Making A Segmented Ring Without A Lathe / A Step by Step Tutorial

Well, I was asked to put together a blog on how I made my segmentd ring. Since I had to make a new one for myself, (first one too small) I thought I would go ahead and do a step by step picture tutorial. My first time ever doing something like this , so hope it comes out OK.

Here goes;

Wood Selection

The first step in making the ring is deciding what woods to use. As we all know, the selection is quite large. One of the most important things is color, but the most important is hardness. You can have several woods with the same basic color choice but they will very greatly in grain density and hardness.

I had some Walnut laying around on my first ring and used it for the outside band. Looks great with the cherry center band. But it all ready has several chips around the outside edge! Where the edge of the ring is thin, the walnut chips away very easilly. Not happy with the durabillity at all.

On this ring I used Aldur( I think ) for the outside edges and inside light color, and ebony for the black for contrast. The Outside wood is VERY dense. Small grain, and hard to cut. Did not seem to want to “flake out” or chip when resawing or cutting to size.

Sizeing your ring

Next you need to know what size you are going to make the ring. I have no idea what my ring size is, so I just used my micrometers on my finger at the fat knuckle to get close. My finger measured .770 so I used a 3/4 drill(.750) for the inside, then sanded to size. With a edge thickness of 1/8 inch, I cut the stock to 1 1/4 inch square (1.25)

Width of the ring is another concern. Some guys like a big wide band, and most women want a norrow band. I have fat knuckles from my arthritus so I like a norrow band so as not to bind when useing my hands. My band is only 1/4 inch (.25) wide. That means the 5 layers of wood are only .050 inch each when sanded. So, the width of the ring along with the number of bands will determine how thick each piece has to be.

On to making the ring

After deciding on what size and how thick ( inside to outside) this will give you your minnimun size to cut your stock to squares. I resawed my boards first, then cut to squares 1 1/4 sq. This gives my plenty of room to work with. Also cut my strips of Ebony to width. You want these to be slightly wider then your layer is thick.

Here is my starting wood.

On the piece being used for the segmentation, I have layed out my cut lines. I am useing a 12 piece segment so my lines are at 30 deg. You can use as many segments as you are willing to try. Space them even or not. Different ideas for different designs. Use your imagination.

Set the scroll saw to whatever angle you want your segment dividers to be at. Mine are at 20 deg. You could also leave them square to the stock.

Cut your first line from the edge to the center. (Do not cut all the way across unless you want your segments to be divided by different angles.)

Turn the stock around and cut other half.

Now you need to cut your divider to length. You need 2 pieces for each glue up to go from center to edge.

Glue the dividers in place useing glue of your choice. Keep in mind that this is a ring and will be getting wet. (I used Titebond II waterproof. Has good set up time and have had good results for durability.) I did not clamp these pieces together. Just held them in place and put a piece of masking tape across them to hold untill ready to use. ( about half an hour. That is why I have 2 projects going at same time.:)

When ready to cut,

Repeat the first line process untill all lines are in.

Let glue dry completely, then sand back smooth. Now your stock is ready for glue up.

Be sure to use clamp blocks and plenty of presure to assure a good setting. Keeping your edges lined up, you need to alternate the grain in different directions to give more strenght to the assembly. ( just like plywood )

I Let this dry overnight just to be sure glue is well dryed. ( you don’t want this to fall apart now! )

Find center on your assembly for drilling inside hole.

Useing a stop block to help hold assembly in place, Drill out center hole.

After drilling hole, mark where you want to cut the outside down to. My ring is about 1/8 inch from center to edge. Mark slightly larger then what the finnished ring will be and sand to size. ( next step )

You want to get this as close to even as you can, it will make sanding easier.

Sand the inside of ring to size. If you put a slight rounding on the inside edges, it won’t feel as sharp or chip as easily. I used a drum sander from my dremel in the drill press for this operation.

In order to keep the same shape all the way around the ring, I made a sanding block to the desired shape.

Started with a piece of scrap, cut a 1/2 inch roundbottom grove, glued in strips of sandpaper.

While holding the ring perpendicular to the block, I run it down the length of the block while turnung the ring. This gives it a more uniform cut then trying to do one area then move on and trying to match them up later. Just keep running back and forth, and rotate the ring slightly after each pass.

You can go as far or little as you want, depending on what kind of profile you want on your edge. ( some people leave theirs squared off, without any curve to them )

When you get to the shape you want, you can switch to a finer paper, my board has 120 grit and 240 grit in it. For the final sanding I go all the way to 1200 grit.

It is a good idea to raise the grain and do another sanding to prevent problems if (when) the ring gets wet.

All that is left is to finnish with your favorite finnish. On this ring I picked up some Tung Oil / Varnish. I am now at 2 coats and going t go to at least 4, with 0000 steel wool between coats.

You have now completed your Segmented Ring!

Congradulations! Do not be afraid to try this. It is all small steps. Just do one at a time, Do NOT rush, and enjoy. Remember, if you don;t try, you will never know if you can.

I hope this tutorial was informative. If you have any questions, please post them and I will answer. ( or PM if you would prefer )

Please leave all comments and critiques. I would like to know how I did so I can improve on the next one.

Thank you for looking.

Scrappy

-- Scrap Wood's the best...the projects are smaller, and so is the mess!