Making a ring

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jaywood1207

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Joined
Jun 18, 2006
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811
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Woodstock, Ontario, Canada.
I have somebody who wants me to make an engagement ring out of wood and I'm not sure how to go about it. The part I'm having trouble figuring out is how to turn the portion where the wood flares up to the the diamond on top in a solitaire style. This is going to be something temporary until the real thing is purchased and will have a lot of sentimental value and will have a cubic zirconia instead of a diamond. Any ideas how to do this on the lathe?

Thanks,
 
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Other than turning a piece the largest diameter that would encompass all of the ring and then drilling/turning out the inside ring size on the pendant backer sold here on the iap (offsetting the blank) I cant think of a way to turn it past that. Hand carving would have to finish the shape. Also a typical prong setting would be difficult in wood. You would have to bezel set it' drill a hole .10mm smaller than the cz the using a setting burr cut a groove .5mm beloww the top surface. **** the stone and snap it into the groove. That or glue it in. I believe that While its not impossible it is impractable and would take considerable hand work and time. Mike
 
While I have to agree with Cav that Boone rings are some of the best around, if you still want to try this in all wood, I would do it in 2 pieces. I have made centerbands which are really small rings on the lathe on a pen mandrel with some home made plastic bushings. That part is easy. If you can drill a round hole in the side to act as a mortise, then perhaps you can turn another piece with a small tenon on the bottom that would fit in the hole. This piece could hold the stone and mirror its shape. Its a good idea to get a stone mounting bur the right size for the stone so it will sit properly. These are available through jewelry making supply houses. I have used a glue called GemTac from Ben Franklins which dries clear and should be good enough for temporary.
 
Thanks for the replies and suggestion Bruce. The plan is to laminate the woods to make it more stable and durable for the ring itself. I'll have to play around some more. Boone rings has already been suggested and that will most likely be the permanent ring.
 
I agree with what has been posted; make the ring in a few laminated strips with the grain going in opposing directions then cut the inside and outside diameters corresponding to just above the ring size and the outside of what's needed to hold the stone. The ring will have to be sanded to normal thickness at the bottom and shaped to hold the stone at the top. Watch that things don't get too thin or have stress rising notches. It should probably be at least 6mm wide and 2mm thick at the shank. You can dial in the final ring size with a CA finish.
 
jaywood1207 said:
Peter your ring with the stone is exactly what I want to do. Was it all done on a lathe or did you do a lot of sanding to get the shape?
Click to expand...


Mostly done on the lathe and "some" sanding to get the final shape. "offset" your live centre (tailstock) to alter the "shape". The blue diamond is a "crystal" purchased at Michaels' (about .50 cents each). I've been married for 26 years and wish that I could've given this ring to my "sweetie" then and saved the $4K that the "real" thing cost me.:wink:
 
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