Need segmented turning Help!

[Brian Brown]

I have finished assembling and truing the rings for a vase I am making. The joints look good, and the rings trued well. I was so proud of myself I couldn't stand it until I thought about gluing the rings together. Now I need help with the next step. In the past when I have glued the rings together, I have had problems with the the rings slipping from the slickness of the glue. This causes among other things, alignment problems. What is the best way to keep the rings from slipping so they stay aligned the way I put them? I read somewhere about CA or hot gluing guide blocks to the ring below, but this is time consuming and sometimes the temp blocks don't stay on. Also, Some of the rings have a very small lip without enough surface area for a good glue surface. I have no problem doing this unless somebody has a better way. I quickly scanned through Malcolm's book last night, but couldn't find what I was looking for. I would like to hear some thoughts on how to do this step.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Brian

[Bill Wyko]

One way is hot glue. Another thing you can do is hold them in alignment by hand and start applying clamping preasure. Once you have a certain amount of squeeze out they will stay in place. I had taken a piece of 1/4" aluminum plate and drilled and tapped a piece of allthread into it. Then with a wing nut and a scrap of wood I would tighten it to the aluminum while holding my rings true. When all the rings are glued up, then I glue the bottom to it so I have the surface which will allow me to chuck it. The other way is to make a big round board with a pin hole at the center. Then put it on your lathe and as it's spinning draw lines about 1/4 inch apart. Now you use that as a back plate to press your rings one at a time on the lathe. The lines will help you with aligning one ring to another based on the round plates drawn rings being centered. :confused: I'll try to post pics later.

[Brian Brown]

Thanks for the quick reply. I am a little confused though (not unusual). Are you suggesting hot glue to permanently hold the rings together? I saw the second method in Malcolm's book, but didn't want to take the time to make it. Maybe I should slow down and do it. I love the concept and finished product from segmented turning, but the time it takes is killing me.

Brian

[Bill Wyko]

Just use hot glue in 4 spots equally spaced around your rings and you should be ok.:) You can peel it off once the rings set up. or you can just turn it off too.

[Richard Madison]

Brian,
If you build a piece on the lathe, start with the bottom screwed to a faceplate or glued to an aux. faceplate, on the spindle. You can use a cone center, scroll chuck or Longworth chuck with adapter in the tailstock to center and align each ring as you glue it to the work piece. The tailstock can also apply sufficient clamping pressure while the glue sets. You only need to true (flatten) the glue side of each ring, as the second side can be turned and sanded flat on the lathe after it is glued to the work piece. When adding a ring, apply a little pressure with tailstock and rotate the spindle back and forth about the joint alignment point to work excess glue out of the joint. Add a litle more pressure and continue. You will feel when all excess glue has been squeezed out and the joint begins to "lock up". Carefully align the new ring and add a little more pressure. Allow time for the glue to set up before turning and sanding the new ring flat.
P.S. Depending upon the wood used, temp. & humidity variations in your shop, a ring that you got perfectly true and flat last night may not be perfectly flat today. Check before you glue.

[Bill Wyko]

Thats a good point. Once you true Em' you wanna glue Em':) I found that rings that I drum sand one day and try to glue the next day, can need a little truing just hours later.