2. Now, how long do you cut each segment?

Original materials © 2008-2014. Don Leman, donleman.com Reprints available for download from donleman.com/segmenting

12 segments15o cuts

The length of each segment

determines the diameter of the

ring. Longer segments yield

a larger diameter ring.

1. Lay out a plan and design the piece first! You must decide the basics before cutting ... the number of segments, number of rings, and the diameter of each ring … height, diameter, shape, etc. Pictured right is an example.

You can accomplish this profile with pen, ruler, and graph paper or one of the available computer programs on the market today. segmentedwoodturners.org is hosting its biannual symposium in San Antonio TX in Oct 2014. Two computer programs will be presented in depth. Download a symposium brochure - donleman.com/press/2014_symposium.pdf - for more information.

BooksHampton, Ron. (2003). Segmented turning: A complete

guide. East Sussex, England: Guild of Master Craftsman Publications.

Nish, Dale. (2004). Woodturning with Ray Allen: A master’s designs & techniques for segmented bowls & vessels. East Petersburg PA: Fox Chapel Publishing.

Tibbetts, Malcolm. (2005). The art of segmented woodturning: A step-by-step guide. Fresno CA: Linden

Recommended ResourcesPublishing.

Open Segmenting ... Smith, William. (2002). Segmented wood turning. Atglen PA: Schiffer Publishing.

Software• Woodturner Pro, available from woodturnerpro.com• Lamination Pro, available from woodturnerpro.com• Segmented Project Planner, available from

verifiedsoftware.com

Ring 1

Ring 2

Ring 3

Ring 4

Ring 5

Ring 6

Ring 7Ring 8

Credit - Tibbetts, p. 69

Credit - Hampton, p. 17

Page 1

Basic Segmenting Overview

Let’s run through a few examples:• You want an 18-segment ring that is 11” in diameter ... .17632 x 11” = 1.93952” length (miter angle 10o)• You want a 12-segment ring that is 10” in diameter ... .26795 x 10” = 2.6795” length (miter angle 15o)• You want a 16-segment ring that is 18” in diameter ... .19891 x 18” = 3.58038” length (miter angle 11.25o)

# of Segments

MiterAngle °

Tangent J

# of Segments

MiterAngle °

Tangent J

6 30 0.57735 24 7.5 0.13165

8 22.5 0.41421 26 6.923 0.12142

10 18 0.32492 28 6.428 0.11267

12 15 0.26795 30 6 0.10510

14 12.857 0.22824 32 5.625 0.09849

16 11.25 0.19891 34 5.294 0.09266

18 10 0.17632 36 5 0.08749

20 9 0.15838 38 4.737 0.08286

22 8.182 0.14378 40 4.5 0.07870

tangent x diameter = segment length

Method #1 Credit - Tibbetts, p. 67 Method #2 Credit - Hampton, p. 12

3. Make the width deep enough, based on your drawing, to have room to turn the inside and outside of your piece. Refer to the graphics on page 1.

a. diameter x pi (use 3.1416 for pi) = circumference ÷ by the number of segments = segment length

b. 360° divided by twice the number of segments (because each segment has two sides) = miter angle

Let’s run through a few examples:• You want an 18-segment ring that is 11” in diameter ... 11” diameter x 3.1416 = 34.5576” circumference ÷ 18

segments = 1.91986” length. 360° ÷ (18x2) = 10° miter angle.

• You want a 12-segment ring that is 10” diameter ... 10” diameter x 3.1416 = 31.416” circumference ÷ 12

segments = 2.618” length. 360° ÷ (12x2) = 15° miter angle.

• You want a 16-segment ring that is 18” in diameter ... 18” diameter x 3.1416 = 56.5488” circumference ÷ 16

segments = 3.5343” length. 360° ÷ (16x2) = 11.25° miter angle.

Want to do a Feature Ring ... something that possibly could fit into Ring 5 similar to that shown on page 1?

Here is just one of many possibilities. Make two sets with contrasting woods, such as maple-mahogany and maple-bloodwood. To finish - (1) Cut each segment to the desired miter angle. (2) When inserting feature ring into project, ring the maple-mahogany set with mahogany and the maple-bloodwood set with bloodwood to complete the illusion.

Credit - Nish, p. 132Page 2