The quality and proficiency of a pre-finishing job for a ring can depend on how it's held for filing and shaping. JA® Certified Master Bench Jeweler? Wayne Lenkeit of Lenkeit Manufacturing, Temecula, Calif., offers the following innovation: Lenkeit's innovation. For position A: Using a coarse file, remove a portion of the left side of a bench pin, leaving a "saddle" for the inside of a ring shank to rest upon for filing. For positions B & C: Using the tang of an old needle file or any other suitable piece of steel, heat with a torch until red and bend the end into a "U" shape, to about the same radius as the bottom portion of a standard-size ring shank. Once you have attained the desired shape, reheat and press it into the wooden bench pin at strategic locations to form depressions for holding shanks while filing. Here is how the accommodations and depressions in your bench