Southwest Feature Ring Construction
The Segmented Project Planner is a computer program that assists you in designing entire segmented vessels in just minutes. In able to create "southwest blanket" designs for a feature ring, you will also need their add-on designer Diamond Border Planner. The Diamond Border designer is fully integrated within the Segmented Project Planner, so you will need both programs if you want to design these southwest patterns.
Lamination Pro is another computer program that allows for designing these southwest feature rings as well as other multi-generational designs from laminated boards. Lamination Pro is the only program you will need to design the southwest patterns, but they also have companion programs (Woodturner Pro, Segment Pro, and 3D Design Pro) that assist in designing entire segmented vessels.
This page is not intended to be a tutorial, it is only a visual aid that depicts the result of each step in the process of creating these southwest patterns from a laminated board.
1. The first step is creating a laminated board, usually consisting of 5 or 7 strips of contrasting woods. On the right is a picture of 4 different lamination glue-ups, the top lamination uses 5 strips while the others all use 7 strips. To create the southwest pattern, the laminated board's strips should be symmetric around the center strip.
2. Using either the Diamond Border Designer or Lamination Pro, you can interactively determine the desired angle and segment width for cutting up the laminated boards. The image to the right shows each board cut with a different angle and segment width. I use my table saw, a Jointech Smart Miter sled and a stop block to cut these segments accurately.
3. By horizontally flipping every other segment, and re-assembling the segments, you end up with a zigzag design. This image shows a useful setup for gluing and clamping those segments resulting in the zigzag pattern.
4. Here's the picture of all the laminated boards after they have been cut, flipped, glued and clamped. The zigzag pattern could be used as-is for a feature ring, but we still have a little more work to do before we see the southwest pattern design.
5. By cutting each zigzag board in half lengthwise with my table saw and then moving the top half one segment to the right or left, a diamond pattern emerges. Once again this could be used as it's own feature ring design, but we're just a couple steps away from the desired southwest design.
6. Slicing the diamond design lengthwise into 1/8 inch strips readies us for the final stage of our design. I typically cut these strips on the bandsaw, however I have also used my table saw and a MicroJig GRR-RIPPER with their 1/8 inch leg accessory.
7. Below is a close-up view of the 1/8 inch slices in one of the laminated boards now displaying the sliced diamond pattern.
8. Finally, by flipping each 1/8 inch strip upside down you achieve the resulting southwest pattern designs. Gluing and clamping up these strips is the final step in achieving a board that can then be cut to form a ring in the same way any segmented bowl layer is created.
Below are some final feature rings almost ready for adding to a segmented bowl. Some of these rings slices were cut to 1/8 inch like the previous instructions specified, but some slices were cut to 1/4 inch for a slightly bolder design. Those type of changes can be specified in the Diamond Border Designer or Lamination Pro, and the results can be viewed and interactively experimented with before ever making your first cuts.
To turn the final southwest design boards demonstrated above into a feature ring like those shown below, that's when the Segmented Project Planner or the Woodturner Pro programs will be useful. They assist in determining the angle necessary to form a ring, adding in optional spacers between the segments, as well as designing the entire bowl surrounding the feature ring.
Finally, if you have any trouble with your feature rings, Bill Kandler (author of the Segmented Project Planner) and Skip Deedon have provided a pdf file titled "In Search of Perfect Diamonds and Beyond" which gives great tips on making the cuts and glue-ups for creating near perfect feature rings.
