Thread: Can anyone tell me what this is??

Sphere cutting jig would be my first guess

I think it's a ring cutter. Similar to one that was developed by Bruce Leadbeter for Leady lathes.
https://mcjing.com.au/categorybrowse...categoryid=516
Regards
John

'tis a Ring Cutter made by Bruce Leadbeatter in Sydney. I couldn't find anything on this particular tool on the net, but a similar item on How To Cut Rings on a Lathe Using Custom Tooling will give you an idea of how it is used. Bruce used to obtain 25mm thick boards of Cedar from a coffin manufacturer about 300mm square and create laminated bowls out of one board about 150mm deep by about 300mm diameter. He also made vases or urns from several of these boards, creating a stacked vessel about 450mm tall. Laminating strips of 25mm square timber into 300mm square boards and then using the ring cutter you can create a version of a segmented bowl very easily.

Bruce manufactured the 'Leady' lathe in several variants and a multitude of chucks, accessories and turning tools in his Sydney workshop, and was a life member of The Sydney Woodturners Guild. If you do a search on this Forum, you will find many references to Bruce and his various inventions.

Bruce passed away earlier this year.

Alan...

DSC_0732.jpg

HOW GOOD IS THAT!!
Thankyou so very much. David Leadbeater must have been one smart cookie.
But now the big question..... has anyone out there got a set of instructions / setup guide? I have looked around on the google machine and it looks like David used to have a website which had instructions available, but the website is no more unfortunatly.

Thanks again

Simon.

The setup is similar to that shown in the video link above. The "Leady Ringcutter" cuts from both faces simultaneously, which minimises tearout.

1. Draw a profile / cross section of the desired bowl / vase with "board layers" drawn.
2. Measure the ring diameter, thickness with an allowance for turning & wall angle of each ring.
3. Place the Ring Cutter in the lathe tool post,
4. open out the cutters and place "over" the board to be cut.
5. align the cutter to the desired diameter, angle of the vessel wall and ring thickness.
6. Use a low lathe speed.
7. Crank the handle, taking care on entry and the completion of the cut - remember you can't see the cutters meet in the centre.
8. Stack and glue then turn.

Mike Darlow offers a very good explanation in his book "Woodturning Techniques" pages 19-21 along with photos and examples of Bruce Leadbetter's work.

Research BFAB - "Bowl From A Board" on Google and many of the forums and you will find quite a few tutorials on the "how to" however many use a scroll saw or band saw and "half rings" to construct the bowl instead of a device such as the "Leady Ringcutter.".

Yep . Leady ring cutter . I have one .I also have the instructions and there is a jig to help set it up .I'll have a look tomorrow and dig them out .
Ted

I have a similar tool that was developed in America, called Ringmaster. As Moby said it is used for making bowls from a board. It is designed to cut rings at an angle so that a bowl can be made from a board. Google "dizzy bowls".

Jim

Thanks a million, that would be teriffic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2n4uY9oJ-tA looks like a copy of Bruce Leadbetter's invention. Don't follow the direction in the clip though, no need to drill the 1/2" hole etc. Bruce's technique was a little more refined.

Using a waste block with a face plate or scroll chuck is a much better option.

Simon
I eventually remembered to dig out the instructions for the Leady Ring Cutter . I downloaded them from Bruce's web site some years ago but it looks like the web site has gone now .I would scan them to you but scanning doesn't seem to work on my computer . I have discovered that the cutter is now available from Robinson International . They were advertising in Australian Woodworker for a while . The adv. says to email: [email protected] . If you can't get a copy from them , PM me your address and I will copy mine and post it to you .
Ted