Bob Newby's Shop Visit

Thanks to Bob Newby for hosting the November 13, 2008 shop visit.  Bob has a shop that most of us can only dream about!   It is bright and spacious, and VERY well equipped.   One of the visitors to Bob's shop commented "If there's a tool that every shop should have, then Bob has two of them". Bob's shop is plumbed for compressed air and fully ducted for dust collection.  He has a separate room for storing his fine selection of wood including many exotic varieties. As an accomplished wood turner, Bob gave a tutorial and demonstration of his RingMaster tool.  This tool cuts progressively smaller rings out of a flat circle of wood.  The sides of the rings are tapered so when you are all done, you stack the rings up to form a bowl, lamp, vase, etc.   Combining different varieties of wood in your original block results in many beautiful patterns.  See the photos below for a better understanding. As always, coffee and cookies were provided.

Bob Newby's Shop Layout

Shop Tutorial

Different varieties of wood are glued together to form a pattern.   The corners are cut off with the band saw and a hole drilled in the middle to mount the board on the RingMaster.  The setup and cutting angles are calculated based the thickness of the wood and the desired size of the bowl.   The first cuttoff is tossed.  Then progressively smaller cuts are made.       Unlike the lathe, this process has very little waste.   Notice how the sides are tapered.   The rings stack to form a perfect bowl.   The rings are aligned to form the desired pattern.   A special clamp is used for gluing.     The resulting object (bowl, vase, lamp) is then finished on the lathe.   Some of Bob's work!   The shop visitors discuss the many creative possibilities.