John Yerxa - Posted - 07/27/2026:  00:15:56

This is a two part question.

I recently acquired a 2 - ply maple rim, whyte laydie style tone ring, tension hoop and all hardware, reportedly early Rickard. I am thinking of best way to prep the rim for fitting the tone ring. By my measurement, I only need to rebate between 1.5 and 1.75mm to accommodate the skirt. It will be hard to get the rim accurately centered on the lathe the way I usually do it. I'm thinking of making a jig with a 11" diameter curve and a small hole to accommodate a bit on the table router, and adjusting using scrap. The other option so far is to try and set it up on the CNC, but maybe the same issue of centering? Other thoughts?

Part 2 - I had been thinking that the base of the tone ring should sit solidly on the top of the rim. However, I had to change the head on my '24 Tubaphone, and I noticed there was a gap. Curious, I pulled the tone ring, and find that there's a rebate in the inside of the rim - see photos. Does anyone think this is important ? Should I fit the WL ring the same way? (it's easily done)

Don't worry, I expect a wide variety of thoughts; I will respect them all.

Zachary Hoyt - Posted - 07/27/2026:  03:49:07

It's easy to cut the rebates using the router table in the way you described. I have pieces of scrap wood cut to match the curve of a 10", 11" and a 12" rim, with a little notch cut out where the router bit goes, and use these as fences. The height of the rebate is controlled by the height of the bit above the table, and the depth of the rebate is adjusted by moving the wood fence. I use two clamps to hold it in place, and start with what I know is too shallow of a cut. After I make that cut I loosen one clamp and tap the fence with a mallet to move it back a short distance and then tighten the clamp again and make a deeper cut. I repeat this till the tone ring fits.

John Yerxa - Posted - 07/27/2026:  05:04:33

Thanks Zach, that's pretty much what I was thinking.

dpgetman - Posted - 07/27/2026:  08:12:21

Just a note, the WL sits differently on the rim than the tubaphone.  Below are specs I just pulled from the interwebs, but they show the rabbet you will need for the scalloped ring as well as the rebate you will need for the outer sleeve if it extends below the scalloped ring.  I prefer the rabbet to be deeper than the specs show, with the top of the inside of the rim coming up a bit above the bottom of the scallops, but it is only a reference.

John Yerxa - Posted - 07/27/2026:  20:06:20

Thanks dpgetman David

I should always remember to Search Topic before I post!

Might it make acoustic sense to round off inside of top of rim?