mailing over an idea

[Marshall Eppley]

Been thinking about laminating my own ring here's what I'm thinking take tire from a big truck. Screw the first layer from the inside out. Grind the screws off and start adding glue and layers one at a time holding each layer with a ratchet strap.when I have the thickness I want remove the screws from the inside of the tire and then remove the tire. Sand finish drill burn holes square with hot pick. What do you guys think worth a try?

[Knecht]

I don't have much experience bending and laminating wood, but guess it might work.

[Bob Rowlands]

Go for it.

[Bob Rowlands]

What glues are you considering? What lam material? For curved rail we use hide glue due to the long working time, but it isn't waterproof. A unit of epoxy would be expensive. Waterproof titebond sets fast but isn't much of a gap filler. Gorilla glue is waterproof and expands to fill voids, but structurally? If you do the build consider some photos maybe? It's a cool idea.

[hierony]

In the crown ring I attempted to make, I used both gorilla glue & liquid nails. Didn't hold up well--the ring shifted with transport, storage, and drying out such that most of the glue didn't hold. I'd screwed all the pieces together (which is what held), but it was questionable.

Hide/animal requires good joints (makes great invisible seams). Titebond company makes a liquid version of it, but I've heard it's not as good as made from the dried granular form. You can get the granular form from a local luthier/violin repair shop for small amounts (they can also tell you how to mix it). I've heard if you know what you're doing, you can get the glue joint to crack open cleanly with hide glue.

Make sure your joints are tight. There are some photos of people making a laminated ring in the albums here. I suspect you could use a bunch of veneers or really thin plywood.

You could use one glue (hide?) for the laminations then cover the thing in an epoxy to seal it, too.