segmented turning noob question

[ed kerns]

I'm contemplating turning my first segmented vessel, which is to say I'm doing a lot of head scratching. I've been thinking about the feature ring and a pretty basic question comes to mind. Let's say I'm assembling a 12 segment bowl, does the feature ring also need to be made of 12 segments? The pattern I'd like to use doesn't translate well to a single segment of 12. The follow up question is, if I build the feature ring from less than 12 pieces, is there a 'rule of thumb' about how many segments would be most appropriate from a design stand point? Thanks!

[SteveS]

There is no rule, particularly for a feature ring. My designs of number of segments mostly depends on the diameter. For small diameter I may only have eight, but large I'll go up to 24. The only time I had a number that was "fixed" was for a particular design that was defined by the Auspicious numbers in Chinese culture.

[DFJarvie]

Yes there is no rule. It all depends on what size the feature per segment needs to be. For example you could use a 6 piece ring (30 deg) which will compliment a 12 piece ring (15 deg).

One thing to note. If the feature is one design per segment, ex, a star you need space between the segments. As you turn you remove material and the end of the stars don’t align. I made a urn recently and had a nice star design. They touched nicely end to end but when I turned them the stars shrunk so the height was good but they got smaller width wise.

Just make sure you have enough extra wood if you need to remake the feature ring.

[Woodshop]

I think it looks best if there is some plan of alignment.   why not use the number of segments that the feature ring takes or half or double.  No need to be stuck on 12

[Angus]

Their is no rule but. there is someconsideration that needs to be done in the design process, The alignment on a feature ring usually looks better if you keep the number of feature ring segments coresponding to the number of segments in the other rings. If I design a 8 segemt feature ring I would build the main body with 8, 16 or 24 segments per ring. Going the other way, if I build the body with 12 segments per ring I would want the feature ring to be 6, 12 or 24 segments. Doiing it this way gives the turning a visual balance and makes joint alignment much easier. This isn't a hard and fast rule and I do break it occasionaly but only if I can't work something else out.

[ed kerns]

Their is no rule but. there is someconsideration that needs to be done in the design process, The alignment on a feature ring usually looks better if you keep the number of feature ring segments coresponding to the number of segments in the other rings. If I design a 8 segemt feature ring I would build the main body with 8, 16 or 24 segments per ring. Going the other way, if I build the body with 12 segments per ring I would want the feature ring to be 6, 12 or 24 segments. Doiing it this way gives the turning a visual balance and makes joint alignment much easier. This isn't a hard and fast rule and I do break it occasionaly but only if I can't work something else out.

Thanks- This makes sense to me.  Easier to visually balance the feature segments if they are 1/4, 1/2, 1/1, 2/1, etc. to the rest of the piece. Is it a typical method of work to decide on the shape, design the feature ring (assuming there is one) and then decide how many segments the rest of the bowl should have?
I've been a flat woodworker for sometime. Making stuff round is a whole new ball game!

[ed kerns]

Thanks all! I've been working on an 'Indian blanket' design. The design itself takes up a lot of real estate, so fitting it onto the bowl 12 times seemed impractical - at least with the vessel sized to my liking. I'm in the midst of gluing up the feature ring and it's been a fun experience. Definitely learning more than really accomplishing anything, but it keeps me humble. I was thinking about how much wood I'm going to lose when I actually make it round. I've decided on 8 segments, so turning it will no doubt will alter the design some. Thank you all for the sage advice.

[FrankAtl]

Their is no rule but. there is someconsideration that needs to be done in the design process, The alignment on a feature ring usually looks better if you keep the number of feature ring segments coresponding to the number of segments in the other rings. If I design a 8 segemt feature ring I would build the main body with 8, 16 or 24 segments per ring. Going the other way, if I build the body with 12 segments per ring I would want the feature ring to be 6, 12 or 24 segments. Doiing it this way gives the turning a visual balance and makes joint alignment much easier. This isn't a hard and fast rule and I do break it occasionaly but only if I can't work something else out.

What Angus said.

[Angus]

I normally do the shape and size then I decide on a pattern for the feature rings. That will dictate the segment size and the size dictates the number of segments in the feature rings. All that dictates the number of segments in the body rings. It's not uncommon for me to take more time to design a turning than building and turning it. But, I do make full size color drawings of all the different feature rings. That way I can makes ure the pattern doesn't run into itself during the turning process.