Galaxy Resin Ring Made with Junk Wood (Maple Burl)

Today I decided to experiment with some new materials, and make a truly unique ring. I wanted to use a piece of maple burl wood and some blue, black, and dark purple resin. I wanted to take it one step further, and add some pearlescent powders which will give the resin a blue and purple shimmer. These pearlescent powders will also add a lot of depth and detail to the resin. This ring will make the perfect gift for anyone would love a one of a kind ring, made with truly unique materials.

The Process:

So the first thing I needed to do to start off this ring, was to cut off a section of the maple burl wood, just thick enough that I could make a ring out of it. My next step was to weigh out the three different containers of resin. I mixed two small containers, one for the purple and one for the black. I wanted these two colors to be more accent colors. I then mixed a larger container with the blue resin. I then needed to add the pigment, and I needed to make sure that I added enough pigment so that the resin was not see through at all. I then added a lot of the pearlescent power to both the purple and the blue resin.

My next step was to start pouring the resins into the mold with the wood. I first started with the blue resin, since that is the many color I wanted to use for this ring. I then poured a lot small amount of purple and black resin on top of the blue and switched back and forth until all of the resin was in the mold. As a finishing touch, I ran a Popsicle stick all the way through the resin to make extra sure that everyone of the colors showed up in the ring. I did have to be careful not to overuse the Popsicle stick, so I did not end up with one big ugly color.

The last step in the casing process was to put the resin inside of a pressure pot. I then used my air compressor to add about 50 psi to the pressure pot. This process completely crush all of the air bubbles that might have been inside of the resin.

I then moved onto the actual ring making process. To start off, I cut the inside and outside of the ring blank out.

I then switched over to the expanding ring mandrel, which if you didn’t know I do have some for sale on my supplies website. Next, I trimmed down the outside of the ring until it was my desired shape. I used my burring-bar to cut out the inside diameter of the ring.

After I got the ring to the dimensions I wanted, I started to sand and polish the ring. I started with the inside of the ring and worked my way out. I wanted to added a layer of ca finish to help the resin and the wood really stand out, pop, and also give the ring a really nice glossy finish.

My last step was to use a buffing wheel just to make sure the finish was completely perfect. I started out with a medium polish and then switched to a very fine polish. Now here is the finished ring!

Check this ring and others here!