Rings

bubsbug

bubsbug

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I glued up inlays for rings yesterday and cut them down to even with black linen today. I notice on 2 or 3 peices there are very tiny cracks where the woods meet the grove sides. I guess I got in a hurry and didn't fit some of them as good as others. I used 2 ton epoxy for gluing. I was wondering if I could use some kind of filler along with the glue to fill the cracks better. Making rings are pretty time consuming.
 
bubsbug said:
I glued up inlays for rings yesterday and cut them down to even with black linen today. I notice on 2 or 3 peices there are very tiny cracks where the woods meet the grove sides. I guess I got in a hurry and didn't fit some of them as good as others. I used 2 ton epoxy for gluing. I was wondering if I could use some kind of filler along with the glue to fill the cracks better. Making rings are pretty time consuming.
Click to expand...

It's a little late now but the inlays should have been made slightly oversize and then sanded to fit. I used to do it that way before I started using CNC. Now they are perfect fits to start with. Mix up some more epoxy and use some surgical gloves and force in to act as a filler if the "crack" is not to large as to be seen. Colored or natural wood filler can also be used.

Dick
 
I did make them oversize and did sand to make fit. Most of them I had to really press hard with my hands to get them to fit, but a few were a little sloppy. I guess I had to experience this so I could learn what is an acceptable amount of pressure needed to fit the groves. When you are dealing with a peice of material that is roughly 1/8 x 1/8" thick it's kind of hard to handle.

Cnc-How does it cut flat stock material? I guess we are talking big bucks here arn't we? Would a mill of some sort work?
 
Fitting them tight in the first place is the way to go, but if using a black colored material, then a little black epoxy dye mixed in while glueing them up, can add alittle extra insurance. Sometimes it may still be visable, one black being lighter then other that is, but usually after a clear coat the the 2 black colors will blend.
 
While it is possible to cut a billet on a lathe, I prefer the milling mach. with an index fixture. It takes the worry out of being close. I have to make a lot of billets for matching the ring-work of custom cues when fitting Predator shafts. One of my concerns is, will I ever get to use that billet again or was that one cue the only one I'll ever need it for ?
I absolutely refuse to use another builders ring-work on my own cues so I guess I'm in the billet collection business.
 
KJ Cues said:
While it is possible to cut a billet on a lathe, I prefer the milling mach. with an index fixture. It takes the worry out of being close. I have to make a lot of billets for matching the ring-work of custom cues when fitting Predator shafts. One of my concerns is, will I ever get to use that billet again or was that one cue the only one I'll ever need it for ?
I absolutely refuse to use another builders ring-work on my own cues so I guess I'm in the billet collection business.
Click to expand...

I had one lathe I left set up just for making rings. I didn't use the spindle but had an indexer mounted on the bed and in that way I could use the auto feed. I've only got one mill and don't want to leave it set up for one operation. I now just throw the dowel into the CNC and the 4th axis makes for perfectly indexed pockets at the perfect depth. Other than waiting for glue to dry, it doesn't take long to make a tube at all. On oddball rings I make a 3" tube, on more common rings I make a 6" tube and on standard rings for my cues I make 12" tubes. Like you, I've got many, many tubes of deco-rings that can be made into hundreds and hundreds of different deco rings.

Dick
 
Hi Dick,
I don't like to leave my big mill tied-up either so I came up with a quick set-up trick that I'll share. I use a std. 5C index fixture. On the bottom side of the fixture, after truing to the x axis & leveling, I milled a 5/8 slot down the center (.125 deep) and mounted a length of 5/8 sq. stk. in the slot. The fixture now mounts true to the table everytime and set-up is about 2 min. Since I only make 3" billets, I mount the drilled billet on a mandrel with no tailstock. Quick and simple.
 
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