Wood jewelry approach

Jewelry Discussion
1

i want to try to make some wood jewelry, but i dont know what is the
best way to shape the wood,such as ring,bangle and pendants, also i
saw some wood jewelry with silver, there are wood concave on the
face of the pendant and the metal put in it,dont know how to do that
wish your help…

2

you sound like you are at the before you start stage. There are
several relatively new books on doing just what you are asking for-
see:

you should be able to look at at least one of these books at a local
Barnes and Noble.

Also check your local library. You can begin with a few limited tools
but you will probably want some simple power tools.

read some and then ask again.
jesse

3 
i want to try to make some wood jewelry, but i dont know what is
the best way to shape the wood,such as ring,bangle and pendants

connor, my main jewelry is wood, i will just explain fast, some of
my methods, i sent you some pics as well So i use either lumber or
logs that i find around, try not to use ebony/exotic wood that is
endangered but i have used it for clients, and the scraps for myself.
My goal is to not use any endangered wood, and not cut trees down at
all,but i do comb the countryside for logs on roadsides, treeservice
yards, and specialty lumber and flooring places for scrap exotic wood
(cutoffs), there are plenty of places to get exotic wood, out in the
trash, i find killer exotics made into pallettes, did i say this
would be quick?

Anyway, i always split the log through the pith to relieve checking
cracks which happen when it dries, and further coat the end grain
with paint, liquid wax mixture(sold in wood catalogs), but my
favorite-cutting wax for metal bandsaws. Bandsaw- I split and
chainsaw the logs so they fit under the bandsaw guide and i slice
the log up with the 3/4 blade, this is where you see all the patterns
and grain, then cut the production pieces with the 1/4 or 1/8, blade,
drill appropriate holes on a drillpress use a 2.5" holesaw for most
bangles, and widen and sand with a spindle sander, drum sander, or
by hand. By the way, a bangle is measured from the with of the
scrunched together hand as to what size hole it will fit through,
diameter there gives you the size holesaw(or you could use a
scrollsaw, etc), doesn’t have much to do with wrist size, though many
women tell me that they like to wear cuffs and bangles up on their
forearm below the elbow area which obviously changes measurements.
Cuffs(the bracelets with an opening) are measured by the with of the
wrist, and the height, or use a cloth tape measure and eyball an
oval, sizes are 5, 6,7,8,9-wrist circumference**. , the opening can
start at about an inch, which is the height of the wrist, best
measured with a machinist measuring caliper and will sand to
1.100"-1.200"(1 1/4") opening, large women can have an opening of
1.750(1 3/4"), Drill ring blanks also, a finished 7 is just a few
thousandths smaller than 11/16ths so you must drill smaller, like
.025 smaller(21/32nds drill), use a 5/8ths drill for a 6, which sands
out to 21/32nds(size 6), this is done with a ring sanding arbor on a
bench motor/polishing motor with 60-120 grit, the rougher the sanding
cloth, the more comes out of the hole and go down to 320 for a decent
fine finish. If you sand for smoothness you should get as fine as
320-400 I shape with a belt sander, 6"or 4", and i have a beautiful
1" as well, and it is good to use the disc if the beltsander is a
combo, i also have a separate benchmounted motor-1725rpm with a 6"
disc that is my main shaping/carving tool, i mount an autobody fibre
disc- 16 grit- to rough bracelets, then i switch to 60, then 150 or
so, and finer, it’s a disc where i wrap the paper on the face and
over the edge of the spinning disc, and sandwich with a backing plate
so i have an edge to carve with, but a custom wheel made of diamond
or sprayed carbide is the bomb, and they make them.

then the foredom flexshaft;, i have small ones1/8 hp and a large one
1/4. The large one is a great bracelet carver(large), takes 1/4
shank burs, small foredom for the finer stuff, but the quality of the
burs and what you can do with them is the key.

Carving knives are also beautiful tools, but take experience not to
get cut, also rasps and files, like burs are sublime to work with.

My final tip, use the sun, carve in the sun, sand in the sun, and
sand with your bare hands if you really want to get excited, and get
scratches out of course. I forgot polishing, you can just buff with
tripoli, sanding to 320-600, and white diamond, which works very
well, or you can coat with lacquer, shellac-french polish, or the
good waterbase clear which is really nice. Or you can just carve a
twig and bite a hole in it,

good luck, dave

Note From Ganoksin Staff:
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