How to make a wooden ring

A ring that I had from Vietnam recently broke, leaving an emptiness on my finger and soul, so I decided to fill that emptiness with a lil bit of craftiness.

Step 1 Materials and tools

A piece of wood preferably with an interesting grain pattern (I used wenge)
Some sort of finish
Hole saw
Forstner bit  
Drum sander
Belt Sander

Comments

[Instructable04]

Ow dam!! Dad and I have tried EVERY POSSIBLE ON-HAND WOOD!!! I am still wondering if pine would be alright?? See, the prob is that the wood keeps on splitting...We also tried using hickory wood, split split split SPLIT!

[smurfsahoy]

Well you just need to do a lot more research on wood properties then...

Pine is a terrible choice for a ring, because it A) has a huge, loose grain and is full of things like knots, so getting a detailed shape out of it is going to be difficult without splitting, and B) it's really soft and inappropriate for being on your finger where it will get dented immediately, even if you could make it.

Hickory is pretty much the most difficult wood in the world to work with (with the possible exception of ebony). It splits like crazy and will jam router bits and break tools and all kinds of things.

You want a tight grained hardwood that is durable but easy to work. Like maple, cherry, or walnut. There's a reason finely detailed furniture is always made out of those woods, and never pine or hickory.

[hatschel]

The ring will be broken befor or after.
Beliv it or not.
It´s importent to make the wood´n peace in te right direction vertikal like the tree grows
Or the better way glue 4 peaces of wood together and then make the ring.
I make mine on a lathe.
sry about my bad english

[Instructable04]

Hey,
Two questions. One is can you use like ANY wood with a grain pattern? and would this be suitable for my girlfriend if done properly?? I love the look of them!

[quomaya2]

Can't help you much with the girlfriend problem. Maybe tell her it was done with love so it's worth more than any gold?

A hardwood would be the best to avoid splitting. I I like the look of the darker woods for these a lot.

[Instructable04]

Thanks quomaya2.

[shadow wave rider]

what does wengelicious mean?

[squiggy2]

It's when your wenge is too delicious to be expressed with multiple words.
Read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portmanteau

[ddbear]

http://www.instructables.com/id/Mens-5-Cent-Ring/step4/Mount-The-Ring/
I found this Instructable helpful when sanding my rings! It works on the wooden and metal ones! This is my picture of it which may be a bit more simple!

[daemonfist]

Just made one of these this weekend using pretty much the exact same methods here (hadn't even looked online for instructions...LOL)...anyways, I found that a Rotary tool with a drum sander attachment will work nicely as well!

[Jon316]

Thanks man this really helped, although i didnt have a hole saw, I still made an awesome ring.

[tinstructable]

Sorry, i'm kinda new to woodworking... what is a forstner bit? I'm sure we have one, i just don't know what it is...

[quomaya2]

Forstner bit= http://www.collingwoodlighting.com/cnb/shop/collingwood?imageID=882&op=imgLib-viewImage

[ForgetMyProfile]

respectfully, I think that you have steps 3 and 4 backwards.

Most hole saws have a pilot drill bit for keeping the hole cutting saw in one place while cutting. If you drill the inner hole first, there is no place to put the pilot bit in one place to do the outer diameter of the ring. Ever tried it with a hand drill? I'm not sure it can be done.

Yes, I do see the drill press. While I'm certain you have a vice of some kind to hold the work steady while the outer ring is done secondly,  those who DON'T have a drill press are going to have a rough time if they have to use a whole saw without the help of the pilot drill.

Doing it my way makes more sense . . . at least to me.

Good, interesting instructable.

Robb
Lush, tropical Grand Rapids, Michigan.

[simplebeep]

Here's the way I see it:

- If you drill the outer ring first, then it becomes much harder to hold the inner disc of wood while drilling the inner ring.
- If you drill the inner ring first, you can't see just where you're placing the bit for the outer hole, and you won't be able to center it precisely.
- As this instructable suggests, you can center the rings by "marking" the outer one first, then help hold everything in place by drilling inside then outside. It's really a compromise between the two methods.

[seamountie]

That is why you do step 2.  You partially drill the outer "ring".  This is then your guide after removing the core.  This can be done easily even with a hand drill.

[quomaya2]

From my experience, it's too hard to hold the piece of wood as you drill the inner hole with a forstner bit, but if you could get it to stay in place somehow, then your way would work just as well.

 

[anfractuosities]

I made a bunch of rings just like this with some scrap cocoboro that I had lying around. I made a bunch, b/c they kept splitting. They looked great though

[zaniac77]

This is cool. You know, I would think over time that your own body oils would shine it right up if you just put a light wax on it at first to get it going. :)

[ac-dc]

That's what you might want to avoid, as perspiration could make it swell, sweat isn't considered neutral in ph, and you can get fungus growing in/on the wood.

