Project Information
A thin band of Cherry bisects the continuous grain of this Osage Orange ring. (pictured on the piece of wood it was cut from. From, or near my BILs house in TX. Thanks Rob!)
Beautiful, durable, and strong, the heavy, close-grained yellow-orange wood is very dense and is prized for tool handles, treenails, fence posts, electrical insulators, and other applications requiring a strong dimensionally stable wood that withstands rot. Straight-grained osage timber (most is knotty and twisted) makes very good bows. In Arkansas, in the early 19th century, a good Osage bow was worth a horse and a blanket.
This might not get you a horse, but it'll surely get some attention. This ring (US size 9 or 9 1/4 - approx 19mm inside diameter, 21.5 mm outside), is the lightest, thinnest ring I've made yet. I started out making a smaller ring, (Inside dia), then with sanding the inside got closer and closer to fitting my finger perfectly. So I kept at it until It was perfect, and it was!... (at least while the ring was, literally, HOT of the lathe, all the sanding and buffing.) Now it's just a wee bit to tight for my ring finger and loose on my pinky. I'm wearing it as I type this, and it's like it's not even there, so thin and comfortable!
Like the others, the center band is glued perpendicular to the grain of the outside for increased strength and stability. Finished with (bathed in) walnut oil, (which seems to have darkened it a tad more than I expected… but in the right light, Oh the grain and chatoyance!) and buffed with "bowling alley" floor wax.
This is the 10th project in my 30 projects in 30 days challenge
cross posted on Facebook: B C Woodworking
this (starting thursday pm) and other projects, for sale on Etsy: B C Woodworking
Beautiful, durable, and strong, the heavy, close-grained yellow-orange wood is very dense and is prized for tool handles, treenails, fence posts, electrical insulators, and other applications requiring a strong dimensionally stable wood that withstands rot. Straight-grained osage timber (most is knotty and twisted) makes very good bows. In Arkansas, in the early 19th century, a good Osage bow was worth a horse and a blanket.
This might not get you a horse, but it'll surely get some attention. This ring (US size 9 or 9 1/4 - approx 19mm inside diameter, 21.5 mm outside), is the lightest, thinnest ring I've made yet. I started out making a smaller ring, (Inside dia), then with sanding the inside got closer and closer to fitting my finger perfectly. So I kept at it until It was perfect, and it was!... (at least while the ring was, literally, HOT of the lathe, all the sanding and buffing.) Now it's just a wee bit to tight for my ring finger and loose on my pinky. I'm wearing it as I type this, and it's like it's not even there, so thin and comfortable!
Like the others, the center band is glued perpendicular to the grain of the outside for increased strength and stability. Finished with (bathed in) walnut oil, (which seems to have darkened it a tad more than I expected… but in the right light, Oh the grain and chatoyance!) and buffed with "bowling alley" floor wax.
This is the 10th project in my 30 projects in 30 days challenge
cross posted on Facebook: B C Woodworking
this (starting thursday pm) and other projects, for sale on Etsy: B C Woodworking
