The effort most guys put in engagements is the actual act itself. Asking a girl to marry you can be one of the most daunting, terrifying yet most important moment in your life. Imgur user polyfractal probably has that covered, so he's decided to focus his effort in something else - making a engagement ring and its box all by himself.

He used curly maple wood to make the box.

After cutting the wood, he taped, glued, and clamped it together.

He made sure the top and bottom of the box had something for the panels to rest on.

He added the top panel.

He then added splines that are inserted into the corners to make the box stronger. He had to make grooves for it.

Then the splines were inserted...

They were cut to fit it.

He then cut some more grooves.

But he needed it to open, so he cut the box in half.

He chose malachite, a lovely green stone and grounded it up into fine powder.

He sprinkled it into the gaps and applied superglue.

Now that the gaps were filled, he sanded the box down.

It was tough because he didn't want the malachite to mar the wood.

After that, he added a hinge, magnet and a foam base.

Now the box is ready.

He didn't trust himself to pick out the perfect ring so he made a placeholder for it until he and his soon-to-be fiance could pick out the real one.

He glued three thin pieces of wood together...

Clamped them together.

Drilled a hole.

Now it looks like a ring.

He mounted it on a drill bit and smoothed it out.

Now everything was ready.

But the surprise wasn't finished just yet.

He arrnaged LED tealights in a field and convinced his girlfriend to follow him there where he dropped to one knee and proposed. She said yes.

This is the ring they picked together.

The most romantic proposal perhaps?