# How to sand rings for segmented turnings



## DustyM (May 16, 2016)

Well, back at you today with another question. I'm planning on doing some segmented turning (hoping to have my first two projects done by the holidays for gifts), and feel pretty confident in the process. The math for the cuts comes easy to me, I've found plenty of useful tips re centering the rings while gluing up, etc. My big question is this: aside from using a dedicated thickness sander, what methods do you all use for truing/flattening the segmented rings before gluing them together?

I've seen videos and how-to's on making a thickness sanding setup for your lathe, but the propensity for launching lumber across the room gives me pause. Other turners I've seen using a long, flat board with sandpaper to true up each layer as it is attached, but that still leaves the bottom of the next ring to address.

And obviously, I don't have $1100 sitting around for a dedicated tool for this.

To all of you who do segmented turnings, what do you do/did you do before having a thickness sander?

Thanks!


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## TheDane (May 15, 2008)

I have a buddy that made a plywood disk (12" in diameter … he has a Delta midi-lathe), mounted it on a faceplate, and glued 80-grit sandpaper to the other side.

He flattens the base ring on the lathe, mounts the sanding disk and flattens one side of the second ring, then re-mounts the base ring and glues the flattened side of the second ring to it. Rinse and repeat for subsequent rings. Takes a little longer, but does the job for him.


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## DustyM (May 16, 2016)

Dane,

Thanks for the suggestion! I've got a Delta midi as well, so it's nice to see ideas that I know will work for my setup.

QQ: do you know how your friend mounts the 2nd ring to flatten it? I was thinking about getting the tailstock adapter for my Nova chuck and mounting the ring using cole jaws in solution like this. Thoughts?


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## Loren (May 30, 2008)

sanding board. Get a couple of 48" sanding
belts and cut them in half and glue them to
a flat piece of mdf. Poor man's wide belt
sander.

I'm sure truing on the lathe works too once
you become skilled at it. In any case, the
sanding board is a useful final step.


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## TheDane (May 15, 2008)

> QQ: do you know how your friend mounts the 2nd ring to flatten it?


He dismounts the stack, mounts the sanding disk, and holds the stack against the revolving disk. When it is flattened, he dismounts the sanding disk, re-mounts the stack, and uses a gouge to take off the rough spots. I think he then uses a sanding board like the one Loren described.


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## TheDane (May 15, 2008)

Followup … When he glues the sanded rings onto the stack, he uses the tailstock with a second plywood disk to put pressure onto the stack while the glue tacks.

BTW, he cut the segments on his tablesaw with a Wedgie sled …


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## jfoobar (Oct 4, 2014)

Before I bought my drum sander, I was also doing the lathe sanding disc that TheDane mentioned. Oddly enough, I was also turning on a Delta midi back then. There are several options for adhesive backed 12" sanding disks on the market. You can even get them on Amazon.

A few warnings/tips about this method though:

1. This will generate a huge amount of dust, much of it blowing straight into your face. A good dusk mask is a must.

2. Hold on tight to your rings and apply light pressure or the centrifugal force will try and rip the ring right out of your fingers and send it flying across the room.

3. Apply even pressure and stop and check your progress periodically. The nice thing about a drum sander is that you know that the sanding drum and the conveyor are parallel. Using this method, you don't have that luxury, so you can end up sanding rings that are not even and parallel. A little out of parallel isn't a big deal. A lot out of parallel can lead to a funny looking bowl.


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## jacksdvds (Jun 13, 2015)

When my rings are glued and dry, I hot glue them to a MDF disk with concentric markings mounted on faceplate on lathe, flatten one side with gouge or scraper and sanding board resting on tool rest. Use the same MDF disk to center, glue and pressure against the previous rings with tail stock and a threaded live center on MT2, When that ring is glued and dry on stack I repeat the flattening and sanding on other side for the next ring. The threaded live center fits the faceplate and allows alignment and offset of segments. Works faster than changing belts on drum sander and a hell of a lot faster than putting band-aids on knuckles and fingers when using a disk sander on the lathe or chasing a ring that gets away and flies across the shop.


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## OSU55 (Dec 14, 2012)

Might be some thing in here that will help. I use flat jaws (here) that hold up to ~15" dia to hold/turn the rings on the lathe. Scraper and then a flat piece of wood with 80 grit wrapped around it to flatten them. I glue the whole thing up at one time using a "press" of sorts rather than tie up the lathe waiting for glue to dry.


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## Gixxerjoe04 (Jan 31, 2014)

What foobar said, I did it that way before buying a drum sander, said screw it and forked out the dough haha. It works but man does it make a mess.


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