I don't know what the best treatment is, but I would lean towards an initial treatment with light oil to penetrate it, then liberally apply silicone grease rather than wax or oil because it is more resistant to detergent, if you got any soap or dishwater/etc on your hands it is less likely to strip the grease off.

[zaniac77]

Yep, that's probably true. My brain is on pause today, apparently. ^_^

[hydrnium.h2]

Lol, "This wooden o", totally misinterpreted, could apply to this

[wortmanb]

I do this by laminating together 5 2x2 or 2.5x2.5 squares of wood into a sandwich; usually with a dark wood like wenge for the middle layer (and I'll take a piece that's 1/8" thick and sand or plane it down a bit), then two layers of maple or walnut veneer to set that piece off, then outer pieces of a wood to contrast with the wenge, like padauk.  Each layer switches the direction of the grain by 90 degrees, like in plywood, so that there's less chance of a stress crack along the grain carrying through the piece.  I use Gorilla glue for maximum water resistance, though TiteBond III should work as well.

I drill a 1/2" hole in the center using a forstner bit and then, after trimming off the corners to make the whole thing octagonal, mount it on a sanding sleeve and stick it in my dremel (since I don't have a lathe).  I then use files & sandpaper to shape the outside and end up carefully shaping the inside with a smaller sanding sleeve on the dremel.  Arm-R-Seal to finish.

Gave one to my wife for our anniversary last year and she absolutely loved it.  This method isn't necessarily better (though I think the lamination gives additional strength) but it's an alternate way to approach shaping the rings.

[Prop]

I laminate 3, 1/8th pieces... drill with a forstner or spade bit.... then I use a knife and size the ring to whatever the requested size is (if you do this pay attention to grain direction while carving)... I then use a flush cut saw and guide block to cut the out side of the ring to mostly round and sad from there.... My process can be done entirely by had once the wood is planed to the right thikness

[unseen wombat]

it's a cool idea, but won't the part where the grain is perpendicular to the ring split?

If I were doing it, I'd go for bending very thin veneers of some flexible wood like ash or white oak to the diameter of your finger and gluing together. Then the grain direction goes around the hoop at all points. Sand it properly and you probably won't even see the glue joint.

[Prop]

You can make the ring quomaya2 made in then add bent veneer on top of it and it will make a very strong ring... Make the ring then put it on a lath... use a parting tool to make a groove then inset veneer into it.

[quomaya2]

yeah, it might split eventually, but it was pretty easy to make the way I did it, so I don't really care

 

[thepelton]

Elm has a very interlocked grain, making it very difficult to split.

[TheDevilsRubberDucky]

 y not laquer or poly?
btw laquer and poly are totally different finishes so poly is not "laquerish"

[Prop]

I have tried several different finishes for wood rings and have watched them as there used by people... poly and lacquer tend to chip and wear in not so good ways..... lint seed oil wears too fast unless its a mix of lint seed oil and varnish. This is a very good finish if you want a dull finish and it lasts.... Cyanoacrylate (CA glue / Superglue) gives the most durable high gloss finish but is really hard to get on properly. If you do it do it on a lath or in a drill and make sure you dont touch it with skin for at least 24 hours.... My favorite finish for rings right now is shellac... it dries very fast and still looks great even after is worn.

[quomaya2]

I think that the coat would go on too thick and then it might not fit on your finger, but it would probably work if you were careful.

[Bard]

If its too thick couldn't you just re sand it down then try again?

[quomaya2]

mmmmhmmmmmmmmmmmm

[bigmark]

So cool!!!  You could use the"mangled piece of crap"as a napkin ring.

[guatsamosa]

I happened to make one as a christmas present for my dad but I used some driftwood which was super dry and kinda brittle, but it helped to soak it for a little while in some lemon oil.
Also if you want it to be shiny you can spray a coating or two of Polyurethane stuff on it and it works pretty well and makes it harder. Nice Instructable btw!!

[bowmaster]

Sweet, I just got some new hole saws, now I know what I'll use them for.

[sssssbooom]

I always turn my rings on my lathe. I have made a couple out of cherry and some out of purple heart.

[Weissensteinburg]

 This is great. I tried to make a wooden cryptex once, but didn't know this method to cutting rings. What type of lumber is that?

[quomaya2]

Are cryptex's those little number contraptions? And the wood's wenge.

 

[Vespa O]

Just a safety note on Wenge, WEAR A DUST MASK! The dust can be real nasty! It is a respiratory irritant and then there is what is known as the "Wenge trip" yep... it can cause mild sensory distortion...