I stumbled across a YouTube video on making wood rings from veneer. The project looked simple and ideal for making something unique for the two older grandsons. The video includes inlay, providing multiple opportunities to tailor the rings for each boy.
The veneer box was pulled down from storage above the basement freezer and three veneers were selected, all dark. 1/2" strips were cut that are each 10-12" long. The strips were placed in boiling water for ten minutes, wood tea. in the interim three cylinders were selected as bending forms, two sockets and a piece of 3/8" brass tubing. The two sockets are slightly smaller than my and my wife's finger diameters. The brass tubing is slightly smaller than the older grandson's finger. His brother's finger is assumed to be similar in size.
| Person | Circ (in) | Diam (in) | Form Diam (in) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grandsons | 1.234 | 0.393 | 0.375 |
| Wife | 2.23 | 0.71 | 0.67 |
| Me | 2.642 | 0.841 | 0.785 |
The sockets and tubing were covered in a layer of packing tape. After soaking in the hot water the strips were not soft enough as revealed by trying to wrap them around even the largest socket, so they were returned to the water, heated in the microwave and sat for an additional ten minutes. This was again repeated when a second attempt at form wrapping failed.
After the third soak two of the veneers readily went around either of the sockets. None were tried around the brass tube as the smaller socket was difficult enough. Soaking all of the different veneers at the same time was probably not a good idea. The darkest served to stain the lighter veneers and they now all look more or less the same. We will see what they look like after drying. Rubber bands were put on after the tight winding.
A second experiment was also undertaken. A strip of veneer from each of the three woods was soaked with veneer softener from Veneer Supplies. They were left to stand in the softener for fifteen minutes. This proved slightly less effective than the boiling water, though those got three shots. The most recalcitrant of the veneers, the reddish brown, highly figured veneer was still impossible to wrap around the largest socket without cracking.
Two dried veneers were selected and removed from the sockets. They remained in a tight curl. The internal ends were sanded to a wedge shape. The strips were rewound around the small and large sockets and a lot of super glue, Star Bond, was dripped on, initially on the edges and then all over the nascent ring. After drying the rings were removed from the sockets and sanded inside and out, by hand and when held on the lathe. The two resulting rings are shown in the second photo below. A ways to go, but looking decent.
The next step is inlay. For the smaller ring, the ring for the wife, three overlapping hearts are planned, ideally from two or three different metals. The photo below shows the planned inlay. The inlay design was drawn onto the smaller ring with a white pencil.
The dremel equipped with a 1/32" end mill was used to cut out the design after struggling with an Xacto knife. A scrap of brass was sanded with 120 grit sandpaper producing the needed brass dust. The dust was poured into the cut out heart and a few drops of super glue were dripped onto the pile. Four photos below document this process.
After the glue had dried the two hearts on the sides were treated similarly, with Dremel routing followed by freshly ground aluminum powder and glue. The photo below shows the ring at this stage, not too impressive. After drying the ring was pushed onto the socket and sanded in the lathe up to 400 grit. After removing dust the ring was coated in super glue. This is shown below. I am not impressed with this inlay technique and will try solid pieces next.
The larger ring was decorated next with a line of copper around its center. The ring was placed back on the socket and held in the lathe. A 0.065" groove was cut on center around the ring with the parting tool. This groove was cut 0.040" deep. Copper wire, 1/16" diameter, was bent around the ring. The two joining ends were located and both were cut at an angle. The wire was pressed into the groove. Of course it wants to spring back out, so it was glued in by segments. The photo below shows the ring just before gluing the last segment.
The end was glued into place and clamped, with a pair of pliers, and left to dry. (Definitely need to buy some accelerant!) The wire was filed down to the level of the wood and sanded up to 320 grit. The ring at this stage is seen below. The ring was then coated with super glue and the accelerant, just purchased along with veneer samples, sprayed on. This left "bubbles" that had to be sanded away up to 400 grit. The ring was then polished on the buffer. The second photo shows the finished product. The ring is a good fit on my finger, but is tight going over my fat knuckle.
A third ring was started again with a small roll of the dark veneer. This veneer was tightly wrapped around the small socket and glue was dripped on, followed by accelerant to quickly dry the glue. A few rough spots as well as the outer joint were sanded off.
The accelerant is essentially water. It is dissolved in a polar organic solvent, but water initiates the chemical reaction causing the glue to polymerize. Expensive water! The water in skin is sufficient to cause near instantaneous polymerization as well.
A small heart was cut from 1/16" thick brass sheet. This heart was glued to the ring approximately on center. A line was scribed around the heart. After popping the heart off of the ring the Dremel equipped with the 1/32" end mill was used to remove most of the material a little less than 1/16" deep. The heart was tried and the interfering areas were removed with the end mill and with the Xacto knife. After multiple small corrections the heart fit well in its new pocket.
