Amanda Frayer artisan // illustrator // designer
woodworking projects
How to make a wood ring (update)
Over a year ago, I taught myself how to make wood rings and blogged about it here. Back then I couldn’t find any instructions online, so I muddled along learning by trial and error. Since then, I’ve improved my technique and found other helpful how-to’s. So here’s a brief update of my current process.
The Joyous One and the Lucky One
Our drive back to Nairobi from Masai Mara takes us through the spectacular Rift Valley, a wide trench made by a fault line stretching for thousands of miles from Syria to Mozambique. The lush valley floor stretches green below and the mountain tops are hiding in mist. Dan is falling asleep beside me. My face [...]
Disaster Preparedness
I finally did it — I broke one of the bands… I was forcing it on a dowel and being too rough with it. Hrmph! Now more than ever I think it’s necessary to have spares in case of disaster. Determined to have six good finished rings, I went through my rejects to salvage another. [...]
Finished rings!
Everyone unanimously voted for the mountain design. Simple circles just don’t show true commitment — they’re too easy! So here’s some photos of the second batch of rings in the final stages. I set the stones with CA glue (surrounded by big gobs of wax): Next, I leveled the stone: And here they are before [...]
How to make a wooden ring (Part 5)
Woohoo! We’re in the final stage! Here’s what my rings looked like before applying the finish: Step one: sand to remove wax or spray lacquer. Progressively step up the grit number until you achieve a smooth surface all over the ring. I rounded the edges, and beveled the inside so it will be more comfortable [...]
I do my own stunts…
My finger got stuck and turned purple for a while when I tried this ring on for size. Yikes, I’m glad I didn’t have to saw it off!
How to make a wooden ring (Part 4)
What would life be like without one more sanding jig? Let’s not find out! Introducing the Ring Churner — specially designed to sand in the round. You can see it pictured below before I did any sanding. You can also see a flat, ugly edge on my ring if you look closely. That’s exactly the [...]
Redemption for Dremel
I returned my busted Dremel and got a full refund. It must have warmed my heart, because I’m giving Dremel a shot at redemption. I ordered the 400 XPR from ebay (I know, I know…) I can’t afford this baby new, so I have to take my chances. It was previously owned by a guy [...]
St. Patty trying to tell me something?
Washington DC is a pretty international city, still I was surprised when I fished a shilling from the Republic of Kenya out of my coin cup this morning. I was looking for something to draw a circle on this blank, reached for it without looking and there it was. Our friend Eliot came to the [...]
How to make a wooden ring (Redux B)
I finally got a coping saw, hooray! So today I cut three rings out. It’s a good thing I made so many blanks, because two of these did not make the cut. The spalted maple got rather crumbly — clearly a weak choice for a ring. The second ring was cut too narrow. I compensated [...]
Going unplugged for a while…
For the past few weeks, I’ve been bidding against old-timers on ebay for vintage chisels and gouges, then sharpening them on a Japanese waterstone — the way of the warrior …also one “way” to spend a rainy otherwise boring weekend. I decided to also polish my tools with the Dremel which wouldn’t be worth blogging [...]
How to make a wooden ring (Redux A)
After the failure of my first ring, I kicked it into high gear like the guy at the Button Factory in the children’s song. I glued as many squares together as I could, so many they were bursting out of my c-clamp and making a gummy mess. Then in true assembly line style, I drilled [...]
How to make a wooden ring (Part 3)
JUMPING JEHOSAPHATS! I had a close call yesterday afternoon. I was nearly caught out on the balcony whittling Dan’s ring. In all the time I’ve known Dan, he’s never come home early from work. Never. Yesterday he came home over an hour early! Our cat jolted when she heard the door opening, which alerted me [...]
How to make a wooden ring (Design)
Now that you have a rough shape cut out, it’s time to make design decisions. (If you’d rather fly by the seat of your pants, you can skip this post and go straight to Part 3.) Here are some excellent wood ring-makers for inspiration: Stout Woodworks ArtisTree Wood Art Simply Wood Rings Touch Wood Rings [...]
How to make a wooden ring (Part 2)
I highly recommend using a power drill and spade bit for this, as it does the job cleanly in under a minute. If you don’t have a drill (and can’t borrow one from a friend or rent one from the hardware store), you can also carve the hole by hand. Or without the spade bit, [...]
How to make a wooden ring (Part 1)
If you’re using found wood for this project, a quick word about seasoning before you jump in. A general rule of thumb for seasoning is one year for every inch thickness. Seasoning is easy enough, just remove the bark and seal the end grain with wax, paint or sealant. Prop it up so the air [...]
Finding Your Love’s Ring Size (the Sneaky Way)
What do you do if your love owns no jewelry and you want to surprise him with a ring? All the advice I’ve read says take him in to be properly sized at any jewelry shop. Seriously? I’ve also heard, you can wait until he’s asleep or drunk and tie a string around his finger [...]
How to make a wooden ring (Supplies)
If you own a lot of high-powered tools, such as a bandsaw and a lathe, then stop reading! I highly recommend this how to by Francois Audeon. If you’re like me: living in a tiny apartment with a limited budget, you probably don’t want to invest hundreds of dollars in huge wood-working tools. A couple [...]
How to make a wooden ring (Background)
Let me first bring you up to speed since this process started a couple months ago. I decided to ask Dan to marry me while we were driving through the night with friends from the U.P. back to Minneapolis. After a roaring New Year’s Eve weekend at his cousin’s cabin on the South Shore of [...]