How To Make Wooden Rings On A Lathe

The wood lathe is a prime machine to work with all types of wooden projects. No matter how much skill you have at woodworking, you can never deny the utilities of a wood lathe after using it. Working with a wood lathe makes your project a lot faster, and the result can be very smooth.

Wooden rings are nice and attractive pieces that look aesthetic to put on. You can make them on hand. But making them on a wood lathe is a highly better choice. So, let’s go through the process of making wooden rings using a wood lathe.

Reason for Using a Wood Lathe to Make a Wooden Ring

Even though we mentioned the necessity of using a wood lathe above, some other reasons using a wood lathe on this project can benefit you.

A wood lathe is a machine that rotates its workpiece as you use a chisel to carve out the wood to give it a specific shape. Since it rotates the wood, you can only get a cylindrical or spherical outcome. Wooden rings perfectly match these shapes.
It takes a lot less time. Trust us when we say that a wood lathe can replace nine workers. It just needs one person to operate it, and that is all.
If you are doing a business, you can have great profit by using a wood lathe here. Remember that a wood lathe does the process faster. So, your production rate increases 10-fold along with your income.
You can carve out variously shaped, sized, and designed rings using a lathe. Once you are used to it, it will appear to be so simple. It is easier to put grooves or beveled edges on a ring using a lathe than your hand.
You can use sandpaper pretty conveniently on your workpiece when it is rotating in the lathe. You just have to press the sandpaper softly on it.

Preparation

As a means of preparation, you will need to gather some instruments and complete some steps. This part of the project is important as it will decide your outcome. Complete these steps properly-

Collect a drill.
Gather some pieces of wood. We advise you to go for hardwoods in this case. But make sure that there are no saps inside the woods. An already cut random small hardwood piece from your workplace is enough to do the job. Collect another long piece of softwood.
Gather a chisel set.
Gather sandpaper and finish.
Collect a pencil compass with a pencil.
Collect a clean cloth.

Preparing the Wooden Piece

You will need to prepare the wooden piece with the right measurements. First, cut off the wooden piece to a suitable square size. An ideal size will have a length and width of 1.5 inches and a thickness of 0.5 inches. Cut the softwood with a 2 by 2 inches size. You will use it later to hold the ring as a jam-chuck.

Drilling the Whole

It is time to put a hole in the wooden piece. Remember that the hole will not have the exact size of your finger the first time. You will make a small hole and make it bigger from there. But the first task is to measure the size of the finger that it will be put on. After that, you can follow one of these two ways-

Simply use a drill press to make the hole. Or,
Attach a chuck to the piece to hold it firmly. Then attach another chuck to the tailstock. Then drill the hole.

Watch this video to have a clearer idea on this matter

Prepare the Jam-Chuck

It kinds of look like this

Do not make the spindle too long. If you mount the ring too loosely on the spindle, it may come out. On the other hand, if you mount too tightly, it may tear once the ring is thin enough. So, do not mount it too tight.

If it comes out, you can easily shut off the lathe to place the ring again. Make sure that the ring blank goes properly on the spindle while making it. Sand it roughly for a precise outcome.

Ring Turning

Once you have completed all the steps up to this point, the rest is comparatively easy. Mount the ring properly on the jam-chuck and rotate it at high speed. Take a suitable chisel that provides light cuts. Use it to gradually carve out the outer part of the ring until it has the perfect shape and size.

Do it carefully not to snap it. There you have your nice little wooden ring. Follow this link for a video description of the whole process

Final Note

Since it is made of wood, you can apply some finish to it. Wax is a nice element for wood finishing. You can also try adding some color to make it more appealing. It may take a few tries to get the perfect shape if you are a novice. Once you get used to it, you can also put grooves on the rings.

Last Updated on 2 years by Richard Boyer

Richard Boyer

Richard Boyer has been a professional welder for over 27 years of his life, and now he is a trainer and blogger providing critical information to anyone interested in welding. He is helping out both hobbyists, novice and professional welders to learn newer and better techniques. Read more about me

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