those thin elipses on pens and segmented turnings

[Stephen Hibbs]

When you guys do those, do you just cut a thin slice of the contrasting wood and use it to glue together a cut blank? What wood would be good for a good contrast with walnut, and would this work with a large walnut cup. What thickness do you cut the lighter wood? What angles look good (45, 60, 30?) I think I might put an elipse in the liquid holding section of a large cup I am making.

[Raymond Overman]

I personally use a small piece of maple veneer. Depending on what I'm looking for I might use dyed or plain. Thickness depends on what you're looking for from the piece.

I've cut the angle at 30, 45, and 60. I like 60 the best for the celtic knots which involves multiple cuts after rotating the blank by 90 degrees 4 times. Any of them will work if you just want one slice across it.

Experiment to find what you like best is the best way to see which one works for you.

[Mike Vickery]

I personally cut my own veneer strip on my table saw for pens but you would probably want to buy it for a cup unless you have a really nice bandsaw or thickness sander. For Walnut if you want high contract go with maple, if you want a more subtle contract Cherry or Jatoba can be nice.
As far a thickness I do not know I just eye ball how big I want it. As long as the thickness is constant it should be fine.

As far as angles I have only done this with pens but I go with the rule of less angle for larger pens (about 30) and higher angles for smaller pens (45 deg +). For a cup your guess is as good as mine but I would guess 15 to 30 degree range.