[PaulsBunion]

How To: Bentwood Rings

I started to tag this on to someone else's project post but thought they might not appreciate me hijacking their thread. So here it goes:

HOW TO BUILD A (BEGINNER'S) BENTWOOD RING:

1) Soak your thin veneer of choice in some water for a while. It doesn't even have to be hot water.
2) Glue and wrap said veneer around a 'thing'(preferrably a round 'thing') and let it dry. Go-Rilla glue works.
3) Remove it from the 'thing'.
4) Sand the inside and outside to shape. A lathe is really not required to get very good results.
5) Apply your finish of choice.
6) Post in on LJ under 'Projects'.

Seriously folks, that is about it. What kind of veneer? Use what you have in your shop. Different veneers behave differently. Even if I tell you the exact one I use, then you will likely have slightly different results and/or problems. Ya just have to try it out and gain that elusive experience.

How long do you have to soak it? A while. We're not building rockets here. Different veneers take different amounts of time. If it breaks, try longer. Or use thinner veneer.

ADVANCED RINGS:

Adding contrasting inlay strips… Glue up strips of contrasting woods, then rip to thin veneer strips. Use these for rings with contrasting inlays. How about contrasting liners? Try scarfing one contrasting veneer to another(end to end). You only need a few inches for the contrasting liner.

Oh, and you wanted pictures. Use your imagination as to ring shapes and wood combinations.

I truely hope many of you try this out. It is fun, elusive, and imensly rewarding. I wish you all the best in your results.

Hey RanceI

I just started selling these rings. I use a different (slightly) process for my rings:

I do use boiling water because I haven't built an appropriate steam box yet and because it speeds up the process. Most veneers other than the hardwoods will bend readily for rings. Stiffer materials like mahogany, oak, cocolobo, Paldao, and wavy veneers like quilted eucalyptus and birdseye maple and some burls I use a dilution of glycerin, probably about 15% solution for the tough stuff. This will greatly increase the drying time. For the veneer sheets that need flattening first I just sandwich them between plywood and weight it down for the dry time. Then I can proceed with cutting and regular soaking and a lot of the time a second application of the glycerin solution is not necessary.

I use a permeable Cyanoacrylate (the thinner super glue) for bonding the dry wood (any dampness causes clouding, even from your breath) This not only bonds the wood well but it stabilizes it from reacting to moisture. (almost waterproof). A lot of the bent-wood ring makers actually use the CA as a finish as well but I'm not crazy about it. After shaping with sandpaper I go through a nine step micro-mesh finishing that not only results in a high luster but I find the top veneer will now accept a feed like tung or teak oil. So I feed it and buff it dry and allow it to cure for at least 24 hours. Then it gets 2 coats of Lacquer and 24 hours later it is polished with warm beeswax.

I hope I didn't hijack the thread…..just wanted to chime in….new here. Oh here are some pics:

White Tulipwood with Spalted maple Lining

African Rosewood band

So Rance is right when he says experiment, it's been a lot of fun merging into this process. I hesitate to just start loading up photos and mentioning my Etsy Store because I am here to hopefully make some friends, not sell anything.

I have been layering contrasting veneers and also using thin copper and silver strips. When you "scarf" and overlap it of course throws the ring off- center a bit which is meaningless when you hand-sand it. but when I pop it on an expanding arbor on the lathe, the effects of it being off-center are really cool. I especially like the silver mottled and burnished right into a black walnut band. let me know if you'd like to see more pics or have a website address to go to.

Thanks for starting the thread Rance

 

[PaulsBunion]

How To: Bentwood Rings

I started to tag this on to someone else's project post but thought they might not appreciate me hijacking their thread. So here it goes:

HOW TO BUILD A (BEGINNER'S) BENTWOOD RING:

1) Soak your thin veneer of choice in some water for a while. It doesn't even have to be hot water.
2) Glue and wrap said veneer around a 'thing'(preferrably a round 'thing') and let it dry. Go-Rilla glue works.
3) Remove it from the 'thing'.
4) Sand the inside and outside to shape. A lathe is really not required to get very good results.
5) Apply your finish of choice.
6) Post in on LJ under 'Projects'.

Seriously folks, that is about it. What kind of veneer? Use what you have in your shop. Different veneers behave differently. Even if I tell you the exact one I use, then you will likely have slightly different results and/or problems. Ya just have to try it out and gain that elusive experience.

How long do you have to soak it? A while. We're not building rockets here. Different veneers take different amounts of time. If it breaks, try longer. Or use thinner veneer.

ADVANCED RINGS:

Adding contrasting inlay strips… Glue up strips of contrasting woods, then rip to thin veneer strips. Use these for rings with contrasting inlays. How about contrasting liners? Try scarfing one contrasting veneer to another(end to end). You only need a few inches for the contrasting liner.

Oh, and you wanted pictures. Use your imagination as to ring shapes and wood combinations.

I truely hope many of you try this out. It is fun, elusive, and imensly rewarding. I wish you all the best in your results.

use a block plane on the edge of any board for perfect 1/16" to 1/32" veneer strips (the 'width' equals your board's thickness obviously) 7" strips are perfect for working towards any ring size. Using dowels works great for the glue-up stage as your "mould". make sure the dowel size is a bit smaller than the ring size you want - you can sand it down to the right ring size later.

I use a nice parchment paper or wax paper strip between the dowel and the veneer to prevent the veneer from sticking to the dowel.

 

[PaulsBunion]

How To: Bentwood Rings

I started to tag this on to someone else's project post but thought they might not appreciate me hijacking their thread. So here it goes:

HOW TO BUILD A (BEGINNER'S) BENTWOOD RING:

1) Soak your thin veneer of choice in some water for a while. It doesn't even have to be hot water.
2) Glue and wrap said veneer around a 'thing'(preferrably a round 'thing') and let it dry. Go-Rilla glue works.
3) Remove it from the 'thing'.
4) Sand the inside and outside to shape. A lathe is really not required to get very good results.
5) Apply your finish of choice.
6) Post in on LJ under 'Projects'.

Seriously folks, that is about it. What kind of veneer? Use what you have in your shop. Different veneers behave differently. Even if I tell you the exact one I use, then you will likely have slightly different results and/or problems. Ya just have to try it out and gain that elusive experience.

How long do you have to soak it? A while. We're not building rockets here. Different veneers take different amounts of time. If it breaks, try longer. Or use thinner veneer.

ADVANCED RINGS:

Adding contrasting inlay strips… Glue up strips of contrasting woods, then rip to thin veneer strips. Use these for rings with contrasting inlays. How about contrasting liners? Try scarfing one contrasting veneer to another(end to end). You only need a few inches for the contrasting liner.

Oh, and you wanted pictures. Use your imagination as to ring shapes and wood combinations.

I truely hope many of you try this out. It is fun, elusive, and imensly rewarding. I wish you all the best in your results.

This technique works for bangles too!! This one is African Zebra wood with a Silky lacewood liner. No metal core, 100% all wood. I used a spray paint can for forming the steamed strips into the right curve. When they dry it is easy to form the bracelet freehand and build upon it strip by strip to desired thickness, adding different type of wood for "lining' Then I put it on an expandable lathe mount for shaping/sanding/polishing clamping it from the inside for polishing the outside, and clamping around the outside so I can polish / sand the inner part of the bangle. EZ Peezy.