Lately I’ve become quite enamored by woodworking, as I think is only natural for someone like me — I love the simple life, and the satisfaction that comes from making things with one's own hands, especially things that are very practical or useful in some way, and especially things of high quality. So really it was only a matter of time before I took up this craft in some capacity. Now, funds and the procuration of wood are two things which will definitely slow my growth here, but I do intend to make progress with various projects as time wears on.
I really do love wood.
Last night as I lie in bed images of drill presses and flying sawdust came into my mind, and I decided to try my hand at making a simple ring from the board of walnut I have in the garage. Eventually I fell asleep, the next day arrived (which is the day I’m writing this), and around ten o’clock this morning I began my project, after having done some quick research on the process.
First, I took a strip of the walnut which I had cut during another project, and used the band saw to make a couple of little squares of wood, an inch and a half in diameter, then I cut those in half to make them shorter. These formed my ring blanks. (Bear in mind that if you do this, you want the grain of the ring to be perpendicular to your fingers, otherwise it won’t be very strong, and you risk splitting the wood before you’ve finished.)
Next I used the drill press and a 5/8 inch bit to punch a hole into one of the blanks. First I bored partially through one side, then flipped the wood around to finish it from the other, to avoid causing the grain to split. I wear a size 7.5 ring, and might have done better to use a 3/4 inch bit, but I couldn’t find that size — which just means I had more sanding to do in the long run.
Next I went back to the band saw to cut off the sides and corners from the blank before beginning the sanding process, making sure to allow myself room to adjust the size of the ring.
Bringing the wood to the table sander I used the disc to grind it down and make it overall pretty round, then turned the wood sideways to get the width of the ring where I wanted it. (Though I would adjust this several times before being finished.)
The rest of the work might be considered very tedious to some, but I actually quite enjoyed it. I used a filing bit on the drill press, two different metal files, and a couple of pieces of sand paper, as well as the belt and disc on the table sander, to get the ring to just where I wanted it to be, making sure to round out all the edges, inside and out. I used a really rough piece of paper to adjust the sizing of the ring very specifically, and a 240 grit piece to smooth it out. Eventually, I ended up with quite a nice little ring, not perfectly round, but close enough to not notice when wearing it.
The last step was to temper the ring. By using heat you can cause the wood cells to constrict, strengthening it. Overdoing this however can make the wood brittle, so be careful; you don’t want it to start looking too black or burnt. I used a little candle for this step, holding the ring in some needle-nose pliers, but you can also use a heat gun. (By the way, I learnt all of this from a tutorial on Wolf & Iron.)
I think I may have overdone the tempering process a bit, because my ring look a bit worn and brittle, but time will tell — and I can always make more, which I plan on doing anyway. I also used some Mahoney’s walnut oil to treat the wood and give it a nice colour, so that’s soaking in, and I’ll be wearing my ring by Sunday. And that’s it! Really quite a simple process, at least if you have some power tools on hand, which, being my father’s son, I do.
I hope I’ve inspired you to do some woodworking yourself, whether you plan on wearing it or otherwise.
with love,
— Joel
(all photos taken with Fujifilm X-Pro2 and Olympus F.Zuiko 50mm f/1.8)