Project Information
I wanted to do something new for the start of a new year, and this is what I came up with. The set up for this project is fairly straightforward. Start out gluing up several boards of contrasting colors into a block. Mine ended up being 10×10x16. Pretty sure the only thing critical is that the block be sqare-ish. Mount the block onto the lathe and turn the general shape, then hollow it out, leaving the sidewalls around 3/4 inch thick. I bolted mine onto a face plate, Which really helped with the next step. I screwed a scrap piece of wood onto the base, and used that as a stabilizer to cut rings off onto the bandsaw. Then I shaped each ring, rather willy nilly, with several different sanding tools, leaving enough space untouched to re-glue the rings back together. Cutting the rings leaves the inside rather rough, so back on the lathe it goes. Sand the inside smooth, part it from the faceplate, finish (I used 2 coats of wipe on poly, then waxed and buffed), and voila! Done.
The unintended part of this was that I never meant to have 2 seperate pieces that fit together so well. Hmmm. Might have to try another one and do it on purpose. I used bubinga, walnut, maple, cherry, and curly oak on this.
The unintended part of this was that I never meant to have 2 seperate pieces that fit together so well. Hmmm. Might have to try another one and do it on purpose. I used bubinga, walnut, maple, cherry, and curly oak on this.