Our students see a result fast using the Ring Master! It's easy to use and a 10"x10" flat piece of wood makes an entire bowl. The students get excited about choosing how to laminate wood, mix different woods, and the geometry of angling different woods. We also use small block coal wood to make coal wood bracelets which are popular now. Using the Ring Master provides a nice project for a good teaching experience. -- Timothy In, Waipahu High School, Waipahu, Hawaii
In the first two years the Ring Master was manufactured and sold throughout the United States, it was sold only into the educational field. This machine found wide acceptance and use as an entry level power tool in industrial arts, use in special education for mentally and physically handicapped children, wheelchair students and those with special needs. It has found acceptance and fairly wide use by institutions for the blind.
The Ring Master originally was intended as a way of working with wood, so that wood would not be wasted when creating cylindrical shapes. The usual technique of laminating a large block of wood and attaching it to a lathe and machining out the center and shaping it to a lathe and machining out the center and shaping the outside was found to be very wasteful. A perfect example of this waste is seen in illustrations "A" and "B".
The Ring Master is a well-made machine designed to cut flat wood into concentric rings. These rings can be cut with either an angled edge or straight edge. The rings can be stacked into any hollow cylindrical shape. All Ring Master projects begin with a flat piece of wood up to 12" square cut into a perfectly symmetrical octagon up to 3/4" thick. This wood is then center drilled and mounted on the Ring Master. In minutes you will have cut concentric rings which will create any hollow cylindrical shape.
After you cut a supply of angle and straight rings, the fun begins. Prior planning will help you make the best use of your wood by mixing woods of different colors to create many different shapes. Using the Ring Master, you can easily duplicate any project that you have already made.
There are 4 easy steps in using the Ring Master:
1. Cutting angle or straight rings.
2. Stacking the rings for the project.
3. Gluing and clamping the project.
4. Returning the project to the Ring Master for sanding and finishing.
In addition to making hollow cylindrical shapes, there are many exciting different flat projects that can be made. For example, a square foot of wood, 3/4" thick will yield four concentric projects: three picture frames and a candlestick holder. Small items like bracelets, napkin ring holders and wheels for toy projects are easily made.
The Ring Master is made primarily of aluminum castings, aluminum extrusions and chrome-steel components. The Ring Master is manufactured by Porta-Nails, Inc. of Wilmington, North Carolina, USA. the Ring Master requires a 1/3 to 1/2 HP motor, 1725 RPM. The Ring Master comes with an industrial-rated, totally-enclosed, fan-cooled, double-sealed ball bearing, capacitor start, manual overload protection motor.
The Ring Master is also made as an attachment to popular lathes including the Shopsmith Mark V, Sears, Delta, Jet and Record. As an attachment to a lathe, the lathe spins the wood.
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Using Ring Master |
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The second shop teacher was instructed to take the board foot of wood and ????create a vessel which would contain the greatest amount of enclosed volume and a minimum of 1/4" wall thickness. For this demonstration, the teacher could not resaw the wood.
Illustration "A" shows how the second shop teacher created a solid shape laminated to a 6"x6"x4". This was mounted onto a face plate and the center was machined out leaving a 1/4" wall thickness. The vessel enclosed 89.06 cubic inches.
The first shop teacher using the Ring Master, enclosed 611 cubic inches as shown in illustration "A". This is a ratio of 6.8 to 1 for a better utilization of material and less waste of precious wood.
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Prepare the wood for mounting on the Ring Master as follows:
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Step 1: Cut the wood into a square not over 12".
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Step 2: Find the center of each square and mark with a punch.
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Step 3: Using a compass draw the largest circle possible.
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Step 4: Drill a 1/2" hole in the center. This 1/2" hole will permit mounting the work piece on the 1/2" arbor of the Ring Master. This hole will be used later in the gluing and clamping process, and finally, will be used a third time to remount the project on the Ring Master for sanding and finishing. Once the project has been completely finished, a 1/2" plug is cut of the same kind of wood and glued into place sealing this hole.
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Step 5: After drilling, saw the corners off of the square being careful to create a symmetrical octagon. There are two reasons for using a symmetrical octagon. The work piece will be in balance as it spins on the arbor and the first symmetrical outer octagonal ring can be used in a project. Your wood is now prepared and ready to mount on the Ring Master for cutting.
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| Level One: Flat Projects, Picture Frames, Rings, Bracelets |
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