Using a Disk Cutter to make Ring!

[MuranoSilver]

Just saw this fabulous technique on YouTube
YouTube - RioGrande1944's Channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/RioGrande1944#p/c/FD7BA32EC47480EB/0/ceuFqGia4gk)
It shows how to make washers into rings, looks like fun
Nic x

[lynnm]

looks easy to...!

[ps_bond]

I like the centering punch - makes the alignment nice and easy. Previously I've scribed the inner & outer circles in and eyeballed the position.

[Lisa Quinn]

George has done some amazing work with this disc cutter recently, looks like a fabulous piece of kit and very much on many people's wish list.

However I have reservations regarding using it to make ring bands, surely in stretching the inner circle you reduce the thickness of that edge and it would be thinner on that side than the side which was the original outer edge?

[Tigerlily]

Funnily enough Nic I was only watching this earlier in the week!! Have to say looks a fab piece of kit, and certainly on my wish list :dance:

X x

[Ominicci]

Lisa - it does say that at the end of the video that one edge is thinner than the other, and they just sanded the thinner edge down slightly to 'true it up'.

If you have an aversion to soldering or it just doesn't work for you then I suppose this is an alternative (and another good reason to get this piece of kit :-D)

[amazingbabe]

Watched that too nic, how much was it ??

[Tigerlily]

Gayle, think it was about $250 ....:eek: and now I so really want one :'( x

[caroleallen]

It is a great kit. I haven't tried a ring yet but I mean to when I get the time.

[ps_bond]

However I have reservations regarding using it to make ring bands, surely in stretching the inner circle you reduce the thickness of that edge and it would be thinner on that side than the side which was the original outer edge?

Tested... OD 1", ID 1/2", thickness 0.90mm (I know, mixing units again).
Resulting in a roughly 1/4" wide band - there was some edge wibble, but not too much - with an ID of 18mm, one edge 0.95mm and the other 0.88mm.

[Somersetmaker]

I wish Cooksons' ring cutter had a clamp like the one in this vid - it makes this tool so much more versatile!

[stu_clouds]

I vote cooksons should stock the swanstrom disc cutter.

[Lisa Quinn]

I vote cooksons should stock the swanstrom disc cutter.

I think there are probably a dozen of us here that would go along with that idea !! Get a petition going Stu !!

[Dennis]

The Swanstrom Disc Cutter is unusual in that it allows you to clamp the sheet. Movement is always a problem as you can end up with half moons. However the Delrin positioning devices cost an extra $54. Someone with a lathe might decide to make these to save money(Peter perhaps?). Alternatively learn to solder and pierce, always useful skills, and save over $300 .

[stu_clouds]

hmmm its an initial saving, but if you are trying to keep up with demand you could use the usual time is money. i suppose it depends on particular circumstances.

[mizgeorge]

I used to clamp sheet into my old cutter with a small c clamp, which did help. The real difference is in the punch design though. The Swanstrom punches are angled, so they shear rather than just punching through the by brute force. I can easily cut .8mm sheet using a rawhide mallet, and only have to get my big brass hammer out for 1mm and up.

I would say mine has already paid for itself twice over, and I've only had it for a couple of months. Fantastic tool.

[Dennis]

Thank you George thats a clincher, D.

[Emerald]

but i dont really see why you would want to make a ring?

[ps_bond]

Because it's seamless?

[Emerald]

but there has to be an easier way GETI

[mizgeorge]

Jo, I think it's more because you can than anything. I've done it just to see if it worked, and the result was perfectly nice, but no quicker (more the opposite) or better than fabricating it conventionally, and far more wasteful - it's much harder to use up bits of scrap from a disc than a nice clean strip.

I doubt I'd bother to do it again!

[ps_bond]

One word: Continuous pattern mokume.
OK, technically 3 words.

It's the only way I can think of to create a ring where there's no join in the pattern.

[Emerald]

but if that was mokume would you be able to do it
and what if it wasent the right size when you finished

[MuranoSilver]

Bloomin eck Peter you've already tormented me with swanky saws and now I want a swanky disk cutter.....
Thankfully I think I can buy lovely metal (I've always wanted to make something with it!)
Jo, I guess if Peter can hammer a bowl out of it he could probably make a washer ring ;)
I'm not that advanced but love to make "Cinderella" rings....
They fit or they don't, rofl :-D
nic xx

[caroleallen]

I love that term "Cinderella Rings". Must remember that. I hate making rings to fit. I usually end up making 2 or 3, which is OK as I can put them in stock to sell later.

[caroleallen]

The washer method may be a good idea for making enamelled rings. I must give that some thought. As you say though, sizing may be a problem.

[Emerald]

Jo, I guess if Peter can hammer a bowl out of it he could probably make a washer ring ;)
I'm not that advanced but love to make "Cinderella" rings....
They fit or they don't, rofl :-D
nic xx

Its easier and know i am not saying its easy, to hammer larger objects than small and yes i have made mokume before you ask.

[MuranoSilver]

Buggrit if I make some too then can we all have a secret handshake??
:rofl:
Feeling a bit like grasshopper in the presence of the Masterful ones :Y:
Nicxx

[Jayne]

One word: Continuous pattern mokume.
OK, technically 3 words.

It's the only way I can think of to create a ring where there's no join in the pattern.

Okay, dumb question alert......
If one were to use this method to make a ring out of a mokume gane washer, wouldn't the pattern be spread out & distorted more on one side of the ring than the other?

[ps_bond]

Sorry, missed this earlier - yes, it would. I'd make the initial pattern radial and try to compensate for the expansion in advance.

I don't make rings with copper alloys due to the longevity problems; I might use some offcuts as a brief demo sometime soon.

[Jayne]

I'd make the initial pattern radial and try to compensate for the expansion in advance.


Ummm.....wow......that doesn't sound tricksy!
(btw, mine's a size M ;))
J x