Intertwined Captive Rings

[William Young]

I tried a couple captive rings a few years ago and never tried it again until this morning. But this time I tried double intertwined captive rings for the first time . I don't have a captive ring tool so I had to do the best I could with the point of a skew which made it quite tricky to do.

The wood is a piece of silver birch firewood. A neighbor gave me a bunch of it a couple years ago and I had slabbed off the sides on my band saw and let it sit in a corner of my shop drying with the ends sealed with Anchorseal. I am glad I didn't burn all those pieces he gave me. This goblet will be a gift to him tomorrow morning at the coffee shop and with a bit of show and tell to all the regulars there I might get orders for one or two more.

Does anyone here know which captive ring tool is the best for turnings like this. ? I don't want to go to the high priced name brands like Sorby etc because I have found sometimes you can pay a lot just for a name. If someone knows of a reasonable price on one please let me know.

W.Y.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1620/1718813/5704891/259235392.jpg

[PaulD]

I really like that -- well done! I have done captive rings, but do not have a dedicated tool. I have my eye on a Sorby captive ring tool. This particular tool allows you to do 4 different sized rings with the same tool. It runs $69 from Woodcraft which isn't cheap, but might be less expensive then buying four different dedicated sized tools. I've never tried it, so I can't vouch for how well it works. I have never had bad luck with a Sorby tool, so I suspect it will work as advertised.

[William Young]

Thanks Paul.
I have a Sorby fingernail grind deep bowl gouge and a Sorby hollowing tool. Both are good tools. I'm not knocking them . . they are both good quality , but they seem to require sharpening just as frequently as some other no names ones I have at half the price.
Thanks for the tip on the one from Woodccraft . I will go into their site and see if I can find it because like you say, it is cheaper than buying a bunch of different size ones if it will do 4 different sizes.
W.Y.

[PaulD]

The Ring Tool is catalogue number 835859 in case it helps.

[William Young]

Yep, I found it.

http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=20164


Thanks a bunch for the tip. Actually there are 4 tips there. (pun intended) :D

http://www.woodcraft.com/images/Family/web20164.jpg


W.Y.

[Gunny]

You did that on a whim? Just this morning? Out of SB firewood? And it's the first time you've tried a captive ring in a couple of years? Now I know what it's like to feel inadequate...
Outstanding Willie... I don't know if I'll ever touch my lathe again.... ;)

I made my own captive ring tool out of a 1/2" skew by drilling a 3/8" hole (actually I guess it's a half hole)with a step bit. I used a picture of a ring tool from a catalog (Packard I think) and it worked pretty well. But I like the looks of that Sorby multi-tip.

I made the homemade one because I was impatient and didn't feel like waiting a week for a Sorby through the mail... I have to drive 100 miles to find a woodworking store since Lowes and Home Depot don't carry woodturning toys.

But great job... I'd love to try that some day...

[William Young]

Thanks Gunny.
As you know, turning a goblet into shape with no rings is quite a simple chore to get it from a square blank to an acceptable goblet shape in 15 or 20 minutes . It is the cutting of the rings that takes all the time..
Actually I got a little head start on it last night turning the square length of wood to round right after supper and then I suddenly remembered that it was chat night every Monday at my Woodworking Friends site so I went in the house and was on the chat for an hour and a half.
It wasn't exactly a whim . . . one of my moderators on my site is a real good turner and last night on my Chat board him and I decided to have a little contest at making captive rings and showing them on my site today .
Then this morning after coffee at 10.00 AM I went out to my shop and finished it and took pictures before lunch .

I still consider myself a rookie turner. It takes a lot of years to get as good as some of the stuff I see on sites. I envy a lot of those turners. Most of my stuff is fairly basic. Most anyone that has a lathe can do whatever I do with a little practice .


I am seriously considering one of those Sorby tools . It should make it a lot easier .
W.Y.

[pussaw]

i know how to make ring but can u tell me how to make intwined rings.dave

[William Young]

You break one in half or if you are lucky it will break only on one side. Put it over the other ring and glue it back together and sand the joint. If the break is on a grain line it will be almost impossible to find the join when finished.
Here's another one since I made my own captive ring tools from instructions I got on my own Woodworking Friends site...
W.Y.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1620/1718813/5704891/260942740.jpg

[pussaw]

thanks i thought there was some type of offset turning trick 2this.dave

[Gunny]

Thanks for asking that question pussaw...
Willy, having seen the quality of your work I had no doubt you had figured out a way to turn inter locking rings... And like a fool, I spent the past week trying to find a way to duplicate it... :rolleyes:

[William Young]

Hey Gunny;
That's hillarious . Hope you had fun . :) :p :cool: ;)
W.Y.