Hey everyone, I am working on a few things for a friends’ wedding and was asked if I could make some wood rings. Of course, I said yes. Cut a circle; drill a hole in that, and presto. The request soon got more complicated. The couple wants a two tone look (one wood on the inside and another on the outside) with a stripe or two through the middle.
Problem 1 — I was thinking, wheel cut the inside tone, cut a corresponding whole in the other blank, then slide it in with some glue for a tight fit. I cannot seem to find a accurate small wheel cutter. I need something that will do inside diameter of 7/8 and less. (small figures) Hole saws are sized by outside diameter resulting in a loose fit.
Problem 2 — How do you figure ring makers do the inlay on such a small scale? Knife and hand planed strip of wood I suppose.
Has anyone here made one of these? My friends send me a picture of something similar to what they were thinking. I’ll attach it.
Replies
cary,
I'd take a different approach.
Size a mandrell to fit inside a (metal) ring that's the right size for the person.
Wrap the mandrell with a layer of paper. Glue the first layer to this.
Wrap with several layers of veneer, alternating grain direction from near perpendicular to the axis (wrapped in a spiral around the mandrell) to parallel to the axis (sized in width to meet edge to edge). Alternating grain layer-to-layer will add strength. I'd use epoxy so that clamping won't be an issue, epoxy will add strength as well. Taping the layer on ought to do the trick pressure-wise.
It might be a good idea to coat the outside of each layer with packing tape or similar before you lay it, to prevent splitting. Remove the tape before adding the next layer, of course.
Add layers one by one till the ring is sufficient thickness/ color sequence to meet design requirements.
Making the ring wide/long enough to produce several rings side by side will give you a little fudge factor if you mess one up in finishing up, as well as making the assembly easier to manage step by step.
If you have a lathe, cutting a groove for inlay can be easily done with a tiny parting tool (shop made from an exacto knife or similar); parting off the several rings will be similarly easy.
Ought to be a fun project. Heck I might try one myself...
Ray
How very insightfull.
I never though of it that way. I was looking at it on ring by ring basis out of solid wood. Your way will be easier to manage and produce a stronger finished product (no short grain) while using less material. I will then be able to make multiples at one time. I think i will try using a cone shaped sacrificial mandril. I will ba able to shape the rings by cutting the blank at an angle. that way they can be fatter on top of the fingure without being bulky underneath. The mandril will also give me different ring sizes and help with tearout. Ill let you know how it goes. thanks!
-- Cary
update
Having trouble beding the redoak and teak around a 3/4" radius. Still would like to find a small and accurate wheel and hole cutter.
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