This content provides a comprehensive guide on how to craft durable and aesthetically pleasing rings using wood or acrylic blanks combined with internal metal or ceramic cores, detailing the necessary materials and step-by-step turning process.
Mind Map
Click to expand
Click to explore the full interactive mind map • Zoom, pan, and navigate
today we're going to show you how to
turn a ring that's right Rings you can
make them out of a wide variety of wood
and acrylic blanks and match them with a
variety of metal and ceramic core
materials when I first looked into ring
making I assumed a wood ring would
probably be fragile and break easily and
it turns out that's true
wood alone does make a fragile ring the
secret to making rings that last is to
line the inside of the ring with one of
these metal or ceramic cores now it's
these cores that give the ring its
structural strength but they also make
ring turning a bit challenging because
what you have to do is turn your wood
blank inside diameter to the exact same
outside diameter of these cores that's
why we recommend beginning Turners start
with a more forgiving projects such as a
tool handle so you can work on your tool
skills and precision
today we're going to take you through
the entire ring turning process from
start to finish and we're going to cover
many of the creative options let's get
started with the materials you'll need
first you'll need a lathe even a mini
lathe like this Excelsior has all the
power and capacity you will need second
you'll need a set of turning tools we'll
be using this set of three mini carbide
turning tools but you can also use
larger tools
third we'll need a turning blank we'll
be using this bloodwood blank in today's
demo but you can choose from many other
species of wood or an acrylic like then
as I mentioned before you'll need a ring
core in this case we'll be making a
standard wood ring so we can choose from
stainless steel titanium tungsten and
ceramic Comfort cores a caliper or
similar device to accurately measure the
diameter of the core you've chosen and
the ring as you turn it you'll also need
a Jacob's Chuck which is similar to the
chuck on your drill and a tool called a
mandrel that holds your ring on the
lathe after the core is installed
finally you'll need sandpaper and a
finish we recommend finishing your ring
with CA glue because of its durability
okay that covers the materials now let's
turn a ring today we're going to be
using this bloodwood blank and the
ceramic Comfort ring core the ring
blanks are fairly small so we Mount them
to a sacrificial piece of stock with
double stick tape the sacrificial block
is mounted on the lathe with a face
plate or four jaw Chuck use the live
Center on your tail stock to help secure
the ring plank we position the belt on
this lathe on the largest top or drive
pulley and the smallest bottom or motor
pulley that will set the lathe speed at
approximately 760 RPM you can find the
pulley speed settings in the lathe
manual round the ring blank with the
round and square cutter carbide tools it
is helpful to also round the sacrificial block
block
round to about 3 8 to a half inch wider
than the diameter of the Ring it's
easiest to remove the most material at
this point use your caliper to measure
the outside diameter of the Ring core
next select a forstner bit that has a
slightly smaller diameter than the
inside diameter of the Ring core
remove the live center from the tail
stock and install a Jacob's Chuck then
install the forstner bit in the chuck
position the tail stock so the bit is
close to the ring blank start the lathe
and slowly crank the tail stock to push
the bit into the blank
pour the hole slow and steady because
rushing can cause the double-sided tape
to break free from the sacrificial block
use a narrow Square scraper or badan
tool to carefully increase the size of
the hole in small increments keep the
tool 90 degrees to the face of the blank
and stop to check the hole diameter
frequently again take your time and
sneak up on the final diameter it's
important that the ring core is a
perfect fit inside the ring blank set
your calipers to the width of your ring
core use the calipers to transfer that
measurement to the edge of the Ring blank
use a parting tool to cut the marked
section of the Ring blank away from the
rest of the blank go slowly and make
sure to catch the piece when it comes
free from the blank
apply CA glue to the inside of the ring
and carefully insert the ring core
remove the chuck or face plate drive and
install the ring mandrel in the Chuck
now secure the ring blank and core in
the mandrel
tighten the set screw to Snug the
mandrel now turn the lathe on and form
the outside of the Ring to the desired
shape and style convex shapes tend to
work best and be most comfortable
finish sand the wood or acrylic surface
up to 600 grit finally apply a finish CA
glue is a popular finish for Rings
simply add a few drops to a rag or paper
towel and coat the ring for a few
seconds while it spins
pause and then repeat this application
to apply several thin coats so there you
have it a beautiful bloodwood ring with
ceramic core now this is just one
example you can really let your
creativity run wild with all the
Alternatives such as a variety of
hardwood and acrylic blanks a two-part
core that adds a metallic border to the
top and bottom edges of the Ring an
inlay core that can be filled with many
inlay material options and there's even
a glow-in-the-dark pigment that you can
add to make your ring light up at night
creating one of these other ring Styles
will use many of the same techniques
that you saw us use to turn the
bloodwood ring today
but there are some specific techniques
you'll need for each of these other
types and you'll find those in the
instructions so if you're looking for a
new woodturning challenge give ring
turning a shot I hope you learned a lot
from this demo and it inspired you to
keep creating with confidence I'm Dan
Carey from Rockler and Woodworkers
Click on any text or timestamp to jump to that moment in the video
Share:
Most transcripts ready in under 5 seconds
One-Click Copy125+ LanguagesSearch ContentJump to Timestamps
Paste YouTube URL
Enter any YouTube video link to get the full transcript
Transcript Extraction Form
Most transcripts ready in under 5 seconds
Get Our Chrome Extension
Get transcripts instantly without leaving YouTube. Install our Chrome extension for one-click access to any video's transcript directly on the watch page.
