Ring Master Question

[Fibonacci]

There has been a lot of discussion on the ring master lately and I have a question about design.

The instruction manual on the manufacturer's website gives instructions for finding the proper angle for a given thickness of wood. That angle will give you a straight sided bowl whose slop is determined by the thickness of the layers.

What method do people use to make bowls with changing slope or other profiles? From watching member videos, people seem to cut one ring, adjust the angle for the next ring, clean up the outside, then cut the next ring (repeat). Mainly my question is if there is an easy way to figure out the angles or if it is mainly trial and error/computational geometry.

 

[Ed McDonnell]

Before buying a ringmaster, consider investing about $20 in this book:

"The Art of Segmented Wood Turning: A Step-by-Step Guide" by Malcolm Tibbetts. A ringmaster addresses only the smallest little corner of the vast world of segmented turning. Segmented turning isn't for everyone, those who become addicted quickly outgrow the limited capabilities of the ringmaster. There is a chapter on "bowl from a board" that you should find useful.

But to directly answer your question, unless someone is going to give you their notes so you can duplicate their work you have to do the math yourself.

Here's a relatively inexpensive program that can help with a lot of the design planning:

Woodturner PRO - The Front Page

Ed

 

[Fibonacci]

I find the ringmaster to be an interesting thing, but I would not purchase one due to what I see as a number of design defects. It is clearly a nice tool for some people, but I don't think it is for me. Mainly I was curious about how it worked.

If I were to get ambitious about selling turnings, I could see buying one for production though.

I have been considering making a similar device without those issues for a couple years now. The one thing they do that I really like is the double blade holder to reduce chipout on the back side. All things considered, given my normal progress and number of projects, I don't really see this happening.

 

[Ed McDonnell]

I had a ringmaster many years ago. It was a lot of fun for a couple of months. But I found that if you have a bandsaw or scrollsaw with a tiltable table you can do as much (or more) than you can with a ring master. With a bandsaw you have to glue half rings together, but not with a scroll saw. It's really not worth trying to improve on the ringmaster in my opinion.

If you aren't worried about optimizing wood usage, you can cut really thick rings from a couple different boards and have lots of flexibility in shaping the bowl to have nicely curved sides. By using a chuck to hold the bottom piece of the glue up (using a tenon) you don't need to have the hole in the bottom for the screw chuck / arbor. This also gives you the flexibility to finish the bottom in a lot of different ways (other than a flat bottom).

If you have a bandsaw / scroll saw, try the "bowl from a board". It's a lot of fun.

Ed

 

[MrWright]

No, No, No. AFTER you dial in your blade cutters and start to cut you bowl. You set the degrees at say 23 degrees, Cut the first ring, just release the plate, leave the 23degrees alone, move plate back, remove the cut ring, push the plate back to the wood, move the index rod into the next hole which determine the thickness of your bowl sides, and start cutting the second ring. You do not change the setting of the 23 degrees in the making of that bowl unless you are designing a bowl with maybe zero degrees in making a bowl that has a waste to it. I may not explain it properly but that is what I have found out. I have now made three bowls the same size from the same board and have not change, or moved the index. I am new at this and found the hardest part was to dial in the two cutters in order to meet and make a real smooth cut.

 

[Fibonacci]

No, No, No. AFTER you dial in your blade cutters and start to cut you bowl. You set the degrees at say 23 degrees, Cut the first ring, just release the plate, leave the 23degrees alone, move plate back, remove the cut ring, push the plate back to the wood, move the index rod into the next hole which determine the thickness of your bowl sides, and start cutting the second ring. You do not change the setting of the 23 degrees in the making of that bowl unless you are designing a bowl with maybe zero degrees in making a bowl that has a waste to it. I may not explain it properly but that is what I have found out. I have now made three bowls the same size from the same board and have not change, or moved the index. I am new at this and found the hardest part was to dial in the two cutters in order to meet and make a real smooth cut.

That is the process outlined in the manual. The one shown in the demo videos is a bit different.

 

[Marker]

I don't see any reason why one shouldn't be able to make bowls in the same way on a metal lathe. Just use a parting tool, move the compound rest to the proper angle, and then Move the compound rest slide in to cut the rings.

You could just bolt the board to a faceplate, or make a mandrel using a piece of all thread with two nuts to secure the blank. or even just a bolt, with one nut.


Maybe this is more complicated then it sounds to me.


If I can find my cutoff tool, I think I will give it a try.