What is Jeweling? | CRATEX Abrasives

As we explained in our article about engine turning, the term “jeweling” (also written as “jewelling”) is often used interchangeably with the terms “engine turning” or “damascening”. While it’s safe to say that they all can mean the same thing, there are slight differences between the terms that developed over time. Although “damascening” has been used to describe an abrasive finish since the 40s, it primarily refers to inlaying different precious metals into one another, or it refers to the Damascus blade pattern.

On the other hand, engine turning basically means the same thing as jeweling. It is a process of putting an abrasive finish in the form of overlapping decorative swirls on various metal surfaces. It can be done by using some sort of abrasive, metal brush or wooden dowel that gets pressed down to a metal piece by a drill press, milling machine or some type of hand rotary tool. However, over time the term “engine turning” has been used primarily among the members of the automotive community to indicate the ornamentation of different flat metal surfaces on hot rods and classic cars. The term “jeweling” began to be used more and more primarily among the members of the gunsmith community to describe a decorative pattern placed on firearms. It can be done on flat or round surfaces such as knives, different instruments, tools, various household metal objects–basically anything that you’d like to add some “bling” to. You can think of jewelling as miniaturized engine turning.