Wood wedding rings?

[Wade Lippman]

I have made turned some rings and find they break pretty quickly. I tried using resin impregnated wood intended for knife scales and find they last longer, but still break.

My son is getting married and wants a wood ring. Before I tell him it is impossible, any ideas?

He now wears a coconut wood ring he bought in Hawaii for$10. Ugly as anything, but it has lasted 1 year without breaking. So that makes me think of black palm; the wood is available, would it be any more durable than hardwoods?

[Maria Alvarado]

Not turned, but look up bentwood rings on youtube and you'll see a strong way of using veneer that's heated and wrapped to size with CA glue between layers. The grain runs around the whole ring. There are also kits with a metal 'cuff' that splits in two so the strength comes from the metal and the wood is effectively inlayed.
Good luck!

[John C Bush]

A friend turned wedding bands out of cocobolo and they have held up well. Hope the marriage does too!

[Mark Greenbaum]

Ebony - highest quality clarinets are made from it, and they hold up for centuries (but they're not worn on a finger, either). Or make a wooden ring larger than the required size, make a silver band with a groove that is small enough to slip through the inside of the wood, and take to a jeweler and have them slowly, and carefully stretch the silver to fit snug. I use to make two-tone gold bands like that when I was a full time jeweler.

[John K Jordan]

I have made turned some rings and find they break pretty quickly. I tried using resin impregnated wood intended for knife scales and find they last longer, but still break....

Mark, what species of woods have you tried so far that didn't hold up?

I like the idea of the sliver insert. Otherwise, I would try turning some quick ring tests in various species and try breaking them. If you don't have access to a lot maybe a friend does, or some readers here would be willing to make some test. I know I would but not until after the 25th! Are you in a hurry? (Edit: the online Wood Database includes strength properties for a lot of wood species.)

BTW, since wood properties vary widely from tree to tree and even within the same tree, if possible make the actual ring from the same blank as one that passed the strength test.

Remember that some people are more sensitive to certain species than others - one test is to to tape a bit of the sawdust to the inside of the forearm and watch for a reaction - might work with a sliver of solid wood too.

Does he have a color preference? I think a fine-grained diffuse porous wood or one with the the pores filled with tyloses or resin would be best to avoid picking up moisture. My first choice of domestic woods would be flowering dogwood, fine grain, very tough, gets smoother as it wears. Other domestics to try: osage orange, locust, persimmon (a type of ebony). For exotics, hard and extremely strong is lignum vitae. Other hard exotics I'd test for strength: african blackwood, ebony, cocobolo, ipe, boxwood. A wonderful Creeker sent me some pieces of Australian wood which are very hard and dense - I'd be glad to test those if you are not in a hurry.

Another idea is to make several spares. Perhaps he could keep the one used in the ceremony for special events and use the duplicates for everyday wear.

JKJ

[Shawn Pachlhofer]

here you go:

http://www.bangleguy.com/RIng_Supplies.html

[Paul Williams]

I have made several rings, but do not really know how they stood up over time. No negative information but also no information. I used several types of hardwood, and some exotics. I soaked each ring in thin CA glue after turning and initial sanding. Always ran the grain across the ring, or in the direction the finger would be pointed.

[Dave Mueller]

Here also...http://www.woodworkersemporium.com/stainless-steel-ring-cores/

[Wes Ramsey]

My cousin found some Hawthorn wood (his family name) and hand carved an engagement ring from a blank. She still wears it every day after about 4 years and it still looks nice. Hawthorn is also known as Fairy Trees in Scotland, where our family is from. It is illegal to cut them without special permit, but you can find blanks here and there if you consult the mighty google. I believe it is a type of hedge and is very hard and dense. He gave me a small chunk of it to play with and it turns very nicely and finishes quite smooth. I got a nice tooled finish with no tearout that required little sanding. If memory serves the ring was about 1/4" or a hair under.

[Richard Dooling]

Just a thought,

If the desire is to have an all wood ring then perhaps wood veneers could be laminated, turned and then soaked in CA or resin (in a vacuum??). I imagine they would need to be finished turned and polished as a final step.

Actually the bentwood rings make sense to me and could offer some interesting variations.

[Marvin Hasenak]

This is one method using veneers. https://youtu.be/K0oQZB322Vo

Another is to buy a plain band ring made out of stainless steel and then do the same to it as was done in the video. I made some like this over 10 years ago and they are still wearable, but the wood veneer has worn some over the years. Soaked in CA makes it last pretty good, but hand lotions, dishwashing, washing hands and a million other abuses will take their toll over time.

[robert baccus]

Oooooh--this calls for black & white ebony.

[Peter Blair]

I make mine from thin shavings I take with a plane. I dye and color them. I wind on round rods of various sizes depending on what size I want in the end. When winding I soak with CA. I made inside and outside jigs to allow me to finish them. Strong like Bull!!!

[Wade Lippman]

A lot of great ideas! I have osage orange and cocobolo, so I try those easily enough; though I am not optimistic. I don't remember what woods I tried; it was years ago.

The veneer idea looks good; I think I have veneer somewhere.

The metal core idea is probably the safest, but he doesn't want metal. He is a vegan and this summer we spent 30 minutes reading the ingredients on all the chocolate chip bags to find one without ANY milk.

thank you all

[Bill ThompsonNM]

A lot of great ideas! I have osage orange and cocobolo, so I try those easily enough; though I am not optimistic. I don't remember what woods I tried; it was years ago. The veneer idea looks good; I think I have veneer somewhere. The metal core idea is probably the safest, but he doesn't want metal. He is a vegan and this summer we spent 30 minutes reading the ingredients on all the chocolate chip bags to find one without ANY milk. thank you all
Consider woods like elm-- Something with interlocking grain. From years of splitting elm for firewood, the interlocking grain adds a lot of strength in both directions.... Now as to finish-- maybe the Japanese urushi lacquer. Surely that would suit a vegan.

[Peter Blair]

Wade. I tried steaming, boiling, veneer but had no luck. This I went to making my own thin strips from a 3' length of yellow cedar. I tried walnut and a few others. Was also able to get beech to work well. When soaked with CA glue these woods get really hard and should last a life time.

[robert baccus]

There are many woods that are suitable for rings--you might consider avoiding ring porous woods and the tropicals are very strong and easier to finish than ring porous woods. If he is a veagan woods like rosewoods and ebonies only need a bit of carnuba wax spun on for a great finish. And all veagan.