rings

[jb34]

Not sure if this is the right spot to post these. I didn't use a lathe. Because I don't have one. But I am aware that many people would use a lathe for these. Also despite not having a lathe if that wood box ended up my way I would not be upset. Did I see bacon in it? Looks like everyone is having fun with it.

So I made those ring boxes and had some extra stock left. Not a lot but I don't like to waste wood. Especially pretty exotic wood. So I was thinking what to do. What to do. Well duh I just made ring boxes how bout a ring. So I made the purple one. That was fun. Then I just kept going. I was trying to get better at it and try some different methods. Tweak things. So I made 12 so far.

Woods used were bloodwood and hard maple, purpleheart and hard maple, african Paduak, Pink Ivory. Only limited by the woods you have and imagination on these. Wish I had some redheart and ebony or african blackwood. This is also a great way to make something nice out of small pieces of scrap wood.

Looked up a couple sites on the internet. The first site was asking 160-300+ for rings that were simililar to the ones I had done. The second site was asking 450+. I am serious. I was not thinking that to be the right price. Not close to that, I thought that was pretty crazy. But apparently this is a way to be green and environmentally conscious. Of course there is a lot of pollution and destruction of the environment in silver, diamond, and gold mining. Then a lot of horrible acts committed in Africa over gold and diamonds. So a lot of people are choosing to go with a more natural wood choice for their wedding and engagement rings. I like being green but I made them because it seemed like a fun thing to try.

The beautiful misses has been drooling over them for the last couple weeks and asking about having some of them. I posted some pictures of them on my facebook when I could not sleep last night and got up this morning to check that and find ten women drolling over them. Hmm apparently there is a market for these.

[rdabpenman]

Very, Very nicely done!!
Now you have to tell us how you make these rings.

Les

[Doug B]

Those are pretty neat Joel. I'm trying to figure out what would need to be done to make them using a lathe...still pondering...

What finish did you use?

I can see where some folks would be interested in those, but they would have to be custom made to fit individual customers...I hate doing that...but I have to sometimes.

Great use of small pieces of exotic woods!

[jb34]

used mineral oil on the finish. Creates a nice shine but not too shiny finish. It also stands up pretty well to abuse like you have with a person wearing something on their hands. I use 3-5 thin coats of finish.

There are a few ways to do these. Steam and bend the wood, but you have a seam in the rings. Use a lathe, if you had one. Or plane the stock to the desired thickness, glue it up, drill out a ring blank out of the stock on the drill press. Drill out the center again on the drill press. Use a dremel to get the inside the right diameter. use a sanding disc mounted in the drill press to rough out the outside to the right diameter and round edges. Use hand sander to get it closer. Use a piece of sandpaper to get it perfect. Finish.

I described the last method because its what I ended up going with. But I knew those were the other 2 options. I also tweaked how I did it. I had more success drilling out the ring blank first instead of the center hole first. tried both. Patence and being very attentive to detail in working with very small items is good with this. Kind of a continuation on what Elizabeth and I were doing on the ring boxes. I have always been ok with small items. Use to make tiny world war 2 airplanes when I was 9 or 10 and make my grandma laugh at how small and detailed they were. You see smaller imperfections more on smaller items of course. Because they are smaller and your just gonna look a lot closer.

[RiverWalker]

Jun 8, 2010 10:56:07 GMT -6 jb34 said:

used mineral oil on the finish. Creates a nice shine but not too shiny finish. It also stands up pretty well to abuse like you have with a person wearing something on their hands. I use 3-5 thin coats of finish.

There are a few ways to do these. Steam and bend the wood, but you have a seam in the rings. Use a lathe, if you had one. Or plane the stock to the desired thickness, glue it up, drill out a ring blank out of the stock on the drill press. Drill out the center again on the drill press. Use a dremel to get the inside the right diameter. use a sanding disc mounted in the drill press to rough out the outside to the right diameter and round edges. Use hand sander to get it closer. Use a piece of sandpaper to get it perfect. Finish.

I described the last method because its what I ended up going with. But I knew those were the other 2 options. I also tweaked how I did it. I had more success drilling out the ring blank first instead of the center hole first. tried both. Patence and being very attentive to detail in working with very small items is good with this. Kind of a continuation on what Elizabeth and I were doing on the ring boxes. I have always been ok with small items. Use to make tiny world war 2 airplanes when I was 9 or 10 and make my grandma laugh at how small and detailed they were. You see smaller imperfections more on smaller items of course. Because they are smaller and your just gonna look a lot closer.

you know I was wondering a few weeks ago if there was a "thing" for rings made of wood, or if they'd have to be too thick to be strong enough to hold up. I forgot about it before managing to look it up or anything.

thats really neat.

[boodrow]

Joel very nice !! I like those alot , great job on um
Boodrow

[sachbvn]

Those are pretty cool indeed!


Zac