A bit of sawdust from sanding the same veneer was pressed into the tiny gaps around the edges of the heart. A drop of glue followed by accelerant completed the installation of the heart inlay. These steps are documented in the photos below.
The ring is much too wide, so it was narrowed by sanding on the belt sander. Both sides were sanded in order to keep the heart somewhat centered. The next step, done on the lathe, was heavily rounding the outside corners with a file. This was followed by a lot of sanding, first with 120 grit and ending with 400 grit, both inside and outside. Finally, the outside of the ring was polished on the buffing wheel and the inside with the Dremel buffer, both using blue rouge. The sanding and the final ring with inlaid heart are seen in the two photos below.
Rings for the grandsons began with some brass scrap. A 1/2" round bar had been drilled and tapped at some point in the past. A 1.5" length of this brass was bored to 0.40". Two 1/2" lengths were parted off and the ends deburred. These two tubes will serve both as forms for the veneer winding and also as the central cores of the rings.
Two of the lighter colored veneer strips that had previously been soaked and wrapped around the larger socket were repurposed. These two coils of veneer were returned to boiling water for ten minutes. Both were rolled successfully around the 1/2" diameter brass tubes, though one was tighter than the other. The photo below shows the rolled, rubber-banded, and drying veneer strips.
The dried veneer curls were tightly wrapped around the brass inserts and glued in place in spots along the edges. The rings were then covered with super glue and quickly dried with the accelerant. The sides of the rings were sanded on the belt sander to get down to the brass inserts. The first photo below shows the dried veneer curls and the second the glued rings before sanding.
It is time for decoration and i struggled a bit trying to think of something I could do and at the same time would look good. The boys' birth constellation was considered but abandoned when looking at the shapes needed and struggling with how to fit them on a ring. The next idea was more fruitful, the planets visible in the Oklahoma night sky on the date of their birth. A website was quickly located that provided this info. The planets visible on Levi's birth day were Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Ollie's were Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, surprisingly similar.
The plan is to make the planets from wire or rod. Mercury will be 1/32" aluminum, Venus 1/16" aluminum, Mars 1/16" brass, Jupiter 1/8" aluminum (or steel), and Saturn 1/8" aluminum in a 3/16" OD brass tube. Hopefully, the execution will be as simple as drilling and gluing.
Saturn was started with a 3/16" length of round brass bar stock. It was drilled and reamed to 0.125". Two 1/8" lengths were parted off and reamed by hand to get rid of burrs. A 1/8" diameter drill rod had two 1/8" long pieces sawed off. After deburring these were pressed into the brass rings. Two Saturns are shown below.
Two Venuses were made by reducing an aluminum rod to 1/16" and parting off 1/8" lengths. Two copies of Mars were made by parting off 1/8" lengths of 1/16" brass rod. Two Jupiters were made by sawing off two more 1/8" lengths of the 1/8" drill rod. One Mercury was made using a trick from Joe Pie. The 1/4" aluminum rod was reduced to 0.09" for a little over 1/8". This was further reduced in one pass of 0.03" leaving the 1/32" rod. This was easily removed. This reduced rod is seen before removal in the first photo below. The second photo shows all of the planets made.
Considered putting in Earth using a blue "jewel", but was unable to find the plastic jewels I used in the distant past for some no longer remembered project. In any event it is time to drill the rings for planet installation. The rings were held in the vise on the mill and drilled about 1/8" deep after marking out the locations of the desired holes with a white lead pencil. The first photo below shows the drilling and the second the drilled holes in one ring.
The planets were first installed without glue to check fit. The smallest drill I own is 0.040", so the Mercury wire is a bit loose. Jupiter and Venus were tight so their holes were opened up by hand with a drill 2 or 3 thou larger. All of the planet wires were glued into their respective holes. The dry fits and the glued planets are seen in the three photos below.
In order to file off the excess planet wire a mandrel was quickly made from a 1/2" brass round scrap by cutting it at a 3° angle. The ring was tapped on and held in the chuck on the lathe. With the chuck locked in place with two wedges underneath, the excess metal was filed off. The first photo below shows the filing setup. The second shows the rings after filing off most of the excess.
The rings are much too wide for the grandson's fingers, so were thinned down on the belt sander. They are both 0.34" wide after sanding, maybe still too wide, but this can be addressed later, if needed. A coat of super glue was applied to all surfaces prior to the first round of sanding.
The rings were sanded and corners rounded. The sanding used 120 to 600 grit sand paper and included the inside of the brass inserts. The rings were then polished on a buffing wheel without any rouge. The insides of the inserts were polished with the Dremel after reducing the diameter of the little buffing wheel with an Xacto blade. The two completed rings are shown below and conclude ring making for now.
