Some Bracelets

[Scott Lux]

Here are four bracelets. The walnut was completed a year ago, but I never got around to shooting it.

Black Walnut, Red Oak, Maple, and Honeylocust.

The maple is salvaged from a steeple that fell over in Strongsville, Ohio. It had stood for about one hundred years, I guess it was tired.

C&C please.

Lux

[Karl Card]

nice

those sell pretty good here in evansville.

I made my 2 daughters some out of spalted maple and they get alot of comments on them also.

[Tim Rinehart]

I especially like the one with the two joining coves. I've only made a few bracelets, but always struggle with getting the right cut from the wood to be sure it will be strong...i.e a section out of quarter sawn is ideal. Same with rings...even more difficult to get strong enough without laminating cross grain pieces.

Nice work!

[Sean Hughto]

What's teh favored technique for making these? Do you part them off, drill the hole and use a mandrel-like piece of wood, or what?

[Scott Lux]

Still working on a technique that I like. The process as it stands now is:


Hole saw to rough it out: 3", 3.5", and 4" seem to work well.
Drill the center hole to fit my screw chuck.
Put disk on said screw chuck.
Shape, sand, and finish the outside.
Part off the bracelet from the disk.
Put 2" sanding drum on drill press, sand inside.
Hand finish inside. :mad:

Like I said, still working on a process that I like. I'm thinking jumbo jaws for the check would let me grip the outside and finish the inside.

[Wayne Hendrix]

Still working on a technique that I like. The process as it stands now is:


Hole saw to rough it out: 3", 3.5", and 4" seem to work well.
Drill the center hole to fit my screw chuck.
Put disk on said screw chuck.
Shape, sand, and finish the outside.
Part off the bracelet from the disk.
Put 2" sanding drum on drill press, sand inside.
Hand finish inside. :mad:
Like I said, still working on a process that I like. I'm thinking jumbo jaws for the check would let me grip the outside and finish the inside.

So when you do this you are only cutting part way through the blank with the holesaw, is that correct?

[Sean Hughto]

Thanks. And by the way, I meant to say that they looked great. My wife and daughter may like me to try some of these.

[Scott Lux]

Wayne, I used a board as the start for each of these (except the Walnut). So I went all the way through. I've done this turning a square board between centers, and it works, but this seams easier.

I realize there are two weak points (end grain) in the circle. But, a bracelet doesn't require strength. I also leave the band 1/4" to 1/2" thick. Should be sufficient. These are for friends and family, they know I'll fix/replace as needed.

In the future I probably will laminate cross grain.

Important safety tip: Use a bowl gouge or scrapers. This is face-grain work, not spindle work.

Make sense?

[Steve Schlumpf]

Nice work on everything Scott! Really like the Maple!

[Thom Sturgill]

I'm trying to remember, I have a DVD where Jimmy Clewes makes a bracelet. I *think* he started with a 4x4 block about 6" long and and rounded it. Shaped the outside and inside and one edge and parted off a ring. Then made a jamb chuck and flipped it to finish the other edge. Could be wrong, I'll have to watch the video again. He used the indexing feature to locate holes and inserted some pieces of brass rod that made dots around the band.

[Wayne Hendrix]

Wayne, I used a board as the start for each of these (except the Walnut). So I went all the way through. I've done this turning a square board between centers, and it works, but this seams easier.

I realize there are two weak points (end grain) in the circle. But, a bracelet doesn't require strength. I also leave the band 1/4" to 1/2" thick. Should be sufficient. These are for friends and family, they know I'll fix/replace as needed.

In the future I probably will laminate cross grain.

Important safety tip: Use a bowl gouge or scrapers. This is face-grain work, not spindle work.

Make sense?

Got it now. You are turning the disk that the hole saw cuts out, when I first read it I thought that you were using the hole saw to make the hole in the middle of the bracelet and I couldn't figure out what you were mounting on the screw chuck. Thanks for the clarification.

[Karl Card]

I usually use a chuck for mine. I have 2 sets of jaws one for inside the bracelet and one for outside. I have a G3 chuck and i do not have 1 set of jaws that will let me do inside and outside. I use a piece of rubber so that the jaws do not mar the wood.

but after reading the thread up above I like the ideal of sanding it on the drill press better. I just dont have a drum sander setup yet for that.

One thing is that if you do decide to use a chuck be very careful... If you tighten to the point where you here the slightest "crack"...it is toast...

[David E Keller]

Nice bracelets, Scott.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Really nice Scott. Well done. Like the black walnut and maple for sure.

[John Keeton]

Nice work on the bracelets, and I really like the varying combinations of wood and profiles.

I have never made a bracelet, but I did turn a similar ring for the piece I did in the SMC Art Challenge. I started with a chunk of Ambrosia maple, turned a tenon for the chuck, then turned the ring inside and out leaving only a very thin connection. I sanded all surfaces, and parted it at the edge with a detail gouge. The only unfinished surface was a very small edge where it had been connected - easy to sand.

The method seemed to work well. The chunk of maple was large enough that I could have repeated that process to obtain additional rings.

[Scott Lux]

Another thing I should have said, The walnut is finished with CA, the oak and maple with 4 coats wipe-on poly, and the locust is no-finish, sanded to 1500, and buffed.