Number of segments

[David Warkentin]

Somebody explain to me why you would use a certain number of segments per ring. In a large walnut salad bowl I used 16. Why? I think cause that's how many the sled I was copying to cut them used. It was set on 11.25 degrees. So, is it just to get a certain effect on the sizes of contrasting woods that you would use say 20 or 12? The aforementioned (is that a word?) bowl was all walnut so there was not much contrast. David

[Malcolm Tibbetts]

David, there are several factors related to # of segments. The more segments, the narrower the board can be in order to encompass the vessel wall. The overall visual effect is also greatly influenced by the # of segments. And perhaps the biggest reason to avoid rings with only say eight segments is the exposure of end-grain during the "turning". If you had made your salad bowl with rings of eight, you would have had slightly more difficulty with the "turning", but the surface would also not have been as pleasing because of the exposed angular end grain. For me personally, 16 segment rings are my most common and I rarely use less than 12.

[David Warkentin]

Thank you for the answer Mr. Tibbetts. I actually made the sled from your book.:D

[Brian Brown]

I agree with the thought that the more segs the better, but I can think of one exception. In this thread http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=111559

I made a segmented egg using the lamination trickery techniques taught in Malcolms book. I find that with less segments, it is easier to get the curved line results.

[Richard Madison]

Brian, your egg appears to be laminated, not segmented. But it's a great looking egg!

M.T. explained why too few is too few. Too many means the tiny segments can be difficult to cut safely and require great dexterity to handle and glue together. The usual range seems to be about 16 to 24, depending upon the size and design features of the piece. Glue joint alignment/offset amongst the rings is also quite important. Many otherwise quite beautiful pieces of work have failed to be really "first rate" due to lack of attention to good alignment.