype stopper.
Cut the taper on the end of the stopper and cut the stopper off from the remaining Damascus rod. Note that the colour looks like plain steel. Well, it hasn’t been heat coloured yet. Simply heat it slowly with a torch and the different kinds of steel turn different colours.
