Home >> Hobbies >> Other Hobbies

How to Make Captive Rings on a Wood Lathe

With captive ring woodcarving, you can form objects with slide rings out of a solid piece of wood. Captive rings can be added to drink glasses, baby toys or silverware. To do the job, you need a captive ring tool, available at any woodworking store. The size of the captive ring tool you use depends on the project. As a general rule, children's toys should have the largest possible rings to prevent them from breaking off and posing a choking hazard.

Things You'll Need

Solid wood block
Pencil
Lathe
Carving tools
Masking tape
90, 120, 220 grit sandpaper

Instructions

- 1
  Draw out the areas of the wood you are cutting out and the areas that are staying. For a rattle, you'll want the two solid end pieces and two rings inside.
- 2
  Mount and rotate the wood on the lathe and begin cutting into the wood. Shape and form the general frame, leaving the rings as wood circles.
- 3
  Position the captive ring tool against the interior of the ring circles and gently cut away the wood until the ring comes loose. Stop the lathe and tape the ring to one of the ends. Cut away any remaining wood that was under the ring. Repeat with the second ring.
- 4
  Sand the entire piece starting with 90 grit sandpaper and progressing up to 220 grit. Release the rings last and sand the taped portion.

Other Hobbies