Here is the walnut "blank." It consists of eight walnut sections. Outer and Inner diameters have been turned to within 1/8" of final dimension.
I begin creating the shoulder to fit the tonering.
Checking the gap between the tone ring and the shoulder.
The tonering is fitting nicely for the diameter. Later I will trim the height to make sure it is seated properly. I now take a feeler guage to set the lathe to cut to within a few thousandths of final outer diameter. This is within "sanding range" of final dimension.
Turning to near final dimension.
Time to fire up the bending iron so I can bend the maple for the bracket band.
Bending a curly maple strip with heat and moisture.
I rout a channel for the maple bracket band and check the fit.
Clamping the maple bracket band.
In between this picture and the previous, I have inlaid rosewood and maple vertical strips at the block joins.
This is a registration jig and punch. I place the tension hoop at the bottom of the rim and use the notches to register the position of the bracket holes. The punch marks the spot.
After drilling bracket holes, I capped the bottom of the rim in curly maple. Now I am cutting a channel for purlfling.
Fitting the purfling in the groove. I like Elmer's School glue because it is thin and dries transparent.
Hardware and head in place. Ready to sell. Top view.