Collar Construction

By Dewey H.

Start by cutting down the 1/4" square acrylic rods to a forming length 12" to 14" in length using a band or scroll saw.

Preheat your oven to approximately 250 degrees. Place one rod at a time on a cookie sheet and set your timer for one minute. Continue adding rods at the rate of one per minute until you have four rods in the oven. At the next minute mark put a new rod in and take one out for forming. You only have about 10 seconds to get the soft rod into the form before it sets. Repeat this process about 108 times! The times and temperature may vary according to your oven. 

Using a jig of some type trim the excess acrylic from the top and bottom of rib so the pieces are uniform in size.

Start gluing (with Goop brand only) the ribs onto the styrene ring every other rib. A small dab of hot glue on the end of the rib will allow you to release the rib much sooner after aligning it. Be sure that the end of the rib hits the metal ring on the styrene circle.

Repeat the process filling in the remaining ribs until all pieces are in place. Check the alignment of the ribs and use masking tape to correct any crooked pieces before the glue sets. The tops may not all be even but that will get corrected in the next step. Glue the matching styrene ring inside the collar fitting it to cover the ends of the ribs and giving the collar added strength.

After the glue has set overnight from the previous step flip the collar over and glue the tops of the ribs to the 11 3/4" styrene circle. Align each rib to hit the metal ring attached to the styrene and check for equal spacing between ribs. Using masking tape secure the top ribs onced alligned. Let set overnight.

Remove all masking tape and glue felt ring inside the collar. This prevents you from seeing through the collar.

Bolt the 9" turntable onto the top of the collar and your collar is complete!