crafting wooden rings

[Howdy]

Recently my wedding ring was lost and I am thinking of replacing it with a wooden ring.  I have always admired the beauty and grace that can be realized by using natural materials so looking on the Internet shows just how wonderful wooden rings can be. 

While I have limited skills working with wood, I am willing to risk gluing my fingers together and to anything else nearby, I hope to have some fun and see what I can create.  If anyone has any ideas, suggestions, or advice I would welcome the help. 

Thanks, Howdy

[dovetails]

I would start with a lathe and some sharp tools and see what develops.
Worst case you will have fun trying! If you glue together some small pieces
you can get some great looking rings when turned out.

[thecfarm]

That's too bad you lost your ring. May get a better one with wood.

[Don_Papenburg]

Start by drilling a hole in a hunk of wood and size it  to fit your finger. Use that as a template for the ring . Make an arbor to turn the ring or a mount for carving. Then fit the piece of wood to your arbor and turn and carve at will .  Put a very slight taper on the arbor so you can hold the ring fast as you work it.

[Lud]

Haven't tried rings but did a bunch af bracelets in the last few years,  using tapers to hold them , etc. 

What really made them possible was the pair of tools I ground into some small file stock.  I made a left hook and a right hook that reach in and cut the inside edges.

Use as hard a wood as you can find with as tight a grain as possible for durability. ;D

[jueston]

since you wouldn't need very much wood, you could go with something really exotic, i would recomend maybe making a few out of something else for practice then move on to making it out of something else....

i'm very fond of south american hardwoods... maybe Snakewood (Piratinera guianensis) or Lignum vitae even though there might be some moral issues, since its appendix II in the cites treaty, but i'm sure you can get your hands on a few inches of it without risking extinction...

but no matter what you make i'm sure it will be awesome... and fun to make...

[Burlkraft]

You can turn rings easy enough, it's keepin' em a size 10 1/2 that's a problem.

You need hard stable wood. I have done some bracelets in green mesquite. If ya find the right stuff mesquite is very stable in the drying process. Even on pieces with heart/sap wood on them. It's beautiful stuff too.

Lots of the South American hardwoods are like this also.

Turned wedding rings are a great idea and can be done in surpising detail too:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmlM7xUAgT8

[Den Socling]

If you want some extremely hard, strong and beautiful wood, I recommend Bloodwood. You can't break a sliver 3/8" square. I've challenged many and they have all failed. I keep a few tiny pieces around the shop just to pull the trick.  ;D Anyway, I have lots and I'll give you a block if you like. But it will take sharp tooling and patience to turn a wedding band.

[shelbycharger400]

i have noticed, when turning wood on my 12 in metal craftsman hobby lathe ( its a dinasaur)
i use the same high speed steel or cemented carbide bit,  you can cut a lot in a single pass, come back in do a light pass of say 50 thous to 70 thous, and its ready for 300 grit paper.   the wood will heat up from heavy roughing, and sanding.  i have found turning small stuff its nearly dry by the time im done.

[Howdy]

Thanks for the great information and videos. 
Looks like a great project for this winter.
Fun and useful at the same time, hard to beat.
Howdy